Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (stylized onscreen as Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI) is a 1986 American slasher film written and directed by Tom McLoughlin, and starring Thom Mathews, Jennifer Cooke, David Kagen, and C.J. Graham. It is a sequel to Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) and the sixth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise, being the last one to feature Tommy Jarvis (Mathews) as the protagonist. Continuing from the events of the previous film, the plot follows Tommy after he accidentally resurrects mass murderer Jason Voorhees (Graham) while attempting to destroy his body to ensure he will not return. While Jason returns to Crystal Lake for another killing spree, Tommy must overcome his fear of the masked killer that has haunted him for years and find a way to stop him once and for all.
The original storyline had Tommy Jarvis become the series' new antagonist, but after the poor fan reception of A New Beginning, the producers instead brought Jason Voorhees back and no mention is made of the events from the previous film. In resurrecting Jason, McLoughlin made him an explicitly supernatural force for the first time in the series. This version of Jason, an undead and more powerful superhuman, would become the standard depiction for the rest of the series. The film also introduced metahumor, gothic horror, and action film elements, including shootouts and car chases, into the series.
Jason Lives was the first in the series to receive a lot positive reception from critics since the original. In the years since its release, its self-referential humor and numerous instances of breaking the fourth wall have been praised for prefiguring Kevin Williamson's Scream film series. Jason Lives is considered a fan favorite of the series, in addition to receiving positive notice from horror film historians. It grossed $19.5 million at the U.S. box office on a budget of $3 million. The film was followed by Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood in 1988.
