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Friday the 13th: Part VII
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Friday the 13th: Part VII
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Credit: Director
Special Effects: Designed
& created all special make-up & creature effects including what
many critics agree as the "definitive Jason."
Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood
As RETRO MAGAZINE puts it, it's the only good
film in the series; "It's the best one...." Director Buechler
tackles a tired old genre and remakes it in his own image. --And thank goodness
that he did. "FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 7: THE NEW BLOOD" sports terrific
acting and introduces Kane Hodder as Jason. Hodder is astonishing as the
indestructable psycho from Criystal Lake. Without saying a word, he conveys
raw power and evokes terror more than anyone who had previously played the
role. The amazing climax pits Tina, a telekinetic teenage girl against the
unstoppable man monster Jason. Easily one of the most thrilling showdowns
ever filmed in the horror genre.
Stories from the Director:
Originally this movie was going to unite Freddy
and Jason for the first time. --Obviously it didn't happen as neither New
Line Cinema, nor Paramount Pictures could figure out how to go to bed together.
From what I've been told, they both
wanted to distribute. Anyway, a lot of work had been done on the script
prior to my arrival, and it seemed they wanted a guy who was a good director,
and could handle special effects. I guess that's why they enterviewed me
for the job. I figured that I was a long shot, though Frank Mancuso Jr.
had said that he'd liked my movie "Troll." I thought that I really put my foot in it when
I spoke my mind about the "Friday the 13th" Movies. I didn't like
them. I thought that they were dull and needed to go in a fresh direction.
Apparently Frank and Barbara Sacks, his associate producer, liked what I
had to say and I got the job. -- So when Freddy fell out of the picture
it was decided not to scrap all the development work that had been done.
They still wanted to make a big effects film. Launching into Daryl Haney's
concept of a supernatural nemesis for Jason would be essentially to replace
Freddy with a "Carrie" clone. Thus "Tina" was born and
Daryl wrote an interesting screenplay, "Friday 7" was greenlighted!
I've always respected the mythos of movies in a series and considered it
important to continue that which had been established. After all, tons of
fans take these movies as gospel. As I wanted to build on the strong foundation
of what had gone before, then move ahead in a new way. We did! It was clear
to me that the ratings board would no longer allow graphic make-up effets
as they had previously been used in this series. none the less, we created
our share of gore knowing that it would be censored out. I decided to use
make-up and special effects in such a way as to still create impact. So
I devised a new and improved Jason!
At the beginning of the picture, Jason has been
dead for ten years chained to the bottom of Crystal Lake. -- I wanted a
new, better Jason-- and I got him! 
Kane
Hodder, my good friend with whom I'd worked previously on Renny Harlin's
"Prison" and "Ghost Town" was the Jason for me. I wanted
to give him a new look too. I wanted the complete Jason to me walking undead
"Meat Terminator." To this end I designed a special make-up utilizing
a unique specially created dental plate which fit not only inside the actor's
mouth, but also rested on the outside of his cheek. -- When covered with
the Jason appliance, complete with rotted holes in his cheeks, the illusion
which was created was staggering. It looked as though there was a massive
decaying hole in his cheek revealing his bone, teeth and gum areas beneath
rotting leathery flesh. --I wanted the body to have the same over the top
undead look. To this end, we created a full body suit which displayed skeletal
mass such as rib cage, spine, and joint systems to appear to be pushing
through cracked, old leathery skin. This was only the start. I wanted this
Jason to be as bad as he looked. the script demanded that Jason be punished
on screen over and over again, yet still rise, no matter what happened.
Kane Hodder is an incredible stuntman and co-ordinator. Working together
with Peter Chesney's Image team, and his co-ordinator, Lou Carlucci, we
created sequence after sequence of unqualified spectical. -- 
These guys are brilliant, and deserve great praise. Lar
Park Lincoln too was a fabulous find. She's a terrific actress, and gave
a depth to what could have been just another genre character. For me the
film is flawed in those predictable aspects which are standard in this genre.
I fought long and hard to remove thse moments of standard stalk and slash
from the script, but my associate producer would continue to overrule me.
Other things that I wanted but was not allowed were avant guarde moments
of Tina's visions which I believed would be haunting and visually inspiring.
I had invisioned that Tina's clairvoyant flashes would be surreal and not
literal. For example, when Tina "sees" he mother will die, I had
wanted to see an image of "young Jason" (think the first movie)
a malformed youth in a bathing suit dripping wet, splashed with mud and
leaves holding the "head" of Mrs. Voorhees. The head would be
animatronic and it would be saying, "Help me Mommy, help me..."
Instead of this vision, we see a hockey masked Jason plunging a weed wacker
into Tina's mom. Arguably this might have been eerier, and in my opinion
better, but it was not allowed. Yet all and all I'm pretty happy with the
opening of the picture, and the final showdown between Tina and Jason. This
alone was worth the making!