FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD (REVIEW)

Dir. John Carl Buechler

Reviewer. Martyn Wakefield

After being tied to the bottom of Camp Crystal Lake, Jason is brought back by accident through a telekinetic. Merging the best of the franchise with a foreshadowing of Jason's match up with Freddy, this is a supernatural slasher with bite.

Grasping with what makes a great slasher, Jason is back with a vengeance with some of the series best kills. Whether it's dragging a camping bag and smashing it against a tree or ripping a strimmer, the deaths are plenty and reminiscent of early Jason fandom.

The inclusion of a psychic protagonist feels strangely abstract yet knowing how the series goes it's no stranger to the unity of the human and supernatural threats even laboured by Jason's own being. Up until now he's been the only supernatural entity so the strange wait of 7 films to see a true rival is both strange yet welcome. Fortunately it doesn't detract too far from slasher territory and the supernatural is only played in full force in the final confrontation giving us plenty of counsellor countdowns.

For all of its leftfield psychical mumbo-jumbo, THE NEW BLOOD is one of the best no brain slashers of the 80s let alone of the series and truly gives Jason a body count to be proud of.