"Friday the 13th Part VI" swung the door wide open for the series to present perennial villain Jason Vorhees as an immortal being that couldn’t be stopped, destroyed or dispatched. So the producers of "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood" decided to go for an all-out brawl between their indestructible serial killer and an opponent with an equal knack for supernatural powers. Plenty of sexually-promiscuous teens and dopey grown-ups, however, would have to be shoved in-between to keep the slasher faithful pleased. Directed by John Carl Buechler, "The New Blood" starts with the accidental drowning of a man in Crystal Lake at the hands of her psychokinesis-endowed little daughter. Years later and all grown-up, Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln) and her mom (Susan Blu) return back to the Crystal Lake home next to the lake where Tina accidentally drowned her father many years prior. Next to the Shepards’ place there’s a house rented by a group of teenage campers without a worry in the world besides smoking, drinking and having lots of promiscuous sex (thought you’d care to know!). One of these campers, Nick (Kevin Blair), takes a liking to Tina; another one, Melissa (Susan Jennifer Sullivan), doesn’t.

Accompanied by her therapist, a certain Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser), Tina is supposed to be back at Crystal Lake to get over the trauma of her father’s drowning and to come to terms with her Psychokinesis abilities. Instead the guilt makes Tina attempt to resurrect Mr. Shepard with her powers, which accidentally revives the chained-to-the-bottom-of-Crystal Lake body of Jason Vorhees (Kane Hodder). Years of gathering rust underwater (as previously seen in the end of "Part VI") haven’t dampened the enthusiasm Mr. Vorhees’ little boy displays at stabbing, butchering, tossing and just-plain-Jane killing anyone that gets in his path. Toward the end of the film though (and after most of the unknown group of actors playing the campers have been summarily dispatched), Jason meets his match when a poe’d and fully-functional Tina uses her powers to bring down the house on him (literally!).

Liberally borrowing (ED.: borrowing? You mean ‘outright stealing,’ don’t you J.M.?) from Brian DePalma’s "Carrie" and without much concern for plausibility or common sense, "The New Blood" is a step above the too-cute-for-its-own-good "Part VI" but far below the likes of "Part II" and "Part IV: The Final Chapter" (the best two movies in the series, IMHO). I still can’t get over how different Camp Crystal Lake looks from one "Friday the 13th" film to the next, or how the non-existent acting standards from the previous movie are lowered even further by yet another cast of unknowns. "The New Blood" at least features a likable heroine (in an 80’s sort-of way) in Tina Shepard, whose kick-ass powers really burn Jason the wrong way if you know what I mean (he, he, he!). It doesn’t hurt that stuntman Kane Hodder dons Jason’s trademark hockey mask for the first time, using his imposing physical presence to provide Jason’s antics with an extra dose of WWE-like showmanship. Non-existent production values aside (the sets and cinematography really look cheap), the best "Friday the 13th" since 1984’s "The Final Chapter" up to this point in the chronology of the franchise.

DEATH TOLL: 15, eight men and six women plus the accidental death of Tina’s father. MEMORABLE DEATH: Jason slams (and shatters, if the Dolby 5.1 sound effects are correct) a female camper tucked inside a sleeping bag against a tree, a bit so laugh-out loud fun and sick that the producers of New Line’s "Jason X" brought it back in a scene involving a virtual reality simulator. MOST GRUESOME DEATH: it’s neck-and-neck between the guy whose entrails are punched by Jason (ala "The Terminator") or Dr. Crews’ head been on the receiving end of a weed whacker.