It immediately became clear to Frank Mancuso, Jr. that Friday the 13th Part VI would reflect an entirely different vision and sensibility from that of Part V. Tom McLoughlin's first draft screenplay was funnier, faster and more action-packed than any Friday before or since. Imbuing his screenplay with a post-modern sense of irony unique for a horror film at that time, McLoughlin seemed hell-bent on gently satirizing not only the hard-edged cynicism of A New Beginning and its namesake series, but the slasher genre itself.
McLoughlin's script, although essentially ignoring the ending of Part V, brought back the character of Tommy Jarvis, completing a trilogy of sorts that had begun with The Final Chapter. The ambitious writer-director also added a dash of mythology to Jason's backstory, a name change for Crystal Lake (redubbing it "Forest Green"), and a fresh batch of genuinely likable characters just self-aware enough that even those who literally had the words "Dead" written across their foreheads were in on the joke. And as a final clever, however self-conscious, touch, McLoughlin also pared down Part V's over-the-top body count to a comparatively slim—and entirely fitting—13 victims.
As pre-production on Part VI began in January 1986, a new batch of cast and crew quickly discovered McLoughlin's enthusiasm and determination to deliver a different kind of Friday the 13th. And soon any fears for a repeat of Part V's contentious production on the part of Mancuso and his producing team were quietly extinguished.
TOM MCLOUGHLIN:
I was basically given carte blanche. Frank said, "Here are the films, just pick up from where they left off and see what you want to do with it." It was one of the great times of my life, where they gave me a private screening room at Paramount and let me watch all the movies, back to back. I noticed after The Final Chapter, it went a little sideways. So I thought, "I'm going to pick up after The Final Chapter, disregard Part V, and tie the legend together a bit." I wanted to take the Tommy character that Corey Feldman played and do the same idea, that he was locked away, but instead of getting out and becoming Jason as Part V left off, he gets out and just wants to make sure that Jason is dead and in his grave. And when Tommy digs Jason up and sees him rotting, he has this horrible flashback and can't help but take out his wrath on the corpse. And of course that leads to a little divine intervention. If Jason's dead and we're going to bring him back, let's use the old Frankenstein device of a lightning bolt. Because if I can get the audience to buy that he's the walking dead, I can do anything, and there's no stopping him. It just gave me license to do a lot of different and neat things.
I have had friends who find this terribly amusing, but I wrote the movie during Christmas. I was literally sitting in my living room next to the Christmas tree, writing all these horrific kills and doing my research by watching all the Fridays and trying to put together some assemblage of a mythology to track how Jason got to this point. I didn't think that any of the previous Friday filmmakers spelled out the mythology, other than the first movie. Of course, obviously, no one knew it was going to become a franchise. So I wanted to incorporate more of a backstory, a sense of history. I also had always been more of a gothic horror kind of person. I love Edgar Allan Poe. I love ghost stories. And One Dark Night dealt with death and floating corpses and claustrophobia. I wanted to get those elements into this, in an era when if you had a killer, a knife, a forest and teenagers, you had a pretty good chance of getting a film made. Maybe it's my being raised Catholic—that combination of Catholic guilt, Catholic icons, devils and demons—all my influences and beliefs. You can take the boy out of the church, but you can't take the church out of the boy. I even originally subtitled my script "Jason Has Risen," but Paramount found that a little bit distasteful, so it became Jason Lives instead.
The death of Allen Hawes (Ron Palillo) was one of the most heavily censored kills in Jason Lives. Makeup effects supervisor Christopher Swift explains the intended effect. "We built a false body on a rig. The front was porous and we filled it with all kinds of guts, arteries and a heart that would be pulled out by Jason. What you did see is Jason's hand coming out of the body and then a cut. What you did not see is that he dragged the guts and the heart out and then drops the heart on the ground, where it lays steaming. It was one of those scenes that really grabbed you, which is probably why it was snipped."
