Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood  (1988)

A telekinetic girl named Tina Shepard accidentally kills her drunken abusive father at Crystal Lake (Yes, it's changed back to Crystal Lake) and then years later she returns to Crystal Lake with her aggressive shrink Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser) and mother Amanda (Susan Blu) to try and control her powers.
Dr. Crews doesn't treat Tina too well which makes things difficult for her. Plus, there are some next door teenagers preparing for a Birthday surprise party for a friend of theirs named Michael (Bill Butler) but a couple of the teens preparing the party doesn't welcome Tina too well after they meet her as she is considered the weird girl.
She does run into a popular boy there named Nick (Kevin Blair) whom she becomes linked to. He makes her feel more than welcome.
During that night, Tina (Lar Park-Lincoln) is at the dock where Jason (Kane Hodder) was previously chained into the lake and she is thinking of her father. Then, her powers are unleashed during this time and accidentally awakens Jason (Kane Hodder) from the lake hoping to summon her father back. She passes out after seeing what she raised from the lake.
Jason kills a couple of campers sleeping outside in a tent and then he reached Michael (Bill Butler) and his girlfriend Jane (Staci Greason) while they are trying to arrive down to Crystal Lake by walking there after their vehicle broke down. He slaughtered both of them.
Tina starts seeing images of Jason killing people but then she uses her telekinesis to try and stop Jason.

