Friday the 13th Movies: Ranked Worst to Best

9. Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Paramount Pictures

I very much wanted to rank this as #10 on my list, but I just couldn't rank it as worse than Part V. While not a bad concept for a film, placing Jason Voorhees on a cruise ship and then, for only a small portion of the film, placing him in Manhattan was just about the worst movie-making decision ever made. Jason belongs in the woods - period!

To be fair, I understand Paramount Pictures trying to jump start their declining franchise by giving it a fresh start in a new location and hopefully drawing back the crowds that had grown tired of Jason stalking naked teens in the forest, but this was not the way to go. Besides, who really gets tired of naked teens in the forest?

The movie starts with Jason once again being resurrected from his watery grave at the bottom of Crystal Lake; for the second time in the series he is brought back to life by electricity - this time it's a couple of boaters whose anchor dredged up a power line cable and sent electricity shooting through Crystal Lake. Despite his well-documented proclivity for staying around Crystal Lake, Jason then hops on a ship headed for New York City and proceeds to slaughter its occupants before arriving in New York.

Despite my dislike of this movie, I will give it credit for a couple of good twists: Jason rides the SS Lazarus to New York - a very aptly-named ship Jason's death at the hands of toxic waste (indicative of the toxic environment of New York at the time) was innovative Jason killed the guys who kidnapped and drugged, and were about to rape, Rennie.

Well, that exhausts my good points about this movie. I feel dirty. Let's move on.

Contributor

Tim is a varied character. He's lived on three continents. He hates ice cream. He has been a highly-paid computer programmer. He invents collectible card games. He is a coffee shop owner. He has had fantasy stories published in magazines. Eventually he wishes to retire from life and become a professional 10-pin bowler who writes articles while living in his RV and traveling from bowling tournament to bowling tournament with his faithful wife in tow. And of course, Tim is a major horror and science fiction fan.