Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

"I think we're dead meat..."

I know; it's been a long time. But after the not-very-goodness of the last film- indeed, of the last few films- it took a while before I could face another Friday the 13th. Imagine my surprise, then, when this instalment actually tuned out to be pretty decent. I won't use a stronger word than "decent", mind, but I unexpectedly enjoyed this.

For a start, it's genuinely well shot and acted throughout; the film doesn't look like a throwaway B movie, despite the total lack of famous faces and the obvious recasting of Tommy. The plot is pretty standard stuff but .the story is told well- with plenty of wit, suspense, character and Alice Cooper, all of which enhance this film well beyond any of its predecessors.

It's also good to see just a little bit of self-referential irony. The fourth wall is never explicitly broken and this film isn't Scream, but it's clear that this is a script that knows its horror movie tropes and how to have fun with them: yes, the teenagers having sex in the motorhome are inevitably killed, but she's trying to get him to last for the lenth of the song playing, and when Jason cuts the power she's annoyed when he cums- and then he's obliviously listening to Alice Cooper while she's being killed, probably without even getting an orgasm. This film feels modern and real in a way none of its predecessors did, and even the arsehole sheriff feels like a real person.

Let's not exaggerate; this is hardly the greatest slasher ever made. But it's actually good, and for a Friday the 13th film that's a massive achievement.