9. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
The imposing Kane Hodder made his first of four appearances as Jason in this otherwise unremarkable entry, which pits the irrepressible killer against Tina (Lar Park Lincoln), a teenage girl with Eleven-ish telekinetic abilities (complete with an unscrupulous doctor—fun fact: he’s played by Terry Kiser, a.k.a. Bernie from Weekend at Bernie’s!—who’s very eager to exploit her powers). Her ability to move things with her mind aside, Tina’s kind of a novelty in that her trauma at Crystal Lake initially has nothing to do with Jason; instead, it’s where she accidentally-on-purpose caused the death of her abusive father when she was a small child. A return trip to the lake stirs up enough psychic energy to resurrect you-know-who, who’s been chained up underwater since the events of Part VI.
Beyond that distinctly sci-fi twist, this 1988 entry from John Carl Buechler is kinda just a retread of Jason’s greatest hits, as he works his way through a too-familiar array of kids who’re having a party at the house next door. While Tina’s powers add a little something extra to the proceedings, the final showdown—in which she conjures her (abusive!) father from the bottom of the lake to take Jason down—feels like a missed opportunity for something much more memorably cosmic.
