After spending the majority of his adolescence in various mental institutions, Tommy Jarvis (Thom Matthews) has a renewed sense of sanity, and is looking for revenge. Armed with a truck, gasoline, matches, Jasonâs mask, and his buddy Alan Hawes (Ron Palillo), Tommy plans to dig up the body of Jason Voorhees and personally cremate him.
Perhaps the name Ron Palillo rings a bell. Heâs better known for his role of Arnold Horshack in the 70âs TV show Welcome Back, Kotter! Unfortunately, John Travolta does not make an appearance here, but one of his relatives does! Cort, played by Tom Fridley, is actually Travoltaâs nephew. (Horshack was always my favorite, though... donât tell Mr. Saturday Night!)
âWelcome back, welcome back, welcome back!â
As one might expect, Tommyâs plan goes horribly wrong. After opening the casket to reveal the putrefied corpse, Tommy is overcome with intense anger and repeatedly stabs Jason with a large iron fence post. Hawes pleads with Tommy to leave, saying, âMy heart canât take anymore of this.â Before Tommy can set Jason aflame, a bolt of lightning strikes the fence post, effectively re-animating the killer. Hawesâ words prove prophetic, as Jason literally rips his heart out. Tommy isnât stupid: he books to the local sheriffâs office. Jason dons the hockey mask heâs made famous, and begins his journey back to Camp Crystal Lake.
In an effort to forget about the townâs dark past, the residents of Crystal Lake agreed to change its name to Forest Green. When Sheriff Garris (David Kagen) reminds Tommy of this fact, Tommy explains that you can call the town whatever you want, âitâs still Crystal Lake to Jason.â
It certainly is.
Seemingly even more powerful now, Jason picks right up where he left off. The two head counselors for Camp Forest Green, Darren and Lizbeth, run into Jason on a backwoods dirt road on their way to the camp. Both are quickly disposed of, but not before Jason is shot and bribed with cash.
Demanding the help of Garris, Tommy foolishly grabs a shotgun from the wall. Garris doesnât hesitate in the slightest and throws him in jail. The sheriffâs daughter, Megan (Jennifer Cooke), and her fellow counselors visit the station. Tommy spreads the good word and warns them that Jason is out there.
Fed up, Sheriff Garris personally escorts Tommy out of town. On the way out, Tommy makes a break for the cemetery in hopes to prove to Garris that Jason is no longer resting in peace. Unfortunately for Tommy, Martin, the drunken old caretaker, had already refilled the grave. Tommy is left on the outskirts of town and warned never to return.
On his way home that night, Martin polishes off a bottle of whiskey and throws it behind him. Confused that he didnât hear the bottle break, Martin turns to find Jason had caught it. Jason breaks the bottle and shoves it into the caretakerâs throat.
The act of littering is now an offense punishable by death.
Jason continues his trek toward the camp, but is constantly side-tracked by various people he must kill. The bodies begin turning up, and Sheriff Garris believes Tommy is responsible. Garris heads out to investigate, leaving Megan behind at the station. She receives a call from Tommy and decides to help him out.
By now, Jason has arrived at Camp Forest Green, and quickly dispatches with the two counselors.
The remaining characters later assemble at the camp: Sheriff Garris with two officers, Megan, and Tommy. Garris brings all of the children into one place and tells them to remain under the beds. Meanwhile, Jason personally trims down the payroll of the Forest Green Police Department. Garris goes head to head with Jason, but in the end is folded up like an accordion.
In his spare time, Tommy picked up some books regarding the undead. He figures the only way to truly defeat Jason is to kill him in the same manner he originally died: drowning him in Crystal Lake⦠er, Lake Forest Green. The stage is set: Tommy and Jason go at it one final time. Can Tommy succeed?
Three different films with the Tommy Jarvis character⦠three different actors portraying him. Regardless of the apparent high turnover rate, the character is actually quite well-developed. In The Final Chapter (TFC), Tommy is an innocent youngster who is deeply affected by a run-in with a maniac. In Part V, we see the effects of that encounter: an adolescent suffering from hallucinations caused by years of medication and therapy. Here, we have a Tommy Jarvis who seeks his final revenge on the man who killed his mother, and nearly killed him and his sister.
I love Jennifer Cooke as Megan. Perhaps the best heroine since Amy Steel (Part 2), Cooke provides some semblance of âlikeabilityâ⦠something sorely lacking in Part V. She works extremely well with Thom Mathews, and their on-screen attraction is believable.
For you fans of gratuitous nudity⦠Iâm sorry to report a disturbing lack of flesh. There is a scene with Cort (Tom Fridley) and his girlfriend in a trailer, but thatâll do it on the racy side of things. Sorry, folks.
The dialogue is cheesy, with most of Vermontâs finest coming from Sheriff Garris and his deputy. However, one may describe it as extremely intelligent when compared with most of the discourse in Part V. Hereâs an example from each film: (Note: this is a PG version, and not what you actually hear in the movie.)
Part VI...
TOMMY:
I tried to destroy him but I (messed) up.
RICK:
You got that right, punk!
SHERIFF:
You listen to me⦠Iâm sorry about what happened to you and your folks years ago, but no one in Forest Green wants to be reminded of what that maniac did here. Thatâs why we changed the name. People want to forget this was Crystal Lake, and they donât need some kid stirring up Jason (stuff) again.
Part Vâ¦
ETHEL:
You big (adult toy)! Eat your (freakinâ) slop. Ainât I make the best (gosh-darned) stew in the whole wide world?
JUNIOR:
Best (gosh-darned) stew in the whole wide world, mama.
ETHEL:
Ew⦠that is one (freakinâ) ugly man that goes there.
JUNIOR:
Thatâs one (freakinâ) ugly man, mama!
ETHEL:
Would you shut your trap! You know, you ainât so pretty yourself,
ya know.
JUNIOR:
I ainât so pretty myself, I know.
You be the judge.
Jason Lives, for me, is the point where the Jason character is no longer scary. The point of watching these later sequels is solely just to see the âcoolâ new ways Jason slaughters his victims.
Weâve grown accustomed to the fact that Jason is an unstoppable force. And now that heâs an undead zombie to boot, thereâs really no point fighting him, is there? But, people do fight him⦠and, he eventually gets the last laugh. Call him the Ken Jennings of the horror genre. (or is Ken Jennings the Jason Voorhees of the game show world?)
The man behind the mask, CJ Graham, is the second-best Jason of all time. He gives the character some more substance... something hard to do with no speaking lines. Subtle acting such as the now-famous âJason head-tiltâ give the character a new dimension... albeit still a psychotic one. More important, Graham paves the way for the âKing of Jasonâ, Kane Hodder, who first appears in the next film.
The original ending was actually changed for the box-office release. The original ending included Jason Voorheesâ father, Elias, in a scene where he pays off the caretaker to take special care of his sonâs grave. Itâs not well-known where this could have branched off to in future storylines: perhaps Elias would resume the murders in the next film. However, when the box set is released in early October, writer/director Tom McLoughlin will provide a commentary track where heâll hopefully shed some light on the subject.
In all, this, like the entire series, shouldnât be taken too seriously. When compared with the rest of the series, Part VI is one of the better entries. Not nearly as good Part 1, but not as dreadful as Part 3, Jason Lives finds itself firmly planted into the âsolidâ category.
