Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

FADE IN:

EXT. CRYSTAL LAKE - NIGHT

A dark, rumbling sky. Haze clings to the lake as we float

across it, clearing to bring the opposite shoreline into

view. A few scattered streetlights. Dilapidated cabins.

An abandoned campsite. CAMP CRYSTAL LAKE.

We continue to drift towards it, hearing the faint sound

of seductive music and an occasional giggle. A small

HOUSEBOAT floats into our foreground, its interior light

flickering as TWO BODIES move around inside.

INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT

A teenage boy and girl, JIM and SUZY, are slow-dancing.

Jim's lips softly touch her lissome shoulders.

JIM:

Well...how do you feel?

SUZY:

Ask me in about five minutes.

She bites his ear, giggles, then kisses him fully..

JIM:

I'm talking about graduation. Being

totally free to do whatever we want

now.

Her hands slip inside his Pendleton shirt. He sighs.

SUZY:

It feels excellent.

Her mouth finds his again. After a long kiss, he gently

pulls away from her with a teasing smile.

JIM:

Gotta throw the anchor over.

He leaves the cabin. She slips under the bed sheets.

EXT. HOUSEBOAT DECK - NIGHT

as Jim tosses a small anchor overboard.

TIGHT ON WATER SURFACE

as the weighty object splashes, sinking into black

oblivion, pulling its cable down with it.

JIM:

glances at the lake, at their eerie surroundings. He

feels a chill, heading back inside.

EXT. UNDERWATER - NIGHT (TANK)

as the anchor drifts to the lake bottom, dropping a few

feet from a THICK POWER CABLE which rests in the lake

silt.

INT. HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT

as Jim returns with an uneasy expression. He crawls on

top of the bed, kissing her again, but not with the same

enthusiasm as before.

SUZY:

What's wrong?

JIM:

Nothing.

He starts to pull off his shirt and join her. She senses

his anxiety.

SUZY:

C'mon, Jimmy. Something's bothering

you.

Jim pauses, turning off the mood music.

JIM:

It's just that we're right around that

old summer camp where all those

murders took place.

The boat creaks. She's instantly nervous.

SUZY:

What murders?

JIM:

Never mind, you don't want to know

about it.

SUZY:

Tell me.

JIM:

There's nothing to worry about, Suzy.

The guy's dead now, somewhere at the

bottom of this lake...if you believe

the stories.

(beat)

Let's drop it, okay?

He starts to kiss her again. She stops him.

SUZY:

What stories?

He doesn't want to go into it but Suzy's face insists.

JIM:

There was this boy named Jason

Voorhees who drowned in Crystal

Lake...

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.

EXT. UNDERWATER - NIGHT (TANK)

as the anchor drifts along the lake floor, tugging hard

on the power cable. Camera TRACKS along the cable,

coming to a RUSTY SET OF CHAINS TANGLED AROUND IT.

INT. HOUSEBOAT - CONTINUOUS

as Jim slides on top of Suzy. Thoughts of Jason are

starting to slip away along with their clothes.

EXT. UNDERWATER - NIGHT (TANK)

as the chains emit a dull tinkle due to movement from the

tugging anchor. Camera continues to TRACK again...and we

find to our horror that the waterlogged, fish-eaten body

of JASON IS SECURED BY THESE SAME CHAINS. (NOTE: Jason's

face is obscured.)

INT. HOUSEBOAT - CONTINUOUS

Teenagers in love, lost in not-so-innocent passion. At

the same moment:

EXT. UNDERWATER - NIGHT (TANK)

The anchor tugs one last time and RIPS THROUGH THE CABLE.

SPARKS INSTANTLY FLY, chasing along the cable, finding

the chain which secures Jason and ENGULFING HIM IN

ELECTRICITY.

EXT. HOUSEBOAT - ON LAKE SURFACE (EFX)

as BRIGHT FLASHES OF BLUE LIGHT strobe-under the surface.

ARCING CURRENT chases up the anchor cable, sparking

across the hoist.

EXT. CAMP CRYSTAL LAKE - WIDE SHOT FROM WATER

as the electricity feeding the streetlights is abruptly

extinguished, plunging the campsite into darkness.

INT. HOUSEBOAT - CONTINUOUS

as Suzy's eyes flash open.

SUZY:

Did you hear that?

JIM:

Hear what?

He pulls her back down.

SUZY:

C'mon, I'm serious.

He knows the mood is broken.

JIM:

All right, I'll check it out.

He slips on his jeans, exiting the cabin. She pulls the

sheet up around her fearfully.

EXT. UNDERWATER - NIGHT (TANK)

as the cable smolders, void of electricity now. TRACK to

find the chains again...but they're dangling loosely.

JASON IS GONE.

INT. HOUSEBOAT - CONTINUOUS

Suzy is tensely kneeling on the bed now. The black void

of night is all she sees out the cabin door, which Jim

has left open. An uncomfortable amount of time passes.

SUZY:

Jimmy...?

No answer. Her heart starts to pound.

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