THOM MATHEWS, "Tommy Jarvis":
Growing up, I just didn't know what I wanted to do. One day, a girlfriend suggested that I might try being an actor. Her remark was right out of the blue, but it triggered something in my head, and I took her advice. Right before Friday came along, I was going out to readings, not getting the parts. I had already done this hit movie, Return of the Living Dead, and here I was, thinking that once it came out, that things would begin happening in a big way for me. But even after it did, and I got good notices, I wasn't getting any offers. So, I started putzing around and getting real depressed. And that film did help. But it was just that I was expecting a flood of offers and I wasn't getting any work. It was really frustrating.
I'll tell you why I did Jason Lives. I was in no position to turn down the lead in a film being distributed by Paramount Pictures that would be seen by a whole lot of people. No matter what some think of the Friday movies, they can establish that an actor can carry a picture.
TOM MCLOUGHLIN:
Finding my Tommy Jarvis was a question of getting someone I could believe was Corey Feldman, grown up. We never found anybody who was exactly the right physical type, but Thom Mathews was an up-and-coming young genre actor. He already had a nice body of work, he had done the Return of the Living Dead movies, and he was a strong actor. I also felt he brought a cult following with him. And Frank did not want to bring back John Shepherd from Part V, for some reason. I can't tell you why, because I thought there was going to be some sort of obligation to keep the same actor in the role.
JOHN SHEPHERD, "Tommy Jarvis," Part V:
It was funny. I was counseling a church youth group after Part V came out, and all the kids saw the film and loved it. Which, of course, gave me a lot of credibility in their eyes, that you could be somebody who had faith but who wasn't a wacko. That also made it a real dichotomy for me when Part VI came out, because I felt, "How can I create a character in this franchise, then tell kids you shouldn't go see R-rated films?" And here I am making not one, but two.
They sent me the script. I was surprised. There was even a scene in there where a little girl prays, and Jason doesn't kill her. I thought, "Maybe this is a sign from God that it's okay for me to do this." But I hadn't come out to L.A. to do horror films, and I really felt like I was better than this material. I also felt that they didn't really appreciate the work I put into the last one, because here's the sequel, and they are only offering me scale plus a bump. I said to my agent, "Set the price so high that they'll have to pay if they really want me." So I think she asked for something "exorbitant," like double scale. And it was difficult to walk away because after Part V came out, I ran out of money. I had to move out of Malibu to North Hollywood, and I was dating a girl who wanted to get married. So I went to work for the L.A. Times delivering papers and putting the inserts in them. And here I was in this blockbuster horror film! Then my girlfriend started going to seminary, and I thought, "Maybe I'm not cut out for acting. Maybe I'm supposed to be a minister." She said, "We should ask God to either open the door or close it." I said, "I think the door is closed. I'm going to seminary." So I enrolled to become a pastor.
The bottom line is that I knew in my heart of hearts that this wasn't what I was going to do. And eventually I got this other movie called Caught, with Jill Ireland. I played her son. It was my biggest part ever and a fantastic film and one that spoke to me personally, because it was about a kid who was on a spiritual journey that leads to faith. And I got engaged, and then married. I even went in and pitched ideas to the company that made the movie, and I've produced 14 films for them since. So thank goodness I didn't do Part VI. It totally changed my direction. I'm very thankful.
&nb
sp; SHAVAR ROSS, "Reggie," Part V:
I was supposed to be in Part VI, but that never happened. They wanted me, and Melanie Kinnaman, too. And it was a big deal, because they were like—"Everybody gets killed off in the beginning of the next sequel, so we'll knock you off, too." And my father was like, "No, he's not going to do that. My son is not going to die on film!"
MELANIE KINNAMAN, "Pam," Part V:
When John and I signed on to do Part V, we couldn't do it without also both signing up to do Part VI. We simply had to. I said fine, great for me! And it was pay or play, too. It wasn't until within a month or two after we finished Part V and everyone had said their goodbyes, that my agent told me that Part VI wasn't gonna happen. Because John Shepherd doesn't want to do it. I said, "Why doesn't he want to do it?" I was told that he was against the whole idea, because they were going to turn him into the new killer. They also didn't appreciate his performance. So since John didn't want to do Part VI, neither one of us could do it.