An impressive start on the film with a told narration by Walt Gorney who played Crazy Ralph in the first two flicks discussing Jason Voorhees as well as clips from most of the previous sequels. A great one if I do say so myself. Also a nice shot on Jason's tombstone exploding along with sequences on what happened the last time. Then a great animated effects shot on Jason's mask shining brightly showing the title credits along with the other stuff showing the black screen as usual.
Then it shows Jason at the bottom of the lake all chained up with a boulder tied to it which looked cool since it shows what happened last time since Tommy Jarvis put him there. Tommy's character is long gone now which is a shame as I enjoyed it and his vengeful attitude. But now the camp area has a big house with a little girl named Tina Shepard running out of the house as her drunken father hit her mother in which the settings looked good and dark as well as her wishing him that he was dead and then nice suspenseful effects on the pier rocking back and fourth with her Dad on it and falling into the water struggling as this all looked hard to watch since lots of wood was collapsing down on him giving you a sinking feeling that he's not going to make it out.
Suddenly it's years later and Tina is a teenager waking up from another bad dream on her father in a car as Mrs. Shepard is driving on a highway, then we spot a sign announcing Crystal Lake and how many miles it is (Yes folks it's name is back again which seems to ignore the fact that it was changed in the previous sequel unexplained too. Probably the fans requested this).
Then when they arrive at the camp there's barely any sun shining and some beautiful teenage girls are sunbathing as it doesn't look warm enough to do so. Seems like early spring weather to me. We spot one of them named Melissa speaking sarcastically as it seems obvious that she's the bad one of the crowd.
We spot a scene with Tina's shrink Dr. Crews peer pressuring Tina to move objects with her mind in which this left me an impression that he's a total scumbag and right was I with all that he's doing being manipulative towards her. Makes you wanna hurt this guy indeed.
The excitement looked pretty good with Tina weeping at the pier of Camp Crystal Lake using her deep thoughts to hope and revive her father in which we have a bad feeling about this since Jason is at the bottom of that lake in which there's nice effects with the water bubbling showing Jason there in which I was thinking this is not good and it looked awesome when he is rising up from the bubbly lake as well as good gloomy shots walking up to the shore. Very impressive for a return of him in a sequel.
Some good creepy moments with a couple like Jane waiting for her boyfriend Michael to do his thing in the woods after their vehicle has stalled showing someone creeping up on her and yes the killings start for the two of them which looked intense since that's what we want from Jason after all.
Afterwards when Tina awakens she tells Dr. Crews and her Mom by what she saw with this shrink really being a prick as usual geting obnoxious with her making out that she is lying as she uses her telekinetic powers to haul a TV towards him but hitting a wall instead in which this shows a nice touch with her anger and frusteration towards him. I felt this guy had it coming to him big time.
While Tina is invited to a party next door by a hunk named Nick it looked cool her hallucinating seeing those two people killed in the woods and her tripping out in which the scenery here looked pretty suspenseful.
Meanwhile we spot cheesy liners by two people camping outdoors as one of them only has one thing on his mind which is sex but goes out to chop some wood with a machette since it's cold out in the dark spooky night triggering any fan off that Jason is gonna take it and kill this dude and I was right since he always finds a new machette in a sequel in order to start his major slicing and dicing on teenagers at Crystal Lake. Also the woman hides underneath her sleeping bag while jason tears through her tent with this machette which of course is the typical unwise choice in a slasher film than getting out and running away. Jason really packs a punch with this killing by whacking her in the sleeping bad against a tree and was one of the most memorable killings to any fan who saw Jason doing away a victim.
Also the stuck up pretty girl Melissa getting goofball Eddie to upset Tina mocking her after finding out that she was in an institution pretending that she was wearing a straight jacket and yet she uses her telekinetic powers to wreck her pearled necklace in which I was hoping something worst would've happened to this bitch. But this was a nice start for sure and well put in. You definetely would want to slug this douchebag big time. It's nice to have a bad one with the rest of the popular teenage crowd since it wasn't so commonly used in the previous sequels.
In another moment there's Sandra trying to get her boyfriend Ben to go skinny dipping in the lake at night which was a traditional moment for a slasher film like in some of the previous sequels too but the water looked too damn cold and gross looking. Yet when Ben is changing out of his clothes Jason is there to kill him which looks spooky with Sandra in the lake spotting him dead and it seems phony that she is in the middle of the lake panicking and storking her legs laying still in the water instead of trying to swim back ashore as this is a perfect moment for Jason to grab her and drown her. Yes another one of those stupid teenagers not being wise in trying to escape.
There's a moment with Tina driving in her vehicle and spotting a hallucination on her Mom being slayed by Jason which looked cool to see in which we have a bad feeling that this will happen soon.
Also Dr. Crews goes searching around in the woods spotting the two dead teens Michael and Jane which looked artsy on one of them hanging in an arm of a tree. Then a crash of lightning sparks up the forest which also looked cheesy but cool for this kind of horror film. There was never a thunderstorm in any of these flicks so it's time to have one finally.
A nerdy type of girl named Maddy dresses up to look beautiful and Jason chases after her and she hides in an area of a barn which makes me wonder is this the same one from part 3??? My guess is correct. Also it was cheesily suspenseful to watch when Jason tries to look for her and she is scared trying not to make a sound. Of course we all know that Jason is clever and will get her.
Jason uses a nifty murder weapon with an electric saw on a rod which is something totally new for him while he is on the attack with Dr. Crews giving me a smile that he will do him in after all he was a scumbag.
There's even a real cool moment with Tina using her telekinetic powers to trap Jason with a bunch of roots from underground and electrocuting him to seek revenge as this seemed like a cool moment with neat electric fuses circling around him and then falling into a puddle. Of course Tina slowly goes over to him to check on if he's dead which is not a smart thing to do. Any fan knows that Jason is far from dead.
In another part of the movie a couple of teenagers are getting it on with one another in a bedroom which includes the dimwitted Jeff with the stuck up popular Melissa but she backs out finally realising she's not interested in him and using him to make Nick jealous. This was also nicely put in since we encounter those types just coming on strongly but only to set them up for a disappointment.
There's more dead bodies spotted by Tina and Nick in the forest as this was another great horror moment. Jason also seems to know how to shock these two by putting a decaitated head next to a plant or other situations like this.
My favourite scene comes up with Melissa acting arrogant towards Tina and Nick finally getting what's coming to her when she ignores their warning about Jason.
The effects and suspense really gets going when TIna uses more of her telekinesis on Jason in the house including with him chashing through a case of stairs into a basement where there's a fire burning and then she unleashes her powers to burn him in flames as well as breaking off his hockey mask which we see a full shot of his face and it's not pretty. But with the basement burning scene I'm sure that Freddy Krueger would take a nod to this since it seems to pay a tribute to him. After all this scene looked sort of like his boiler room. There's even a great moment with the house exploding but Jason still seems to survive all of this. However I do love his last appearance in this film which involves him at the pier with Tina using her powers once again. I won't spoil this one for ya but it's worth seeing for sure.
Bottom line is that this was the lowest budget of all the films but still quite good. Also it was cool to have Jason's mask breaking off making you wonder if this will be the last one since he always uses that mask ever since part 3. The woods looked very gloomy and unpleasant like in the previous sequel which was what I really enjoyed. But what confuses me is in the prologue wondering if this moment happened right after part 6 as there was no tall house at Camp Blood. Oh well the writers never explained much in any of the sequels since it was so low budgeted.

