Every genre has cliches, but how well does a Friday the 13th film follow the Slasher film rules?
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
(1988) in which a girl with special powers accidentally frees Jason.
(1988) in which a girl with special powers accidentally frees Jason.The following analysis may contain spoilers for
FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD (1988)
Rule #1
A Warning Will Come From...
- The camp seems to have had the name changed back to Camp Crystal Lake, the reputation of which should warn visitors.
- Tina has psychic visions. Too late for most of the victims, as they aren't told.
Rule #2
There Will Be T&A
"If this is my uncle's house, why are we sleeping in the van?" ~ Russell.
"Who says we're sleeping?" ~ Sandra.
- Nudity - Judy's implied to be naked in a sleeping bag (but even in death she's capable of keeping herself covered with a sleeping bag.) Sandra goes skinny dipping with Russell. Well, actually, Russell never makes it. Robin is seen topless during and after sex with David.
- Sex - Sandra & Russell have sex, as do Robin & David and Kat & Ben (although Ben still has his pants on and Kate is still wearing underwear).
Rule #3
Death Will Be A Punishment For...
"OK You big HUNK of a man, come and get me!" ~ Judy.
- 3a. Sex - Ben & Kate are killed immediately after having sex (or however far they got). David soon after sex, and Robin some time after their sex. Sandra & Russell seem to last over a day after they are shown having sex. Judy was getting ready for sex with Dan just before she's killed (even though she'd been turning him down moments earlier). Jane & Micheal probably had a sexual relationship, but it's never gone into. All seem to be ongoing relationships except the Robin & David hook-up (Jason watches these two though for a moment during his killing spree.)
- 3b. Nudity - Sandra is skinny dipping when killed, Russell is beginning to get undressed. Judy is presumably naked in a sleeping bag. Other characters are partially naked when killed, and characters shown nude or partially nude are killed.
- 3c. Drinking - Happens, but not focused on, except Tina's father appears to have a drinking problem.
- 3d. Drugs - David brings drugs and offers them to a number of people at various times. Robin (who doesn't smoke) accepts, Eddie also seems interested. Maddy explicitly refuses and is killed before any of them.
- 3e. Hitchhiking - Jane & Michael don't even get the chance.
- 3f. Other criminal behaviour - Not really.
- 3g. Being annoying/being cowardly/being a sleazy guy - Doctor Crews is all three of these. Eric is at the very least annoying.
- 3h. Being a bystander - In some ways most of the characters.
Rule #4
Never Go...
"I don't want to leave you alone." ~ Nick.
"Then you go. You go... and I'll stay right here. Just hurry back." ~ Tina.
- 4a. Basements - Only happens at the end when Tina sends Jason into it at the end where she attempts to kill him more than the other way around.
- 4b. Upstairs - No one really seems to be killed upstairs.
- 4c. Showers - Nobody showers in this film. One person skinny dips.
- 4d. Into old sheds or outbuildings - Most of the people have rooms separate to the main house as well as a van to have sex in.
- 4e. Running off to the “safety” of the forest - No one really runs off to the forest (except maybe Tina a few times). But many do spend time in the forest.
- 4f. Anywhere alone - Everyone does at some point. Only Tina's mother and Melissa are killed when not alone.
- 4g. Anywhere Remote, Isolated or Confined - It all is.
- 4h. Abandoned buildings - Maddy ends up being chased into an old shed by Jason where's she's finally killed.
Rule #5
Order of Death...
"I saw him again. The man, the thing in the lake. He was killing a boy with a metal spike." ~ Tina.
- 5a: First person to appear on screen - After the archive material it's Jason then Tina who first appear on screen. The third person to appear on screen is John (Tina's father (the first death, due to Tina's powers.)) Jason's first victim is the eighth to appear.
- 5b: Black guy dies first - There are two African American characters, Kate and Ben. They die in the middle of the kill-list.
- 5c. The Stoner - As noted David. Probably Eddie, too. Tina's father had a drinking problem.
- 5d: The Bimbo - Melissa wanted to have sex with Nick and almost had sex with Eddie to make him jealous. Robin who hooks up with David. Heidi wh tells Russell she only wants him for his money and is killed while skinny dipping. Possibly Judy and Jane.
- 5e: Nerdy/Funny Guy - Eddie, a little.
- 5f: The Macho-Jerk - Doctor Crews, David and Dan, certainly. Michael, possibly. Russell, maybe.
- 5g. The Strong Female Character - Kate, maybe. Tina's mother.
- 5h. The Protector - Dr Crews should fill this role. Or Tina's mother. But no one does.
