Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is a 1988 American slasher film directed by John Carl Buechler and starring Lar Park Lincoln, Kevin Blair, Susan Blu, Terry Kiser, and Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees, a role he would reprise in three subsequent films. It is the seventh installment in the Friday the 13th franchise. Set years after the events of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, the plot follows a psychokinetic teenage girl (Lincoln) who unwittingly releases Jason from his tomb at the bottom of Crystal Lake, allowing him to go on another killing spree in the area.
The New Blood was intended to have a higher standard of quality than that of the previous installments, with high-profile directors being considered to helm the project. Paramount Pictures sought a partnership with New Line Cinema to create a crossover film between the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street series which would not come to fruition until New Line bought the rights to the franchise, releasing Freddy vs. Jason in 2003. After several failed concepts, screenwriter Daryl Haney suggested an idea akin to "Jason vs. Carrie", in which Jason would battle a teenage girl with psychokinetic abilities.
The film was released on May 13, 1988 to mostly negative reviews from critics, and grossed $19.1 million at the U.S. box office on a budget of $2.8 million. It was followed by Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan one year later.
Plot[]
After witnessing her alcoholic father physically abusing her mother, a young Tina Shepard attempts to escape the chaos at home and heads out onto Crystal Lake in a boat. When her father follows her in an attempt to stop her, Tina's previously dormant telekinetic abilities emerge, and she accidentally destroys the dock her father is standing on, causing him to fall into the lake and drown.
Years later, a teenage Tina is still struggling with remorse surrounding her father's death. Her mother, Amanda Shepard, takes her to the same lakeside residence as part of her treatment from her psychiatrist, Dr. Crews. Crews begins a series of experiments (verbal assaults) designed to agitate Tina's mental state, forcing her powers to become more pronounced. In reality, he is only trying to exploit her psychic powers. After a particularly upsetting session with Dr. Crews, Tina runs from the cabin and to the dock thinking about her father's death. While thinking about him, she wishes he would come back. Her powers unwittingly awaken mass murderer Jason Voorhees, who was chained at the bottom of Crystal Lake years ago, and he emerges from the water to commit another killing spree.
Next door to the Shepard residence is a group of teens who are throwing a birthday party for their friend Michael. The group includes Michael's cousin Nick, preppy Russell and his girlfriend Sandra, Ben and his girlfriend Kate, science-fiction writer Eddie, stoner David, perky Robin, shy Maddy, and snobby socialite Melissa. Nick, who has arrived just for the party, becomes attracted to Tina, much to Melissa's chagrin. Melissa attempts to break up Nick and Tina, even going as far as kissing Eddie to make Nick jealous, but her schemes are to no avail – other than making Eddie feel spurned thereafter. Tina tells Nick about Jason and has a vision of him murdering Michael. Meanwhile, Jason actually kills Michael and his girlfriend Jane, later murdering another couple camping in the woods as well.
When Tina goes off with Nick to find her mother, Jason proceeds to kill the other teens one by one. Russell and Sandra go to the lake for a swim. While Sandra goes skinny-dipping, Russell is killed with an axe to his face. Sandra discovers his body before she is pulled under the water and drowned. Maddy goes looking for David but finds Russell's body. She runs for help, but Jason attacks her in a nearby barn and kills her with a sickle. Jason then kills Ben by crushing his skull and then Kate by driving a party horn into her eye. Inside the house, Jason stabs David and slices Eddie's neck open. Upstairs, Robin finds David's severed head and is thrown out a window to her death. When Jason attacks Dr. Crews, he saves himself by using Amanda as a human shield, but Jason eventually kills him with a pole chainsaw. Tina finds her mother's body shortly afterwards and uses her powers to electrocute Jason and to crash part of the house down onto him. When Nick and Tina try to tell Melissa what happened, she thinks that they are crazy and tries to leave, but Jason kills her with an axe to the face.
Nick tries to fight off Jason, but he is quickly subdued. Tina unleashes her powers, breaking Jason's mask and exposing his disfigured face. As the battle rages on, the Shepard lakeside cabin is destroyed by an explosive fire and the attack continues on the dock. Although Tina is unable to kill Jason, she unknowingly summons the spirit of her father, who rises from the lake and drags Jason back down with him into the depths of Crystal Lake, chaining the killer once more.
The following morning, Tina and Nick are taken away in an ambulance. Someone finds Jason's broken mask in the wreckage and the screen fades to black as Jason's whispers can be heard in the distance.