The acting is in pretty good shape. Lar Park-Lincoln (Tina Shepard) does a nice job as a troubled telekinesis teenage girl and really knows how to portray someone who was disturbed from her past. She shows alot of great energy by being emotional as well as showing alot of good aggressions and frusterations bringing this to life. Concentrated well when she is standing on a pier and showing some sobbing emotions as well as doing well by fainting after spotting the Jason character appear from the lake. Does well screaming and showing anger speaking back towards someone pressuring her by losing control which was highly energised. Also does well freaking out after a hallucination running out of the room which looked good and intense. Nice intense expressions when she is being mocked. During a battle with the Jason character she is showing a good intense angered expressions with an evil glare while she uses her powers. She seemed to prove her point as a character actress by portraying this role and became a cult icon due to her work in this film which wasn't a surprise.
Kevin Blair (Nick) had a nice masculine jock boy next door type of look to his appeal in the film. He also spoke well and came across as those all around nice popular types. He's had alot of acting experience before this film came out and you can really tell proving himself to be a worthy character actor. He does well acting emotional too whenever he had to be this way and trying to warn someone not to go out after he spotted some killings.
Also we have Terry Kiser (Dr. Crews) who was a known name in TV and film and really makes you want to hate him as Tina's scumbag shrink. He's the best actor in this film and the biggest celebrity of them all too and always played interesting characters in shows. Mainly as villains. He does well by acting obnoxious and aggressive really bringing it out big time. He's very in your face with what he does which is another great plus for him. There's a perfect shocked reaction on his face after discovering a corpse in the woods as he does well jumping back. There's great energy with him by trying to run away and dodge the Jason character using a weapon against him as well as falling back as the blocking for all of this looked energetically performed.
Susan Blu (Amanda Shepard) shows a good warmness to her role and is believeable with her sympathetic attitude in what she does. She also shows off her anger and disappointment too in certain parts of the film. Does a good job getting stern towards her fellow actor in which this was drawn in quite nicely showing their arguments together. Pretty powerful here. Definetely has a nice clear speaking for for her characterisitcs as this isn't surprising that she does voice over acting for cartoons. She was awesome without a doubt.
Susan Jennifer Sullivan (Melissa) played a believeable bitch in the film trying to make the new girl unwelcome. She does well with her slick speaking and cocky behavior making this really come to life making you want to hurt her badly for being nasty. You really wonder if she's really like this and became a great drawing card to the story. She was quite talented by all means. A nice moment with a mocking speech on her laughing nastily as this looked believeably cruel. Nice shocked and choking reaction on her when telekinetic powers are briefly used on her. A great snapping reaction on her screaming and cursing towards him showing another moment of intense energy when she is ignorant on being warned not to go out of her cabin.
Jeff Bennett (Eddie) certainly had the looks as a dorky teen and played this off really well. He was convincing as someone who would be stupid to do anything to be a part of things. He definetely made his part worthy with what he did throughout his whole performance as a typical idiot.
Diana Barrows (Maddy) seemed to look perfect with her sort of plump looks as one of those brainy dweeby types. She got into her role very well as someone who seems a little insecure and really wanting to be a part of things herself. She definetely studied her craft well and had alot of great terrifying energy to when the terror happens to her. She had a perfect blood curdling scream too which was an extra plus for her. There's a great intense shrieking reaction after she sees a dead corpse in the woods with a great high pitched scream coming from her. She also does well panicking and running away along with good fearful expressions while trying to hide.
Pre-scream queen Elizabeth Kaitan (Robin) certainly showed a good snobbish attitude as one of those bimbo's who thinks that they're totally popular and does well speaking cocky like and trying to act cool. I found her not too bad in her performance as I was never a fan of her work in other cult cheesy b-film's. She's not too bad of an actress though. This probably is her most popular movie throughout her acting career.
Jon Renfield (David) was very out there with his character as a hunky teenage pothead. He knew on how to speak like one which seemed well done too. Plus had the hunky looks that rthe girls would go for even if he seemed like one of those airheads in which he brings all of this in together smoothly. Another memorable actor here.
Diane Almeida (Kate) showed a nice outgoing type of behavior and does it with terrific style throughout her performance and could go far with her acting career by having a ton of great spunk. I liked it when she shows a gruff attitude in the beginning which showed off well.
Heidi Kozak (Sandra) was another one who showed a bit of spunk in her part of the film as well as showing off good lifelike energy into her part of the film along with knowing how to scream and freak out too. She got into her role well even if she was in some of the scene's but breezed through ok. Yet doesn't make much of an effort freaking out in a lake trying to get away as her energy goes into a slope. She's remembered for her work in alot of cheesy non-mainstream low budget films as well.

