Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

"New York has a new problem."

1989 1h 40m EN

💀

4.9

SKIP

★4.9TMDB · 1,264

HorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Jason ships out aboard a teen-filled "love boat" bound for New York, which he soon transforms into the ultimate voyage of the damned.

“New York has a new problem.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Jensen Daggett
Rennie Wickham
Sharlene Martin
Tamara Mason
Scott Reeves
Sean Robertson
Tiffany Paulsen
Suzi Donaldson
Alex Diakun
Deck Hand
Amber Pawlick
Rennie Wickham (young)
Kane Hodder
Jason Voorhees
Kelly Hu
Eva Watanabe

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rob Hedden
Writers: Rob Hedden
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

37 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Friday the 13th Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rob Hedden, shot by Bryan England. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Fred Mollin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Steve Mirkovich shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jensen Daggett and Sharlene Martin and Scott Reeves carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "New York has a new problem.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0097388 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rob Hedden directs. Bryan England behind the camera. Fred Mollin scores. Steve Mirkovich cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

137 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Part of the "Friday the 13th Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Rob Hedden, shot by Bryan England. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Fred Mollin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Steve Mirkovich shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jensen Daggett and Sharlene Martin and Scott Reeves carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "New York has a new problem.".
8IMDB entry: tt0097388 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 19 themes, including "mask", "high school", "new york city", "new jersey".
10Released under 32 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Bryan England
Original score: Fred Mollin
Editing: Steve Mirkovich
Production design: David Fischer
Costume design: Carla Hetland
Makeup / hair: Laurie Finstad
VFX supervisor: Dale Fay
Sound: T.A. Moore Jr.
Stunt coordinator: Ken Kirzinger
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $14,343,976
Return: 287% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Part of

Friday the 13th Collection

An American slasher series set largely around the fictional town of Crystal Lake, New Jersey, which tells the story of serial murderer Jason Voorhees, and others who would kill on his behalf and in his name.

Also by

Rob Hedden

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2017-01-29
★ 5/10
Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes a Boat. Jason Vorhees is once again brought back to life and goes on a kill crazy spree aboard a boat bound for Manhattan. As is the norm with the "Friday 13th" sequels, this one garners scorn and praise in equal measure, so you roll the dice and take your chance really. By now the makers were trying to come up with new ideas to keep the series afloat, here the gimmick is to take Vorhees out of his Camp Crystal Lake "comfort" zone, and pitch him on a boat - a boat which naturally is full of ripe high schoolers who are ripe for killing in variously gruesome ways. The presence of Manhattan in the title is not wholly accurate since three quarters of the pic is set on the said boat, with standard series rules applying, though Vorhees seems to have attained the dexterity of a paratrooper given that he remarkably appears in kill scenes where the time frame is impossible for him to do so. The sequences in Manhattan are fun, which only makes one lament that more time wasn't spent on this particular gimmick. The acting is generally weak, while the effects work is standard fare - though the cinematography (Bryan England) is very impressive. So all told, it's another divisive "Friday" sequel, from breasts and butts, to blood and bone, and onto The Big Apple, part 8 you will either hate or think it's great. 6/10
Gimly2018-09-16
★ 4/10
Absolutely ridiculous, and a totally misleading title. Jason still kills stuff, and that's fun I guess, but what a trashfire ending to an already pretty bad movie. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.
Wuchak2019-07-17
★ 6/10
Jason takes a cruise to the big city! Released in 1989, "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" is a nice change of pace as the series was suffering from banality at this point; the previous installment is a prime example (people complain about Part V but at least it had an interesting new story angle with Tommy Jarvis going to the halfway house in the woods seeking succor for his psychological trauma, etc.). Part VII tried something new with the Carrie-like protagonist, and that entry has a great finale, but it was hampered by a subpar, amateurish script. Part VIII changes things up by switching the normal location of Crystal Lake (and surrounding area) to a ship going to Manhattan with a group of high school kids and adults aboard. Of course, Jason also gets on the vessel and starts systematically wiping out the youths. A handful of them make it to Manhattan, but so does Jason! The different setting is what distinguishes Part VIII. The story is split into four parts: The prologue takes place on Crystal Lake and features Jason's resurrection, which is a great opening. The brief first act takes place down the river from Crystal Lake at a docking inlet where the youths & adults board the vessel. The long second act takes place on the ship and the final act involves the survivors on a lifeboat and their adventures in Manhattan pursued by Jason. Winsome Jensen Daggett stands out as the heroine Rennie and places as one of my top 3 or 4 Friday girls. Peter Mark Richman is also notable as Rennie's peculiar uncle/guardian and Scott Reeves as Rennie's sort-of boyfriend. Sharlene Martin is a highlight as Tamara and the filmmakers show off her physique, but she's so devious that she's a turn-off despite her good looks. Kelly Hu is also on hand. The main complaint I hear about this entry is that it's called "Jason Takes Manhattan" but only the final act takes place in the city. This criticism never made any sense to me as the film spends more than enough time in the big city, the final 37 minutes, not to mention an opening snippet. The fact that the entire second act occurs on the ship keeps the movie from being one-dimensional. This installment reveals that a fairly large river flows from Crystal Lake to an inlet with access to the ocean. The yacht in the beginning drifts down the river to the bay where the ship is docked. This is how Jason inconspicuously reaches the inlet. If there’s any doubt about this (due to the mistaken claim that the docking inlet IS Crystal Lake), pay attention to what the crazy deckhand says later on. As far as locations go, Part VIII was shot in Vancouver & Britannia Beach, British Columbia; Los Angeles (the alley way & wharf scenes); and New York City. BOTTOM LINE: Part VIII is a worthy entry in the series and is notable for trying something new by placing the main cast in a cruise ship environment and the big city, plus Jensen Daggett is a highlight as the female protagonist. It's actually better than Part III and VII. Interestingly, Jason's facial F/X (shown at the end) aren't as good as the previous two installments, but they're serviceable. The film runs 100 minutes. GRADE: B-