With the constant talk of reboots and sequels swirling around the “Friday the 13th” franchise it would be prudent to look back at the last time the series was given a sort of reboot. After the events of “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) was able to finally dispatch of Jason Voorhees and all was well with the world. Many thought this might be the end of the series. Unfortunately they were wrong. And in an attempt to give the series a new sew start they jumped forward a few years and introduced audiences to an older Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd) who lives in a halfway house for troubled teens and is haunted by the events of the previous film. This was an attempt to position Tommy as the killer in future installments. But the negative backlash was able to keep Jason as the killer in all future sequels. Yet the film does have merits that maintain its standing with fans of the series. And it has nothing to do with plot, rather its intentional hilarity.
Regardless of how the film fared critically and commercially. There are several scenes of lowbrow humor and one of literal toilet humor. Two of the ancillary antagonists are Ethel (Carol Locatell), the owner of a dilapidated farm, and her dimwitted son Junior (Ron Sloan). Upset with her property being used for sex she confronts the halfway house and demands that it be closed. During which her son constantly repeats her, which draws her ire. There are a few more exchanges in which they antagonize each other. One to the point where she calls him a “big dildo.” Scenes involving the two of them help distract from the glaring problems of the movie and allow the viewer to laugh at the horrible dialogue. Without the inclusion of these two the film would lack some much needed humor to break the monotony of a particularly dull entry in the series.
The literal toilet humor scene occurs when Reggie the Reckless (Shavar Ross) and Pam (Melanie Kinnaman) visit Reggie’s older brother Demon (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) at a trailer park. After his younger brother leaves Demon complains about the quality of enchiladas he has just eaten and makes a beeline to the Port-o-Potty claiming, “it’s them damn enchiladas.” When he finally makes it to the toilet he exhales in an exaggerated tone and genuinely looks relieved. Which is short lived. This is a slasher movie after all. After being scared by the structure being shaked he and his girlfriend begin to have an impromptu singing session where they sing “hey baby” and “oh baby” back and forth. Eventually they both meet their doom. And Demon is impaled by a spike. The fact that someone is killed on a toilet after having a particularly bad bowel movement enhances the film’s hilarity and gives a unique take on a death scene.
Without these scenes the film could be considered just another slasher flick. Yet with these hilarious moments it injects some much needed humor into one of the lesser entries in the series. So come on Hollywood, after the new hyper realistic gorefest instalments are finished bring back that classic campy carnage fest for old times sake. Take a risk. This is a franchise that, just like Jason Voorhees, will never die. And you know you'll keep making money, you always do.