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Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Play trailer 1:10 Poster for Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan R Released Jul 28, 1989 1h 40m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
11% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 26% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Mass murderer Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) is resurrected from the bottom of Crystal Lake. After he kills a passing boat's occupants, he stows away on a cruise ship filled with a high-school graduating class bound for New York City. Biology teacher Charles McCulloch (Peter Mark Richman) is on board with his niece, Rennie (Jensen Daggett), who has visions of Jason drowning as a child. They escape his bloody shipboard rampage, but, when Rennie and Charles reach Manhattan, Jason is close by.
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Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

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Critics Consensus

Jason terrorizes a ship and nearly sinks the franchise in a clunky sequel that feels like self-parody without the charm.

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Critics Reviews

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Trevor Johnston Time Out For what it's worth (very little), probably the best in the series. Jan 26, 2006 Full Review Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine Director Rob Hedden may have been onto something: From Crystal Lake to Manhattan, the series itself was always drowning in ****. Rated: .5/4 Sep 25, 2004 Full Review Richard Harrington Washington Post Among the passengers is a bright girl who's having visions of a drowning boy, her smarmy guardian, her concerned teacher, a boyfriend whose soon-to-be-late father is the ship's captain, and assorted high school stereotypes. Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Patrick Cavanaugh The Wolfman Cometh It's hard to decide what's worse: everything that happens before Jason gets to Manhattan or everything that happens after. Rated: 1/5 Sep 11, 2025 Full Review Kat Halstead Common Sense Media For a start, the characters don't even make it to Manhattan until more than an hour into the film and Jason doesn't exactly "take" it when he arrives -- things get pretty tiresome pretty fast in the city that never sleeps. Feb 8, 2024 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) This awful movie barely has anything to do with Manhattan. [Full review in Spanish] Jul 12, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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M M it should’ve been much better for it being made in 1989. lol Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/04/25 Full Review Rafael S The film is very average, with iconic moments, better Jason (and one of the best visuals), fun and with very good deaths, but the script is weak. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/02/25 Full Review Craig W. This was is s ridiculous it’s good Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/24/25 Full Review Dylan P Not Bad But It's Just There's Not A Lot Of Killing From Jason Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/09/25 Full Review Guilherme M got so high expectations on this one, but i can't defend it. Another protagonist change. (and for only this movie.) "Jason takes Manhattan" is more like "Jason takes a boat and hunts two people in New York." The movie has little to almost to use to Manhattan, the title of the movie. Besides the recycled kills, totally unimportant characters, weak story, weak script, weak Jason. This time, the reviews don't lie. It belongs to one of the worst movies of the franchise, if not the worse (if Jason goes to hell didn't exist.). I understand the presence of iconic scenes and good design, but i really can't. Avoid it. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/09/25 Full Review Khaliel P By the eighth installment, the series is clearly running out of steam. The writers no longer know how to bring Jason back, the victims pile up without purpose, and the change of setting to Manhattan feels more like a gimmick than a fresh idea. Originally meant as a direct sequel with Tina, the story was rewritten under studio pressure, and Rob Hedden’s weak script and direction don’t help. Overlong and drenched in misplaced ’80s pop music, the film delivers 19 uninspired and poorly executed kills. The only novelty is Jason’s newfound ability to seemingly teleport, but aside from that and the New York backdrop, this entry feels like a forgettable TV movie—an episode fans would rather skip. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/23/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

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Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Murder Caught on Tape Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Murder Caught on Tape 2:13 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Seductive Anatomy Lesson Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Seductive Anatomy Lesson 2:13 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Knockout! Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Knockout! 1:57 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Jason vs. Toxic Waste Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Jason vs. Toxic Waste 2:08 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Jason vs. New York Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Jason vs. New York 2:12 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Drowned in Toxic Waste Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Drowned in Toxic Waste 1:01 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Subway Chase Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Subway Chase 2:10 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Two for One Slaying Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Two for One Slaying 2:09 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Killer Dance Moves Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Killer Dance Moves 2:07 Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Jason Says No to Drugs Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan: Official Clip - Jason Says No to Drugs 2:12 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis Mass murderer Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) is resurrected from the bottom of Crystal Lake. After he kills a passing boat's occupants, he stows away on a cruise ship filled with a high-school graduating class bound for New York City. Biology teacher Charles McCulloch (Peter Mark Richman) is on board with his niece, Rennie (Jensen Daggett), who has visions of Jason drowning as a child. They escape his bloody shipboard rampage, but, when Rennie and Charles reach Manhattan, Jason is close by.
Director
Rob Hedden
Producer
Randy Cheveldave
Screenwriter
Victor Miller, Rob Hedden
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures, Horror Films
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 28, 1989, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$14.3M
Runtime
1h 40m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo, Mono, Ultra-Stereo
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