I never saw a script for Part VI. But I was told the idea, which was that Tommy doesn't kill me at the end of Part V. One reason being, they couldn't kill Shavar Ross. They just couldn't—Frank and Paramount both didn't want to kill a kid. So there was going to be no explanation as to why Shavar wasn't there. It was just going to be John and I, and we were going to bond and I was going to help him. Everyone thinks that I was supposed to get killed in the first few minutes, but that's not true. I'm sure I was going to be killed at some point, because Jason had to be involved. But John wasn't going to kill me, because they wanted to have a relationship between the two of us, and still have people think that Tommy could be the killer.
Gallery: Filming the opening sequence.
TOM MCLOUGHLIN:
The only marching orders I had with my lead female character, Megan, was that Frank Jr. tended to like a very attractive blond girl in the lead—that was pretty much a mandatory thing. Frank Mancuso, Jr. had a lot to say about casting. So I was looking for what he desired, but tried to find the best actress I could. Jennifer Cooke was amazing. She had just done V: The Series. She was really sharp and funny.
DAVID KAGEN, "Sheriff Garris":
I started on the stage, and when I came out to L.A. in 1982 or '83 I started doing television and more stage work but I still hadn't done much in feature film when I auditioned for Tom McLoughlin. And as it turned out, Jennifer Cooke had been an acting student of mine. So we had a chance to go off and do the material before we went in, and I felt very focused and very confident and very committed. And I remember on Jason Lives they asked her, "Which actor do you want to work with for the part of your father?" Jennifer said, "David." So it worked out. It was nice to know that she respected me, so there wasn't the issue that I was too young to be her dad.
I was excited because it was a terrific opportunity. No question. That's why I took it: the size of the part, the prominence of the film, and that it was produced by Paramount. I did have concerns, because I didn't know what effect these movies had on the people who watch them. And I still don't—I don't know, overall, what the net effect is. But Tom's a smart guy. He's a deep guy. I don't mean to put down Friday the 13th, but he's capable of other stuff. I understood this was an opportunity for him to get somewhere. I can't speak for anyone else, and I can't say I wouldn't have done the film if he hadn't been involved, but it definitely helped alleviate my fears.
VINCENT GUASTAFERRO, "Deputy Rick Cologne":
Before Jason Lives, Tom had directed me in a play. And up until then, I'd only done two small movie roles, where I was like a gang member or something. And I looked really skinny and young and had long hair. Tom was the first one to cast me as a grown-up. I was like, "Whoa!" I didn't even know he was an up-and-coming film director. Then my agent was called about Jason Lives, and frankly it scared me. But I heard Tom McLoughlin was directing it and I got excited. Tom's an accomplished everything. He's one of the finest artists I know. He's capable and he has a good soul. He appears like Wes Craven and those other guys—very straight and professorial, but with a demented mind. I knew he would do something special with it.
BOB LARKIN, "Martin the Caretaker"
I got a call by my agent to come in and read for this Martin character. And I gladly did, because it seemed like a fun role. I knew of the Friday the 13th movies, and the Jason character, but wasn't really familiar with them. But I liked the fact that I was supposed to be this old caretaker in charge of the graveyard and in charge of Jason's grave. I thought that was a really a nice touch.
I remember I read for the casting directors first. Then I got a call back to come back and read for Tom McLoughlin. I liked him right off. And at that time I had a full beard, and that really lent itself to the character. So glad I had it! And I got the role.
TOM MCLOUGHLIN:
The funny thing is, despite all the scary films I've done over the years, when people ask who has been my biggest inspiration, I say Frank Capra. It's true. Capra was my mentor. He's the only Hollywood director I actually got to have one-on-one conversations with—he even gave me notes and a quote for Date With an Angel, which I did after my Friday. Capra taught me that it's a people-to-people medium. If you care about the people, you'll care about the story. Even if you don't have as great a story as you might want, if you just like spending time with this character, that's good. I guess if you make a character annoying enough people will want to see them killed, and I felt like that was often the case with some of the past Friday films. So I wanted to make the characters likable so you didn't want to see them suffer. That was my huge rule in casting: get likable, accessible people, then create enough humanity so the audience is emotionally invested, because they've somehow connected with and understand the characters.
