Jason X (USA 2001) | reviews | horror

Jason is finally back. 21 years after the first installment of the FRIDAY THE 13TH series chapter 10 is now open. This time we see Jason with his machete killing people in the year 2455. It's Sci-fi-time. After over 400 years the frozen Jason and a woman (she once tried to defeat the killer) are discovered by a rescue space shuttle. On board a scientist who is able to compensate damaged or dead cell tissue completely if there are any life signs of the person left.

The rescued woman warns the professor and his crew - some security guards and a bunch of kids who don't know what "bike" or "hockey mask" mean. But the professor hopes to get Jason back to Earth 2 (Earth 1 is no place to live any more) to make some money out of Jason's serial killer fame (he approx. killed 200 people they say). But mute Jason who has been defrosted is killing everybody who gets in his way in various brutal acts - business as usual. And there is no escape...

Kritik

I bet you already thought about it. Yes, basically it's ALIEN with Killer-Jason instead of the alien monster. And the set design of the spaceship with all the computer interfaces and a holodeck reminded me of the STAR TREK franchise. And believe it or not. You'll also find some TERMINATOR character hints in this flick. Jason is a man who can't be killed ! "We tried to burn him, gas him and once we tried to hang him... but nothing worked" the only survior of a mass murder incident 400 years ago comments. "So we tried to preserve him and lock him up". But greedy scientists only saw the big profit they could make. Jason a circus attraction ?

JASON X combines the usual slasher plot we've seen a lot of lately with (some unintentionally) dark-humoured and more splatter-like brutal sequences. I don't know how many lifes are lost here... maybe 12...maybe more... young chicks as well as well-trained security guards. Almost every 10 minutes something bad is happening and Jason's appetite for murder can't be stopped. What's really annoying about this movie is that it rips of so many classic horror flicks in a rude way. No more ideas after 9 FRIDAY THE 13TH flicks ? And the TERMINATOR part at the end is the worst. But anyway a sexy android is chosen to save the day. Conclusion: JASON X has got some entertaining qualities for genre fans. And there's David Cronenberg (who directed some dark horror movies back in the 70s) in a brief cameo sequence at the beginning.

What you don't know is what the producing company is doing with the flick. As it was the world premiere at the German Fantasy Filmfest there's still no release date for the US or other countries. Seems that the producing company has no confidence in its product and the chances for a direct-to-video relase are really high.

[3/5]

Markus Klingbeil. 02.08.2001
Bilder (c) Filmverleih