See this yet? If not why aren't you watching it now instead of reading this bullshit? See it now? GOOD. Are you FUCKING EXCITED LIKE I AM EXCITED???
Haha. Seriously, this project is impressive. After more than two decades of squabbling between Hollywood studios and screenwriters over a seemingly endless variety of scripts (Jason in space? Really?) fans are getting bored with delays and excuses year after year as the Friday the 13th franchise drops to an extremely low priority for major studios.
So, perhaps rightfully so, the real ideas are coming not from Hollywood screenwriters, but the fans themselves. Last year we were blessed with the one-two punch of Friday the 13th: The Game and the outstanding fan film Never Hike Alone. But the brutal, grindhouse-style gore of "Voorhees" has the potential to raise the bar for fan-made films. Besides being the first feature-length Jason film, it is one of the most well funded, at around $18,000.
The film revolves around a gang of thieves who, after committing a heist, kidnap a couple of young girls and retreat to their hideout in... you guessed it... the long-abandoned Camp Crystal Lake. You can imagine the fun that will ensue.
The magic formula struck on here by writers Cody Faulk and Chris Plaushin is something Hollywood seems to have missed: you don't need to do repeat the same pattern of Jason killing horny teens, or break so far away from the pattern that he's in FUCKING SPACE. You can insert him into legitimately interesting plots and complex character dynamics common in other genres, like crime drama.
So if Friday the 13th Part 4 feels something like "Jason vs. the Breakfast Club", Voorhees is more like "Jason vs. Reservoir Dogs." You have a real plot with believable, dynamic characters that function independently of horror tropes. Then you insert Jason, a force of nature that fucks everything up, forcing them all to improvise, testing their relationships, their character, and their ability to survive a situation they can't fully comprehend.
Why this hasn't been done before mystifies me. But I'm glad Cody Faulk is doing it now. If Voorhees ends up being as good as I think it will be, this film will likely put the 2009 remake to shame in all but the most technical respects. It may even top most of the Paramount films. And it could lead to a revolution in fan films inserting Jason into meatier plots: Jason vs. doomsday survivalists? Jason vs. satanic cult? If you can make it in the woods, you can insert Jason (and why wouldn't you?). The possibilities are endless.
It's worth a moment to comment here on the endurance this character has had over the last thirty-eight years. He's literally a man who just cuts people to ribbons and never says a word. And yet he's beloved around the world as a sort of vigilante, a manifestation of the dark side in all of us that would love to just take a machete to all the injustice in life. That Jason has the freedom to do that makes him the perfect foil for all kinds of villains in a lot of different situations way beyond camp counselors and vacationers.
I've said for years that Hollywood ruined Friday the 13th. Someone has long needed the courage to take Jason Voorhees back to his indie roots and make a real film that freshens up the genre and tells his story a new way, while remaining respectful to his mythology. Never Hike Alone certainly nailed that. But Voorhees just feels so much bigger. If the finished film kicks half as much ass as this trailer, its going to be talked about for years to come.
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