Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

1989 Directed by Rob Hedden

The Big Apple's in BIG trouble!

A group of students on a graduation cruise bound for Manhattan soon realize they've got a stowaway aboard the ship: serial killer Jason Voorhees.

Jensen Daggett Scott Reeves Kane Hodder Tiffany Paulsen Todd Caldecott Barbara Bingham Peter Mark Richman Alex Diakun Warren Munson Fred Henderson Saffron Henderson Martin Cummins Vincent Craig Dupree Sharlene Martin Kelly Hu Tim Mirkovich Gordon Currie Sam Sarkar Ace Michael Benyaer Roger Barnes Amber Pawlick Vince Cupone Peggy Hedden David Longworth Jasper Cole David Jacox Ken Kirzinger

Alternative Titles

Viernes 13. Parte VIII: Jason vuelve... para siempre, Friday the 13th Part 8 - Jason Takes Manhattan, Viernes 13 Parte 8 Jason Toma Manhattan, Friday the 13th Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan, Viernes 13 VIII: Jason toma Manhattan, Venerdì 13: incubo a Manhattan, Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan, Sexta-Feira 13 Parte 8: Jason Ataca Nova Iorque, 黑色星期五8, Viernes 13 parte 8, Fredagen den 13:e del 8 - Jason intar Manhattan, Vendredi 13, l'ultime retour, Martes 13 VIII: Jason Toma Manhattan, Петък 13-и: Част VIII-Джейсън превзема Манхатън, Vendredi 13, chapitre 8: Jason à Manhattan, Pátek trináctého 8: Jason na Manhattanu, Sexta-Feira 13 Parte 8 - Jason Ataca Nova Iorque, П’ятниця, 13-те, частина VIII: Джейсон захоплює Манхеттен, П’ятниця 13-те: Частина VIII, Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan, Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

thriller horror

100 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by pd187 ★★★½ 3

this opens on a shot of the twin towers, setting up very different expectations for how jason will take manhattan
Review by Steve G 🐝 ★★★★ 33

This could be the most important film I've ever seen.
Before people start coming round with pitchforks and flaming torches, allow me to explain. I was 17 years old and, by all accounts, a particularly feeble teenage lad who was scared of everything. The idea of watching a horror film was not one that I could even entertain. What if I have nightmares?! What if my youthful brain is irreparably damaged by the despicable images that are presented to me?! I may never recover! Although it might get me a few days off school.
So it all came to a head one Friday night in 1991 when BBC1 broadcast the network premiere of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes…
Review by Hollie Horror ★★ 7

Love the use of green & pink light and also love how Jason sounds like a baby dinosaur when he roars in the end, hate everything else.
Review by SilentDawn ★★ 15

39
Jason gets on a small boat and kills people and then gets on a large ship and kills people and then goes to Manhattan and kills more people.
Review by josh lewis ★★ 6

jason said "new yawk, da greatest fuckin city in da world." pretty goofy and fun once jason actually hits the city and is slicing and dicing rapists and people going "eyyy im walkin' ear" and punches the head off a dude that boxes him for a solid minute for some reason, unfortunate it takes over an hour to get that stuff. absolutely no reason for this one to get the longest running time of the whole franchise lol
Review by Ian West ★★★★ 8

My last Friday of the night was my first Friday experience. Don’t really care that most of it is on a boat (I love boat and train movies) I just care about that dude’s head getting punched off and that slimy headmaster principal turd getting his face shoved in a toxic waste barrel of sludge with rats and heroin needles in it that just happens to be in a nyc back alley. I’ve always been very much all in on this bullshit.
Review by Sally Jane Black 12

Okay yes this is as bad as its reputation suggests (no time in the city, racist caricatures, gratuitous sexual violence, wasted locations), but rock star woman playing guitar randomly in the boat is the greatest scene in any of these movies.
Review by nathaxnne ★★★★★ 16

'Friday the 13 Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan' is the first slasher movie I ever saw in a theatre as far as I recall, and at the time I was pretty underwhelmed (I saw Weird Al's 'UHF' the same week and was way more into that!). I wanted some cthonic earthen/forest/lake slayage from my first F13 theatrical experience and kind of filed it away in my memory landfill for neuronal seagulls to pick over. Years later, when I did a F13 retrospective, I think I even elided this one, remembering how much I didn't like it. Then, years after that, I watched it again on a lark and totally fell in love. This movie works best when divorced from expectation…
Review by basketcasejoel 3

