Lost Scenes: Jim Tells The Crystal Lake Curse Story In Jason Takes Manhattan
There has been so many pieces of information uncovered from old or revised scripts used in the production during Friday the 13th films that they truly do give fans the pieces necessary to filling in the blanks when it comes to certain scenes that come across as nonsensical. Some scripts show how expanded dialogue or images would lend more weight to scenes. Such is the case in Jason Takes Manhattan.
During the opening of Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jim Miller and Susie Donaldson are cruising Crystal Lake at night in a houseboat. During that late night rendezvous, boyfriend Jim reveals the ugly truth about Crystal Lake and the murderous Mrs. Voorhees and her son Jason. As Jim explains the sorted past, flashback scenes of a younger Jason are shown drowning in Crystal Lake. No other flashback scenes are revealed.
The shooting script for the film reveals that there was supposed to be a lot more flashback images revealed from previous Friday the 13th films! Director Rob Hedden has mentioned in the past that his intention was to tie the entire series together with Part 8 as Paramount intended to make the film the last in the Friday the 13th film franchise. One goal of Hedden was to introduce the history of why Jason kills to the audience one final time and show past events of the previous films, much like the prologues of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood. Reading the shooting script, Hedden's intentions would have become reality.
Below is an excerpt from the shooting script in which Jim explains the curse of Crystal Lake. Although many people find Jason Takes Manhattan to be one of the weaker entries in the film franchise, do you think that showing a montage of clips from previous Friday the 13th scenes would have made this opening scene more impactful?
Jason Takes Manhattan Shooting Script
FLASHBACK
Eight year old JASON is desperately trying to tread
water, flailing his arms like a marionette to get
attention as he gulps down gallons of mossy lake water.
YOUNG JASON
Hhhhelp....me....I'm drowning...
JIM (V.O.)
None of the counselors heard him.
YOUNG JASON
Mmmmmmommy....
...And Jason finally slips under the surface for good.
INT. HOUSEBOAT - CONTINUOUS
JIM
A bunch of years went by and everybody
forgot about it.
(beat)
That's when the murders started.
FLASHBACK MONTAGE (STOCK)
as our senses are bombarded with QUICK CUTS of assorted
teenagers just about to die, their screams echoing over
each other. We do not see the attacker. As the
cacophony reaches a screeching crescendo, CUT BACK TO:
INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT
as the silence hits us hard again.
SUZY
Jason did it...?
JIM'
That's what some people thought. But
they were wrong.
FLASHBACK (STOCK)
as MRS. VOORHEES comes directly at camera wielding a huge
knife and a primal scream.
INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT
JIM
His mother blamed the counselors for
his death and tried to kill them all.
(dramatic pause)
She got her head chopped off by one of
them.
We don't need to see this clip...Suzy's reaction is quite
sufficient.
SUZY
So the murders stopped?
He gives her a long, penetrating look.
JIM
No.
FLASHBACK MONTAGE (STOCK)
We're bombarded with QUICK FLASHES of a hockey masked
JASON wreaking havoc on assorted teenagers...brandishing
everything from hatchets to knives to chainsaws. Just as
Jason is about to stab us, CUT BACK TO:
INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT
Suzy flinches as if she were getting the knife.
JIM
Legend has it that Jason came back to
avenge his mother's death, vowing to
kill every teenager from the area.
(beat)
And every now and then, the murders
start up again.
The boat lurches slightly, tugging at the anchor cable.
She's scared: he's frightened himself a little, too.
JIM
Forget about it, Suzy. They're just
stories.
He brushes her hair back, kissing her cheek gently,
finding the nape of her neck again. She closes her eyes,
trying to dismiss what he's dredged up. But she can't.
Suzy begins to rationalize.
SUZY
We're the last graduating class,
right?
Jim's kissing her body, putting Jason behind him.
JIM
Right.
SUZY
I mean, Lakeview High just closed its
doors for good, right?
JIM
Right.
