Contrary to what many people assume, most forms of film criticism are indifferent to whether or not the ideas present within a movie were placed there intentionally. The only “rule” is that the critic should be able to justify their personal interpretation with examples taken from whatever is being examined. After all, art discourse usually […]
This is where Bram Stoker comes in, with the legendary author realizing that the late 19th century no longer had room for the superstitions of yesteryear and deciding to write a story where the old-fashioned horrors of pre-industrialized society would attempt to invade what was then the largest and most technologically advanced city in the world.
In case you need a refresher, Dracula follows an ensemble of “modern” professionals (including lawyers, doctors and Texan gunslingers) as they band together to prevent a demonic foreigner from turning London into his new playground. In many ways, Count Dracula himself represents an antiquated and superstitious view of the world, which is why it’s only appropriate that his old-fashioned evil is ultimately thwarted by scientific advances like blood transfusions (which were still experimental back when the book was released) and rational, scientifically minded protagonists.
And this is where slasher flicks enter the picture. Better writers have documented how cultural events like the Vietnam war, celebrity serial killers and the civil rights movement led to both studios and audiences craving for simpler times, but suffice to say that there was yet another shift in how storytellers saw the world. People once again wanted to believe that evil only lurked out in the middle of the woods and targeted those who foolishly engaged in chaotic behavior.
This is one of the main reasons that the Friday the 13th franchise saw so many sequels, as villainizing “backwoods” regions made the cities seem safer by comparison. But when the time came for an 8th entry, newcomer writer/director Rob Hedden wanted to do things differently, coming up with two completely different pitches that would finally free Jason from Crystal Lake. One of these ideas was meant to be a claustrophobic homage to Alien set on a cruise ship, while the other was an urban exploitation flick set in an over-the-top version of Manhattan. Due to budgetary constraints (and a desire to hold onto his favorite ideas), Hedden ended up combining both concepts – though many critics argue that we ended up getting the worst of both worlds.
In case you haven’t seen the finished film, Jason Takes Manhattan follows a group of High School graduates and their chaperones as they embark on a celebratory cruise to New York City. Unfortunately, the undead killer Jason Voorhees has just been revived and is now stuck on the ship alongside them, with the inevitable bloodshed eventually spilling over into the City That Never Sleeps.
Even on the surface, you can already find a few similarities between this story and Dracula. For starters, the setup of Jason on a ship is clearly reminiscent of the Last Voyage of the Demeter section of the novel, with the SS Lazarus (named in honor of the villain’s “miraculous” revival) serving as an isolated slaughterhouse before unwittingly releasing a killer upon an unsuspecting city. There’s also the psychic connection between Jason and Rennie, which is arguably similar to Dracula’s connection to Mina Harker.
Diving a little deeper, however, you may start to recognize some surprising thematic similarities – especially concerning Jason’s relationship with the Big Apple itself. Much like Dracula was forced to hide out in secret estates while relying on a madman to do his dirty work – a far cry from his noble status in Transylvania – Jason’s work is also made much harder when he finally makes it to New York. Jaded citizens ignore the rotting killer as he stomps after his prey, and he even has to deal with law enforcement aiding the survivors now that they’re in a bustling city instead of a remote campground.
Then there’s that ending. The toxic waste that saves our heroes may be a hilariously contrived plot device (“it floods every night at midnight!”), but it can also be argued that the green sludge represents the very same rational thinking that ultimately defeated Dracula – just with some added post-nuclear flavor. Life in an oppressive metropolis was simply too much for Jason to bear, and what better way of showing this than by having him be killed by the toxic byproduct of the city’s seedy underbelly? After all, the spawn of superstitious legends simply can’t survive in a modern society already jaded by urban evil.
There are a few more common points between the stories, such as the villains’ seemingly arbitrary obsession with a virtuous woman and the recurring imagery of water as a weakness, but I’m not actually here to convince anyone that the film is an unhinged take on Dracula. Instead, I’d only like to suggest that there may be more to this ill-fated pleasure cruise than meets the eye, and there are enough similarities here that it might not be a mere coincidence. Like Milla Jovovich said at the end of The Fourth Kind: “In the end, what you believe is yours to decide.” And while I can’t be sure that Hedden intentionally set out to recreate the O.G. story about an unkillable monster reaching the big city only to be defeated by it, I don’t think that really matters.
Personally, I’m way more interested in how the ideas that inspired Jason Takes Manhattan have a common origin with the themes present in Dracula – which is why I’d argue that these yarns are undoubtedly connected despite existing nearly a century apart. Friday the 13th Part VIII may not be an excellent film, suffering from severe pacing issues and lackluster production value, but on this Friday the 13th, I recommend setting expectations aside and revisiting this over-maligned sequel from a slightly different point of view.
Just don’t expect a Jason vs. Dracula crossover anytime soon…
‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ (2023)