Pamela and Fern really had their finger on the pulse at that time, finding good people who could take my scenes and make them come to life. And by the time we were done casting, we ended up with a cast who looked "contemporary." I tried to find a way to make each character unique and different and have a voice of their own. With the girls, it was coming up with a good mix, finding young actresses that were all different types and all had a strong unique style. And I remember with Tom Fridley, there was an excitement around him. Fern and Pamela said, "He's John Travolta's cousin—he's on his way to big things."
"I wanted all the kills to be humanly impossible to do," says Tom McLoughlin of Part VI's body count. "I don't want to say the film was 'bloodless,' but they were sort of stretching reality." Although much of these sequences were heavily edited to guarantee an R rating from the MPAA ratings board, some of the excised footage can be seen on Paramount Home Entertainment's various special edition DVD releases of the film. McLoughlin also meticulously conceptualized each kill scene in advance, utilizing the talents of storyboard artist Bill Forsche. Storyboards for select sequences from Part VI can be viewed throughout this chapter.
TOM FRIDLEY, "Cort":
The first acting role I ever did was the pilot of "Fantasy Island." Then I did a series of movies, including Max Dugan Returns, Iron Eagle and the original The Karate Kid. This was all around 1984 and '85. I was also doing a lot of commercials. So it was a really good time for me. And it's funny, I had shot the original 15-minute promo for what would become Friday the 13th: The Series, for Frank Mancuso, Jr. It never aired—it wasn't really even a pilot, just something they showed to broadcasters to get them interested in the show. Anyway, from that Frank Jr. knew I was easy to work with, and we got along really well. And I had known the casting directors on Jason Lives. I loved Fern and Pamela. I'd done enough for them by that point so that unlike a lot of auditions where you go in and read for something like eight times, I already had the part before I got home. The message was on my answering machine when I walked in the door.
Cort wasn't a difficult character. I had a rock band at the time. I played drums and sang—that was actually my main thing, not acting. Music was what I wanted to do. The sort of hard rock edge that the character had—I ca
me to the audition already with the earring and the ripped-up jeans. I think Tom McLoughlin saw the character in me already, and he just kind of let me be who I was.
KERRY NOONAN, "Paula":
When I read for Jason Lives, the working title was "Aladdin Sane," but in reading it, it was obviously a Friday the 13th. I had done some TV and equity theatre, so I was excited because this would be my first movie. Though I actually really dislike watching slasher movies and I get scared easily—I don't want that in my dream bank. But I thought, "It's a horror movie so if I'm bad in it, people whose opinions I really care about probably won't see it anyway." And the Friday series was a big moneymaker.
It says something about Tom McLoughlin that all we did during my audition was talk. I was nervous. He said, "Tell something humorous that has happened to you in the last year." I really liked Tom—he was a nice guy and really easy to connect with. The audition felt good. I think I got the job because I was free enough that I didn't really care whether I got it or not. And Tom did tell me he wanted Paula to be really fashion-conscious, that she probably would be reading Elle magazine and all that. So I got my hair cut right before the shoot—I wanted it kind of wild, this kind of funky hair thing going. And I eventually liked the wardrobe they picked for me. Paula was probably a little more hip than I am in that respect, but other than that, she was pretty close to me—I'm the major good girl—so I didn't feel I had to stretch that much.
DARCY DEMOSS, "Nikki":
When I was a kid, my father enrolled me in the New York International Company of Performing Arts. I studied tap, ballet, jazz, musical comedy and acting, and immediately it was my favorite thing in the world to do. I was very dedicated, even at a young age—I wouldn't go away for weekends or slumber parties or anything because I had to go to class. Then I did my first commercial at age 15. And growing up, my best friend was Helen Hunt, who was working all the time—she used to have her driver pick me up and take me to whatever set she was working on. Eventually I dropped out of college and starting working as an actress. My first film was Hardbodies. I played Dee Dee the counter slut, a very demeaning role—I had to pop through the sunroof of a car and I'm topless. But at least I got my SAG card. Then I played a cheerleader in a film called Gimme an 'F,' which led to Can't Buy Me Love, which is still one of my favorite films that I've done.
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (Enhanced Edition) Page 44