SUZY
So there's no reason for him to come
back because there won't be any of us
around...right?
Jim stops, looking her squarely in the eyes.
JIM
Right. Except that Jason isn't real
so none of it matters anyway.
She starts to relax, returning his kisses.
During the opening of Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jim Miller and Susie Donaldson are cruising Crystal Lake at night in a houseboat. During that late night rendezvous, boyfriend Jim reveals the ugly truth about Crystal Lake and the murderous Mrs. Voorhees and her son Jason. As Jim explains the sorted past, flashback scenes of a younger Jason are shown drowning in Crystal Lake. No other flashback scenes are revealed.
The shooting script for the film reveals that there was supposed to be a lot more flashback images revealed from previous Friday the 13th films! Director Rob Hedden has mentioned in the past that his intention was to tie the entire series together with Part 8 as Paramount intended to make the film the last in the Friday the 13th film franchise. One goal of Hedden was to introduce the history of why Jason kills to the audience one final time and show past events of the previous films, much like the prologues of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood. Reading the shooting script, Hedden's intentions would have become reality.
Below is an excerpt from the shooting script in which Jim explains the curse of Crystal Lake. Although many people find Jason Takes Manhattan to be one of the weaker entries in the film franchise, do you think that showing a montage of clips from previous Friday the 13th scenes would have made this opening scene more impactful?
Jason Takes Manhattan Shooting Script
FLASHBACK
Eight year old JASON is desperately trying to tread
water, flailing his arms like a marionette to get
attention as he gulps down gallons of mossy lake water.
YOUNG JASON
Hhhhelp....me....I'm drowning...
JIM (V.O.)
None of the counselors heard him.
YOUNG JASON
Mmmmmmommy....
...And Jason finally slips under the surface for good.
INT. HOUSEBOAT - CONTINUOUS
JIM
A bunch of years went by and everybody
forgot about it.
(beat)
That's when the murders started.
FLASHBACK MONTAGE (STOCK)
as our senses are bombarded with QUICK CUTS of assorted
teenagers just about to die, their screams echoing over
each other. We do not see the attacker. As the
cacophony reaches a screeching crescendo, CUT BACK TO:
INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT
as the silence hits us hard again.
SUZY
Jason did it...?
JIM'
That's what some people thought. But
they were wrong.
FLASHBACK (STOCK)
as MRS. VOORHEES comes directly at camera wielding a huge
knife and a primal scream.
INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT
JIM
His mother blamed the counselors for
his death and tried to kill them all.
(dramatic pause)
She got her head chopped off by one of
them.
We don't need to see this clip...Suzy's reaction is quite
sufficient.
SUZY
So the murders stopped?
He gives her a long, penetrating look.
JIM
No.
FLASHBACK MONTAGE (STOCK)
We're bombarded with QUICK FLASHES of a hockey masked
JASON wreaking havoc on assorted teenagers...brandishing
everything from hatchets to knives to chainsaws. Just as
Jason is about to stab us, CUT BACK TO:
INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT
Suzy flinches as if she were getting the knife.
JIM
Legend has it that Jason came back to
avenge his mother's death, vowing to
kill every teenager from the area.
(beat)
And every now and then, the murders
start up again.
The boat lurches slightly, tugging at the anchor cable.
She's scared: he's frightened himself a little, too.
JIM
Forget about it, Suzy. They're just
stories.
He brushes her hair back, kissing her cheek gently,
finding the nape of her neck again. She closes her eyes,
trying to dismiss what he's dredged up. But she can't.
Suzy begins to rationalize.
SUZY
We're the last graduating class,
right?
Jim's kissing her body, putting Jason behind him.
JIM
Right.
SUZY
I mean, Lakeview High just closed its
doors for good, right?
JIM
Right.
SUZY
So there's no reason for him to come
back because there won't be any of us
around...right?
Jim stops, looking her squarely in the eyes.
JIM
Right. Except that Jason isn't real
so none of it matters anyway.
She starts to relax, returning his kisses.
