Jason Goes Cyborg (Jason X (DVD))

Member Name: bilbob20

Product:	Jason X (DVD)
Date:	02/04/08 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some interesting death sequences, and an attempt to at least make this one different

Disadvantages: Some ridiculous characterizations and a film that looks like an expensive porn

Opening with a sequence set in the not too distant future, unstoppable killer Jason Vorhees is being held captive by a group of scientists at the Crystal Lake Research Facility. They've discovered that Jason has an unheard of ability to regenerate skin tissue, therefore explaining his inability to die. However, when he escapes, he and one remaining scientist are criogenically frozen for 300 years.

Once aboard a spaceship of potential victims in the 25th century, Jason unleashes carnage on a new spate of big breasted beauty's. When they attempt to defeat him once again, Jason is revitalised by a machine that turns human's into almighty cyborgs, and so begins a fight to the death in space.

The Friday 13th franchise has never been famous for its plot, nor its consistent narrative, so to say that film number 10 is the best of a bad bunch is an understatement. The futuristic spin given to this series of films works effectively enough to tide the few daft Friday fans over until such times as New Line Cinema were able to get Jason on the big screen with fellow studio monster Freddy Krueger.

The greatest problem with X is that it plays like an expensive looking porn film. Breasts and butts are thrown at the screen as vastly and quickly as knives and various other contraptions designed for a quick dispatch of the irritating cast. The other problem is that Jason wanders about at will without any respect for the rules, or the cliche's, of the genre. There may have been very little invention or originality in the past 9 Friday films, but they at least had the decency to attempt to be scary.

The special effects are simple enough to be enjoyable, but they could very easily have looked as good in the 70s or the 80s. X hardly advances on the vision created by original film director Sean S Cunningham. What makes this mildly more enjoyable for Friday Trainspotters is that Cunningham turns up for an executive producer turn on this one. Its the first Friday film he has been involved in properly since the original film.

Taking on directorial duties is James Issac, who has done very little of note prior or since X. He creates some spectacular kills here, the most notable of which involves a face that has been frozen. Its not surprising though that he is able to deftly create unusual images, given that some of his other work includes special effects on the films existenz and Look Who's Talking Too. Just a shame that he presents his characters as two dimensional cliche's of 80's horror film victims.

Issac's vizualisation of Outer Space is also one of the less interesting versions I have seen on film. His Earth II looks like a shopping mall that nobody shops at. And the rest is just starlight and dust. The spaceship Grendel is authentic enough, but its hardly earth shatteringly original. In the end, the only authentically good futuristic element of the film is the upgrade that Jason gets when he becomes the cyborg. For the first time in years, he looks evil, instead of just looking like a daft zombie.

Kane Hodder returns for the fourth, and last, time as Jason, and wields his axe deftly. Despite never seeing the face behind the hockey mask, nor Jason speaking a single word, few others have been able to embody the part of Jason in quite the same terrifying hulking way. He is the best thing about a film that features dull cyborgs, and human characters that you cant wait to see offed.

Lexa Doig is Rowan, the other "human" brought into the future from Jason's killing spree. She's the only other actor on display who shows any emotional engagement, having woken up from a 300 year sleep to find that a killer is still on the loose. The rest of the cast scream effectively, but play their roles as if they know they're going to have the blood wiped away after the director calls time on the shoot. Never a good sign, even for a horror film.

Jason has become one of the most famous killers of the big screen, owing less to any creative input from the makers of the films. Instead, his success is down to the sheer level of gore and grotesque on display. X has less gore than the earlier entries in the series, but is no less grotesque for it. Despite poor returns on this film, the subsequent success of Freddy Vs Jason has ensured that Jason gets his next outing on the big screen next year. The creators clearly dont know when they've splashed enough blood.

The soundtrack to this film is a tension-free zone that, like the film itself, plays like expensive porn. Thank goodness the makers decided to make the DVD package a less careless, if a little lacking, affair. It includes a couple of decent enough documentaries that are probably mildly more interesting than the film itself in the form of "The Many Lives Of Jason" and a making of "Featurette". There are also commentaries and the theatrical trailers. They'll be of no use to most people, but if you actually have any enjoyment of this film or the series, then the few featurettes will fill an hour or two of your time.

Summary: More money might have been spent on this one, but its still cheap thrills all the way