Not as violent as most of the Friday films.
A knife is stabbed in a woman's neck to a tree
Jason's hand goes through a campers chest.
A teens face is sliced open
A guy's head is crushed
A party favor is stabbed inside a guy's eye
A lady is stabbed through her chest
A head is decapitated (But it looks fake)
A throat is slit and the corpse is nailed to a tree

The music was composed by Harry Manfredini (Naturally) and by Fred Mollin. Alot of the music from part 2 & 6 were used in this one to still have the feel of things during many horrifying sequences and it works incredibly wel along with some banging sounds and thumping as well as screeching effects during the opening and closing credits. It was slightly trashy annoying but oh well. There's some good metal type scraping sounds for mainly the moments with the dead bodies found in the woods as it seems to flow in well. Sometimes we hear some cheesy Z-grade dark sounds which would only be suitable for a made-to-video flick which is another criticism.

Narrator: There's a legend around here. A killer buried, but NOT dead. A curse on Crystal Lake, a death curse. Jason Voorhees' curse. They say he died as a boy, but he keeps coming back. Few have seen him and lived. Some have even tried to stop him. NO ONE can.

Sandra: So what do you think of Nick?
Melissa: [eyeing Nick] Gee, I hadn't noticed.

[Michael and Jane are standing on the side of the road next to a broken down car]
Michael: Piece of shit!
Jane: When's the last time you put oil in that thing?
Michael: Yesterday.

Melissa: [to Tina] Hey, Tina.
[Nick appears wearing a big fat jacket on backwards]
Melissa: This how they wear their jackets back at the mental hospital?
[Tina gets mad and snaps Melissa's pearl necklace with her telekinesis]

Robin: So he says, “Let me see your I.D.” and I'm like, “I left it at home.” And he goes, “You have to go and get it.” So I said, “Okay” and I left.

Tina Shepard: [upon seeing Dr. Crews] Bad news Crews.

Russell: If this is my uncle's house, then why are WE sleeping in the van?
Sandra: Who says we're sleeping?

Russell: When did you first know you loved me?
Sandra: I think it was the first time I saw the enormous size of your great big... wallet.

Maddy: Need a little touch-up-work my ass.

Nick: Melissa, just stay here with us
Melissa: It's not my style
Nick: DON'T GO OUT THERE!
Melissa: [Right before Jason appears at the door and axes her right in the face] FUCK YOU! NO, THE FUCK YOU BOTH!