SPLATTERdrome

Release Date: April 26th, 2002

Director: James Isaac

Screenwriter: Todd Farmer

Genre: Horror

 

 

We’ve hit the reset button yet again. Jason X is another one-off entry in the series which largely ignores what came before and changes things so much that no film picked up where it left off. Horror sequels tend to function ineffectively in a vacuum and Jason X is no exception, it’s a tough watch.

 

I never realized it before but in many ways this film is a futuristic remake of Jason Takes Manhattan. Think about it, most of the action takes place on a ship, Jason is surrounded by undergraduates, there’s a professor/student seduction scene, Jason’s makeup is lacking, and it’s all god-awful rubbish. I don’t understand the thinking here. The last two films took Jason away from camp and both were huge failures with the fan base, how can you make this mistake a third straight time? 

 

Once again I’ll state the obvious: Jason in space is a dumb idea. I’ve heard this film described as “Jason for the Matrix generation” and maybe that feels about right. Jason X was built around a futuristic aesthetic using all sorts of CGI shots of space flight and sci-fi weaponry and, you know what, who cares? Since when did people watch these films for the digital effects? The answer is never. The filmmakers even go so far as to create an android character who looks like Carrie-Anne Moss and include a rapid-cut fight scene with her and Jason near the end of the film. The idea that an audience member would be thrilled or entertained by this makes me ill.

 

Much like Jason Goes to Hell this film comes off as more of an action-focused production and doesn’t much bother with suspense or scares, not even cheap ones. A good example of this would be the second act which involves a team of trained commandos tracking Jason through a spaceship like in Alien. Of course their expertise is wasted on the stealthy Jason who, despite being bulky and rancid smelling, can sneak up on anyone at any time and slash his way out of the situation. It’s a dull charade.

 

I find it interesting that Friday the 13th films are often thought of as B-movies even though they were all major studio productions with wide theatrical releases. Jason X is probably the closest any of these sequels come to actually fulfilling that expectation; poor costuming, set design, and visual effects make Jason X a film that generates few scares and an abundance of eye rolls and ironic laughter. It’s another tedious, uninspired sequel in what has quickly become a marathon of unwatchable dreck.