“Some folks have a strange idea of entertainment.” – For Tom McLoughlin’s installment of the F13 franchise, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI, Bob Larkin takes the role of Martin the Caretaker, replacing Crazy Ralph and providing a series of great lines such as this. The witty script sets the tone for a lively installment in the series that is far more self aware than previous F13 films. Let the fun begin! Thomas Mariani, Doc Rotten and Christopher G. Moore tackle another gruesome horror film from the 1980s. Let’s welcome the biggest Jason fan of the Grue-crew from Horror News Radio, Dave Dreher, to the show to discuss his favorite Friday the 13th flick.
Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 89 — Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Describe him as you will, but C. J. Graham’s and Dan Bradley’s Jason in Part VI is part Frankenstein, part Zombie, but all slasher. In the opening scene Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews) returns from Part IV: Final Chapter and Part V: A New Beginning to cremate Jason’s remains buried in a Crystal Lake cemetery. Instead, he and his buddy Allan Hawkes (Ron Palillo) inadvertently resurrect the killer with lightning. After ripping “Horshack’s” heart out, Zombie Jason is on the move chasing Tommy back to Crystal Lake. Ah, movies, such fun. The film is a riot with great action, a murderously inventive Jason and fun characters. Who doesn’t love Jennifer Cooke as Tommy’s new love interest, Megan Garris. And, ironically, for the first time in the series, there are actual kids at the camp, leading to an interesting scene where Jason shambles into their bunk room.
Grue-crew member David Dreher joins the DoH gang to take a look at one of the films most near and dear to his heart. While, as the curator of Savini.com, he has a strong affection for the first Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, he admits that he loves Jason Lives just as much. Along with Christopher, Doc and Thomas, he revisits the film going over each shocking kill and all the new mythology added to Jason’s motives and stamina. Lightning, who knew? Check out the episode and relive probably the most fun entry into the Friday the 13th franchise. C’monl, it even has an Alice Cooper theme song. What’s not to love.
We want to hear from you – the coolest, most gruesome fans: leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at thomasmariani@decadesofhorror.com or docrotten@decadesofhorror.com. We also want to be sure to thank Neon Devils for their killer track “Bone Chillin'” which we use for the intro and outro of this show.
We also recorded this episode weeks ago, so we’d like to thank Joshua Macmillian and Dread Central for putting Decades of Horror 1980s on the list of 10 Horror Podcasts You Should Check Out!
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Doc a lifelong fan of horror films, sci-fi flicks and monster movies first discovering Universal Monsters and Planet of the Apes as a young child in the 1970's searching out every issue of Famous Monster of Filmland (and, later, Fangoria). Favorite films include Jaws, The Car, The Birds, The Tingler, Vampire Circus and The Exorcist. Still a huge fan of horror films from the 70s, Doc continues consuming horror films to this day for the site, for the podcasts and for the fun of it all.
