Directed by John Carl Buechler
Young Tina telekinetically dismantles a pier that her abusive, alcoholic father is standing on, causing him to drown in the lake. As a result, she spends her youth in a mental hospital. Now that she is a young adult, her shitty psychiatrist, Dr. Crews, thinks it is a good idea for her to join him at a cabin on Crystal Lake to work through her issues. Really though, he just wants to exploit her telekinetic abilities. Also, Tina’s mother, who apparently gets her hair done by a dog groomer, tags along for added decoration.
Meanwhile a B-story unfolds about some young people having a birthday party on the lake.
Tina telepathically frees Jason from his watery grave, and he gets straight to killing. And either he has opened up a charge account at True Value, or he is just finding all kinds of shit in the woods, because he uses a new tool for every murder he commits.
After the movie drags on for what feels like an eternity, Tina kills Jason with an electrical wire, Carrie style.
Compared to the movie preceding it, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is unimpressive. It is an obvious nod to movies about telekinesis like Carrie, and Firestarter, with Tom Savini-level practical effects thanks to director John Carl Buechler, who is a special effects master and has done work on at least one movie in every slasher series (and directed the first Troll movie). According to the DVD commentary, Buechler said that he was stifled by producers who demanded many of the scenes to be cut or heavily edited for their graphic content. One such infamous scene features Jason beating a woman in a sleeping bag against a tree. It is apparent that the conflict between director and producers hurt the film, because the audience is left with a rambling, dragging, derivative mess.
In direct contrast to Jason Lives, The New Blood wastes so much time. The beginning of the film is spent recapping the previous three movies, which is always a bad omen. We also have a return to nudity to make up for the lack of originality. The only novel thing they could come up with was to make a jazzy remix of the “Ch Ch Ch” whispers.
It also looks worse than Jason Lives. Although the practical effects are really advanced, the quality of the film is lower, and the style is more primitive. This movie is a step back for the series.
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