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

Not only as Friday the 13th VII the New Blood, in my opinion the best Friday sequel ever, it is also one of the best horror slasher films ever, and my personal favourite horror film. This time round, Jason meets his match in the form of teenage girl Tina Shepard who is a very unique young woman with the power of telekinesis. Set sometime after Part VI, "The New Blood" is placed back at Crystal Lake, where some holiday homes now exist. Tina, along with her mother Amanda, and "doctor", Dr. Crews, return to Crystal Lake to try and help Tina with what Crews tells her is a major problem (her telekinesis) and believes that she is best helped at the place where a tragic incident happened to Tina some years ago, where her uncontrollable powers may have been responsible for her father's death.

Arriving at the family holiday home at Crystal Lake, Tina meets Nick and a bunch of other teens who are staying at the house next door for a surprise birthday party for Nick's cousin. Tina meets the other teens, and the trouble starts there! Crews is an awful man who only wants to exploit Tina for her power, and a short while into the film, Jason is raised from his watery grave by Tina's immense power! Tina also has uncontrollable visions, and sees Nick's cousin being killed (by Jason) which indeed happens. Eventually, Jason makes his way to the houses to slash his way through all the teens, and sadly, Amanda Shepard, who Dr. Crews uses as a human shield. Thankfully, the awful Crews meets a gruesome demise. Naturally, as with all "Friday" films, the death scenes are all censored.

The glamorous Lar Park Lincoln plays Tina Shepard, and gives a terrific performance of this heroine unlike any other Jason has ever fought! Lar does a terrific job, displaying great emotion when it comes to her portrayal of Tina. It was a smart move to give the heroine some added ability, and she makes for one of the most capable and intelligent of all horror heroines. Kevin Spirtas as great as hottie Nick, and he and Lar have a great on-screen chemistry together. It's also fortunate for Kevin Spirtas fans that "the New Blood" follows the rather new (at the time) horror convention of having both the hero and heroine survive. It's a shame Tina and Nick never got to feature in a sequel.

Famous voice actress / director Susan Blu is wonderful as Tina's mother, and although she may seem weak due to her inability to stand up to Dr. Crews, she is nevertheless a fantastic mother, always looking out for Tina, though in my opinion it would have been better if she survived. Terry Kiser gives a great performance of the wicked Dr. Crews, just seeing him on screen sends a shiver down my spine. Kane Hodder, the much-heralded Jason, makes his Jason debut in this film also. Jennifer Banko also makes her screen debut as young Tina in the flashback.

As for the horde of teens, there are perhaps more in this film than in most of the others. Susan Jennifer Sullivan gives a somewhat over the top performance as Mean Girl of 1988 Melissa, though she is rather good. Heidi Kozak (who goes on to have a recurring role in "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" some years later) is good as Sandra, Diana Barrows is terrific as the meek Maddy, who gets more story than most of the other teens, and also the most pent-up death scene. Diane Almedia plays Kate, and although she doesn't get much screen time, has a strong personality. As far as the rest of the teens go, none of them are of particular note.

The special effects in "The New Blood" are amazing, considering it was a low budget film and the year was 1988. Director John Carl Beuchler did a fantastic job of directing this film, and I sincerely hope that one day an uncut version will be available on DVD. However, it is certainly Lar Park Lincoln that carries the film, and even without the spectacular show down with Jason, she does an amazing job of portraying a tormented, powerful young woman who ends up being one of the best heroines in all horror films.