When all else fails, go to space!…Or the hood.
Jason X (2001)
Directed By: James Isaac (Pig Hunt)
The Prologue
So we kinda took Jason to Manhattan, we took him to hell, so now it came time for Jason to end up in space here in, Jason X! Jason X isn’t as horrible as it might sound and I’m pretty sure that’s due to the fact it was written by Todd Farmer, who also wrote My Bloody Valentine 3D. The guy seems to know how to write a perfectly acceptable horror film, even if it’s a bit goofy. And trust me, Jason in space and then getting upgraded is all a little goofy. But they had to kill time until they could get Freddy vs. Jason going you know? So this is what we got!
The Movie
So years in the future, Jason is captured! I assume this all happens after the events of Freddy vs. Jason, so work with me here. Long story short, Jason and a girl get frozen and they end up on a spaceship about 400 years later where they are thawed out and once again Jason starts his normal killing thing, only this one in space!! Along the way Jason also gets “upgraded” and fights a cyborg and countless other space folks, so while it’s not anything mind blowing, it’s actually a lot more fun than you’d think. I like to call it, “bad in a kinda good way”.
Well what we get here is a Jason movie that like Jason Goes to Hell, is different, but unlike that movie it actually kinda works to a degree. The movie is well aware of it’s self and it actually packs more laughs than you’d think. And while what you see on the surface is pretty damn silly, it’s not a movie you can’t get some sort of enjoyment out of. Maybe when Jason gets all “upgraded” it gets a bit silly (not that it didn’t before), but it serves it’s purpose. Now if only you could forget that it’s taking place in space, a sure sign that someone didn’t have much left in the idea tank to start with.
I think another good thing about this film is the kills. I put that on the good writer (Todd Farmer) that the film had, but it really gets creative with that and it’s not just the same ol’ same ol’ you’d come to expect. I particularly loved the “face smash” or should I call it the “face break” kill, I just wish they hadn’t used one of the better looking women in the movie to kill off so quickly with it. And as much as I hate to admit it, taking Jason away from Crystal lake in this case wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. But sadly, I still wish he had stayed out of space. Maybe I just can’t get passed the idea?
So in all, the final girl we get here isn’t that bad, but I feel she could have been a lot better. She’s also one of the luckiest girls in the history of horror, as she was pretty much a goner before lucking up and having the freezer deal kick in freezing both her and Jason. Makes you kind of wounder if any other girls Jason has killed would stand a better chance if given a second chance. So as we stumble our away around upgrade, simulators, cyborgs, and what I believe is Halo-light futuristic Marines, we get a movie that is silly, and a bit predictable, but at the end of the day still a little fun to watch if you have nothing else.
The Conclusion
Basically it’s a placeholder until Freddy vs. Jason could get going, and it works out pretty well when you take that into account. Still, it’s in space..sooo..yeah. Kind of a so bad it’s good deal, but fun can be found in this. So I’d say it’s not going to get a major rating, but it’s worth a watch.
The Rating (5.5/10)
The Rating (6.5/10) *Updated on 08/01/11
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