One X-Men Villain's Movie Career Kicked Off As A Friday The 13th Victim
by Quinn Bilodeau · /FilmIf you feel like you've seen Kelly Hu across a whole bunch of cool things, that's because you have. Not only is her roster loaded with recurring voiceover roles in "Phineas & Ferb," "The Legend of Vox Machina," and the 2012 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series, but she's also behind a slew of characters in the "Mortal Kombat" games over the past decade. One of Hu's most famous live-action roles is a character who, ironically enough, doesn't speak. Of course, I'm talking about her turn as Yuriko Oyama from "X2: X-Men: United," otherwise known as the lethal Lady Deathstrike. The Marvel Comics villain is a fierce counterpart to Logan (Hugh Jackman), as she's a mutant that possesses the same regenerative adamantium abilities by way of the detestable William Stryker (Brian Cox).
While she wouldn't reprise her role in "Deadpool & Wolverine," Hu still managed to make her one-movie appearance memorable. The fight between her and Wolverine in Stryker's lab is among the series' best action sequences, as the two living weapons prove to be one another's match. I especially love the moment when Lady Deathstrike climbs on Wolverine like a jungle gym as a means to escape his claws lodged in her abdomen. At the same time, there's no catharsis in her adamantium-injected defeat, considering Yuriko dies as a mind-controlled pawn in Stryker's arsenal. Hu seems to possess somewhat of a track record for playing characters who die in tragic ways. Look no further than her feature acting debut in 1989's "Friday the 13th: Part VIII — Jason Takes Manhattan," where her demise at the hands of the Camp Crystal Lake slasher is surprisingly sad.
X2's Kelly Hu is murdered on the dance floor in Jason Takes Manhattan
There comes a point in most slasher movie franchises where audiences start to get on board with the villains and all of the crazy ways they rack up a body count. "Jason Takes Manhattan" has a few of these, with J.J. (Saffron Henderson) getting whacked by her electric guitar and Julius (Vincent Craig Dupree) getting his head knocked clean off his body with a single punch. But Hu's departure shows how frightening Jason (Kane Hodder) can be. Here she plays Eva, a mostly kind-hearted teenage girl taking part in the Lakeview High Grad Cruise with her classmates. Sadly, the character commits the cardinal horror movie sin of taking drugs, so that means she's on Jason's radar. Eva's fate is sealed when she goes to search for Tamara (Sharlene Martin), only to find what remains of her slain friend.
After being chased to the boat's disco dance hall, Eva finds herself locked in with Jason. It's made all the more disorienting considering the music's playing, the flashing dance floor lights are on, and her tormentor keeps teleporting to wherever she happens to be. Eva's brutal strangulation is made all the more somber when Jason then throws her body on the dance floor, where all of the music in the room suddenly cuts out. Jason's near-spectral nature makes this feel a few steps removed from a "Nightmare on Elm Street" dream attack. Hu's role may not have lasted long enough to see Jason kick a boombox over in Manhattan, but she got to face one of the most recognizable figures in horror history in her first movie, and that's pretty sick.
"Friday the 13: Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" is currently streaming on Paramount+.