Jason does not take Manhattan
Review by katie ★★★★★ 5

HE
Review by Laurie Strode ★★★

I was getting much too worried that each subsequent sequel was getting tamer and tamer with regard to brutality, but I'm here to say the gore is back baby. Jason is finally out of the woods and into Manhattan, and before he gets there he boards a cruise ship where the real fun begins. There's a real nice polish to the film that nearly keeps me engaged throughout. Teleportation is introduced in this one. Jason is literally around the corner everytime someone turns it. It's that absurdity and playfulness that keeps the film oddly inspired. This one gets a bad rep and i'm sure I see why, but the moment I press play on these movies I know exactly what I bought, which is always comforting. I'd say this is a return to form and it's probably only getting shittier from here.
Review by Coolnilk ★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Still think this movie could've been way better. I really liked the idea of Jason going to Manhattan and chasing down folks that step foot into Crystal Lake, but this film didn't do it enough justice in my opinion. The film takes over an hour basically until they reach Manhattan, so the movie felt more like a "Jason Takes A Ship" movie then what the filmmakers were aiming for.
I heard they didn't have the budget to do a lot of cool scenes in New York, but alas we got this instead. It was alright though in the Jason department. He gets resurrected once again by some other dumb kids and still looks as menacing as ever. A lot of…

Recent reviews

Review by Chasinscreams ★★★

i only have two things to say about this sequel:
1. why is it so long?
2. this is the only sequel that everyone loves but i think is one of the weaker installments
Review by cjfredette33 ★★★

“Friday The 13th Franchise”
Really liked the boat setting and the sewer scenes escalate well. Some of the most satisfying kills as well, don’t think it excels in anything else though.
Review by Macaulay Cucklin ★★★½

I still think it’s neat, but it definitely loses some of its charm on a rewatch
Review by rafaelholosbach ★★★

Its fun or wathever
Review by Brandy_Danger ★★★

He takes Manhattan. Just takes it! No Kevin Bacon in this one either.
Review by foodstampdavis ★★★★

This is the best one.
Review by cjack2484 ★★½

alternate title: Jason Takes a Boat Ride
Review by Brandon Hill ★½

Still one of the worst in the series...so many painfully bad ideas
Review by Jonathan🔪 ★★ 11

Nach einer fast einmonatigen Pause habe ich nun endlich Teil 8 gesehen.
Die Erwartungen waren wegen seines Rufes ziemlich gering, trotzdem hatte ich anfangs ordentlich Lust auf den Film. Leider geht der Film relativ schnell Berg ab. Die Charaktere sind zwar okay, wirklich interessiert ist man aber auch nicht an ihnen. Es dauert ein wenig, nach dem Anfang, bis Kills kommen, diese sind dann aber sogar noch schlecht. Wieder einmal fehlt hier jemand, mit dem handwerklichen Verständnis eines Tom Savinis. Die Prämisse auf dem Boot und vor allem in New York gefällt mir gut, liegt aber dann inszenatorisch weit hinter seinen Möglichkeiten.
Insgesamt der erste Teil, den man wohl wirklich schlecht nennen kann.
Review by 50sromance ★★

Was gonna rate this just a star because of the tedious and boring cruise scenes but honestly this film made up for it during the last act (how the hell did they make this shit up btw...)
Here’s the things I’ve learned about this saga so far:
- Characters get unhinged more and more with every film
- NEVER EVER trust cars! A scene including a car has never ended well
- Don’t be a hoe or you’re on the dead list immediately
- Beating Jason is supremely easy, just baby him with a mother’s voice and lure him into a heavily guarded jail cell
- Kids with a fucked up childhood have a 98% chance of survival
- These…
Review by Bart van der Kruijs

A bit of a slog to get through but besides that it's mostly fine.
Definite highlights being when the camera shifts focus between Jason and a billboard advertising the exact same hockey mask he's been wearing forever, and the boxer kid punching into Jason and him just tanking every hit before smacking the kid's head straight off. Most kills were definitely a lot more tame compared to what happens in some of the other films but seeing the school principal being drowned in a toxic waste barrel has to be my favorite kill from this particular installment.
Review by Chris ★

Turns out I’ve actually seen this one.
How the fuck did they manage to make more after this?

1. Didn’t really take Manhattan did he?
2. Why is he always wet? Should dry out a bit.
3. Where those dudes just sat there smoking for the entire time this movie takes over?