- 5i. The Sensitive Guy - Nick, obviously. Michael, possibly.
- 5j. Children and animals – No children or animals.
- 5k. The Final Girl - Tina.
1. John Shepard [F][C] * accidentally killed by Tina's psychic powers.
2. (52) Jane [D]/[G] ?
3. (53) Michael [F]/[I]
4. (54) Dan [F]
5. (55) Judy [D]
6. (56) Russell [F]
7. (57) Heidi [D]
8. (58) Maddy [E]
9. (59) Ben [P]
10. (60) Kate [G]
11. (61) David [F]
12. (62) Eddie [E][C]
13. (63) Robin [D]
14. (64) Mrs Shepard [G]
15. (65) Doctor Crews [F]
16. (66) Melissa [B]
Rule #6
Especially When They Are Most Needed, The Following Things Cannot Be Relied On…
"When's the last time you put oil in that thing?" ~ Jane.
"Yesterday." ~ Michael.
- 6a. Communication devices - No one really uses the phone, except Nick using it to try to find Michael early on.
- 6b. Lighting problems - Jason takes out the lights. No one seems to care. Especially Robin since she was getting some at the time.
- 6c. Vehicular Transport - Micheal's car breaks down in the beginning, but no one tries to escape in a car.
- 6d. Your Own Legs - Not really.
- 6e. The Authorities - No contacted.
- 6f. Weapons – A gun's about it. It doesn't really help.
- 6g. Escape routes - Not covered.
Rule #7
The Final Girl
"I killed him. Jason's dead." ~ Tina.
Tina Shepard
- 7a. Final - Yes. (With Nick).
- 7b. Girl - Yes.
- 7c. Boyish - No. Maddy is more so.
- 7d. Well Drawn - Has more of a story than the rest of the characters, but it's just "has powers, killed her father."
- 7e. Virginal & innocent - Is interested in Nick, but isn't sexually active in the film.
- 7f. Will be reborn - Inner-strenght connected to telepathic ability/anger.
The Killer has a connection to...
"Jason Voorhees. It was him in the lake." ~ Tina.
Jason Voorhees
- 8a. The location - It's Crystal Lake, the place he drown and his hunting ground for this and the previous 6 films. He just spent 10 years chained to the bottom of it at the place he originally drowned decades earlier. Yes, he's connected to this place and he's never going to leave. Wait, what's the next film called?
- 8b. The Final Girl - She is the one who accidentally uses her powers to free him from the bottom of the lake and has visions of him killing people for a while.
- 8c. The Protector - No protector. Doctor Crews seems to have been researching him, though.
- 8d. The other victims - No direct connection shown.
- 8e. Feminity - No connection.
- 8f. A specific look - Maintains the overalls and hockey mask look, but with more decay this time.
- 8g. A specific weapon - Whatever's handy, but he does towards the end been given a gift card for a large hardware chain allowing him access to a variety of gardening tools. The weapon he's often associated with - a machete (this time borrowed from Dan) - is only used once, but an axe and tent spikes are used twice.
- 9a. You always have to kill the bad guy twice - Electrocuted, collapsed in a puddle, got up soon after. A porch collapsed on him (not much of a death, but Tina claims to have killed him). Obviously, he smashes his way out of the rubble. Tina then uses her powers to hang him from a light fitting then drops him into the basement. She seems surprised when he gets up. Finally, she covers him in petrol and sets him on fire. He collapses and the house explodes (just when Nick thought it would). He turns up again.
- 9b. Even then the bad guy lives on - Not quite killed.
- 9c. Evil is immortal - Starts this film alive changed underwater for at least ten years. In the end Tina's dead father drags Jason back into the lake. Whatever that means. (It's good to see Tina's father didn't hold a grudge over the killing thing.)
Rule #9 Evil Never Dies...
"Go away! I hate you! I wish you were dead!" ~ Tina.
Rule #10
The Sequel Will Be Bigger/More Formulaic
- 10a. They will follow the rules more - A little less than average.
- 10b. They will be more formulaic - Closer to #3 and #4 than the known formula.
- 10c. There will be more T&A - The previous film had no nudity. About equal to the one before that, unless you count that film's wet t-shirt.
- 10d. There will be more and bigger deaths of the victims - About the same.
- 10e. The killer’s death will be bigger - Not a big death, but his deaths that didn't take were bigger.
Results
- The following rules are followed: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9.
- The following rules are partially followed: 1, 8, 10.
- The following rules were not followed: 6.
~ DUG.
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