Fun For All

I could give a thumbnail sketch of every character in "Friday The Thirteenth 8: Jason Takes Manhattan", as well as the actor who plays them but I'm sure at this point that we can just take those as they come. What I'm thinking about right now are the activities we're shown to persuade us that the small, old virtually crew-less ship which hosts most of the movie is a fun, active place. I must confess that their efforts along those lines were not effective.

I think the first activity is shuffleboard. That is a staple of cruise ships, I admit it. Is is something that 18 year olds relish while at sea? I rather doubt it. I think I would have a good time playing that game, but I'm long past my teens and I don't know how long I acted as if I wasn't anyway. The point is that I see shuffleboard as an improbably magnet for hedonistic teens. Sure, it might be there, but would it draw anyone but the school's faculty? I rather doubt it.

We also see teens shooting skeet. I can certainly imagine this being very popular, but would it even be allowed on a cruise for high schoolers? even in the late 80's, before the golden age of school shootings, mightn't they have thought better of putting shotguns in the hands of even students for whom the pressures of high school are no longer a going concern? I never was around either students to be trusted with firearms nor educators who saw even the mildest risk they wanted to take.

The most likely thing I recall seeing in the movie was the dance hall. It's briefly seen doing fairly brisk business, but it sure doesn't look too good to me. The room is small, decorated in a rather indifferent, very cheap fashion, and has a terribly low ceiling. It looked like no place I'd want to dance, and I'm not entirely averse to the idea. It goes without saying that no contemporary, popular song is to be heard in the dance hall- strictly generic fare.

Then there's the gym, which makes sense. Some of the students are bound to be enthusiastic athletes. There seem to be only two, and both are boxers. Their sparring session is one of the film's first act highlights. We also see that the ship has a sauna, which it's a wonder more people don't take advantage of. I suppose they thought they'd have more time. Don't we all? As it worked out, the deaths started getting in the way of the fun. I'll see if I can't start addressing that stuff soon.