Any time a slasher series goes on long enough and ideas are running thin, someone is inevitably going to say, “What if we send them to space?” Sometimes that makes sense. I’ve long believed Chucky should go to space. Other times, it’s nonsense. Why would Michael Myers wind up in space? In the case of Jason Voorhees and Friday the 13th, it both made zero sense and, all the same, resulted in one of the greatest entries in the “so bad it’s good” horror canon. Jason X is the best kind of stupid movie one could ever hope for.
The film takes place in the year 2455 with humanity having left a heavily polluted Earth for a new planet they’ve dubbed Earth II. A crew of scientists on an expedition to Earth I discovers a research facility near Camp Crystal Lake where Jason Voorhees’ body has been cryogenically frozen. Unwisely, they bring him back to their ship. Lots of murder ensues.
From seeing Kane Hodder as an absolutely hulking, delightfully ridiculous version of Jason (in space!) to some of the most inventive kills in the history of the franchise, this is a movie that delivers precisely what it promises. No more, no less. It’s knowingly absurd and, perhaps most important of all, actually tries to do something different with a franchise that had nine prior entries, most of which were centered around Camp Crystal Lake. It says a little something about its reputation that Jason X recently got the 4K treatment from Arrow Video.
It’s a movie that has its fans. Rightfully so. Who doesn’t want to see Jason smash someone’s frozen head or fight an advanced, leather-clad android? If you must make a tenth movie in a franchise, why not do something wacky? Director James Isaac and writer Todd Farmer understood the assignment.