Repertoire of elements

2. By now, the characters in the sevenths part
of the Friday the 13th trilogy had become
as well-known to viewers as their own
mothers. Therefore, this film needed to
add a new twist to the main
antagonist, exploring his past a little
more whilst still keeping the machete-
induced bloodbath the main attraction.

3. There is still a final girl, and this one ends up ‘killing’ Jason in the
climax, although he still manages to somehow pull his
deformed, psychotic self back together to kill for three more
(mainstream) films, including a crossover with the loveable child-
molester in the red-and-green sweater.
This film seems to focus on the child side of Jason, intentionally
painting him as a (slightly disturbing) character to be almost
sympathised with. According to the narrative, Jason is only killing
because his ‘humanity’ died when he drowned, and his
eventual death returns his corpse to its young, untainted state.
Or it might have been the result of the large amount of liquid
dues-ex-machina, as explained later. It also gives Jason a
‘voice’ for the first time, the voice of a child, which again makes
the audience more empathetic when he is ‘killed.’
The final girl and boy still make an appearance, and, as usual, the
adults seem inept. No surprises there, as this was another of the
classic slashers whose conventions are so well-known and easily
mocked today.

4. The narrative is, unsurprisingly, poor. Although
character development is a more
prominent part of the narrative this
time, the plot still suffers quite badly, and
the ending seems to be forced into the
story more obviously than normal. The
audiences of the past century were not
considered as ‘smart’ as the modern
audiences, who question every detail if it
does not seem right. So, when it was
released, they would not think too much of
a sewer apparently being flushed with toxic
waste every night for no discernable
reason.

5. The setting is atypical for a slasher towards the
end, in the sense that it is in a sprawling
urban jungle, rather than the abandoned
summer camp. One might
argue, however, that it is still an isolated
location, as the group is in the slums at
night, where any human face will most likely
only be after your wallet. This actually serves
to scare the audience further, as any city-
dwellers will be made more uneasy about
their home at night.

6. Iconography is exactly the same as the
previous films, in order to give fans pleasure
from the familiar, so to speak. The
machete, hockey mask (which is parodied
in a surprisingly humorous scene as soon as
Jason enters New York) and violent deaths
are all still a part of the franchise, as are
some familiar characters- the ‘psychic’
deck hand mirrors the crazy man from the
first two films, and the final girl is once again
blessed with a sixth sense.

7. The style is, much like parts of A Nightmare on Elm Street, very
realistic. The boat the teens reside on for most of the film
seems welcome at first, but as more and more of the life is
(literally) sucked out of the film, it seems to become more
of a haunting ghost ship. Take, for instance ,the
juxtaposition between the first night, with everyone on
deck, happy and partying, versus the scene in the engine
room. While the first is seen as a happy, vibrant place, the
other is full of steam, reflecting the steamy back-alleys of
the latter part of the film, and the industrial feel seems to
‘fit’ with Jason’s boiler suit, suggesting that the damp, dark
confines are his territory, which this one girl has unwittingly
stumbled across.
The music also fits the style, with its jarring, discordant and
eerie tones.