Friday the 13th Vengeance (Review)
Since 1980, Friday the 13th has become a household horror movie franchise loved worldwide. Released on May 9th, 1980 it was a big hit and little did anyone behind the project know that it would spawn one of the biggest horror slashers of all time Jason Voorhees and 11 sequels; with a remake and a crossover film with the dream killer Freddy Krueger. Now a few years back a lawsuit was filed for the rights and all that is inquired between Victor Miller and Horror Inc. about Friday the 13th, it has been 10 years since the last major motion picture film of the franchise and at the present time it doesn’t seem like we will be getting another one anytime soon. But today we are going to talk about a fan film that was released recently entitled Friday the 13th: Vengeance. Fan films for the franchise have been more prominent the past few years with different concepts and continuation of some of the movies. Vengeance was released on Friday September 13th 2019 and a premiere was held in the town of Blairstown New Jersey where the original film was shot. Now let’s get down the nitty gritty.
Without giving too much away, the opening sequence is what will be told here for the most part. Vengeance picks up in modern day with a gravekeeper tending to grounds when a man walks up of an imposing stature and asks to see a grave. The grave is Jason Voorhees’s, it has been moved to be next to his mother Pamela Voorhees, the man we find out is Elias Voorhees Jason’s father. He asks the grave keeper about Jason and he responds with his body is not in the grave. Right off the bat we have teens at Camp Crystal Lake, with the water starting to bubble, Jason comes up and each of them being brutally killed off. Just out of the lake, Jason (Jason Brooks) walks over to one unfortunate victim and smashes his head with the rock that has kept him under the water for all these years. The next teens inside a tent about to have sex are interrupted when Jason picks up the tent and slams them both onto a stump.one survivor screams. Again right off the bat we have brutal kills and the pace keep steady as the film goes on. Introducing characters in the next sequence we have Ashley and Angelica Jarvis (Kelly Tappan and Sanae Loutsis) playing hide and seek. Revealed to be the daughters of Tommy Jarvis whom we last saw in Friday part 6. As the film goes on we have more Friday alumni who participated in the film, one being the late great Steve Dash who played Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th part 2, here he is the sheriff Jason Realotti or known as the Real Jason, may he be remembered always in our hearts. CJ Graham who was Jason in Friday part 6 pulled off Jason’s father Elias flawlessly and really gives him character. Another piece of Friday alumni is Harry Manfredini who wrote all the music for Fridays one through six as well as Jason goes to hell and Jason X There are a lot of Easter eggs and nod to the previous films in the franchise, like names of characters, descendants of other characters family wise which include Deputy Alice Brooker played by Julia Valenti, last name of Jason actor Richard Brooker from Friday part 3, he passed away in 2013. Heather Field played by Natalie Schnelle is the daughter of Ginny Field from Friday part 2 and Jeff Dier whose aunt Sandra and Uncle Rod were killed by Jason in both Friday part 2 and Friday part 4.
The films pace is pretty steady, you begin to feel as if it’s not fan film but a part of the whole franchise. The mood and feel of the film is dark, gritty and the comedic relief is right up there to make you at ease then BOOM blood in your face and the tone changes! The kills are on point Jason Brooks did a great job as Jason delivering the brutality of the character. All actors and actresses involved Jules Valenti, Peter Anthony also a producer on the project, Tom Mcloughlin who directed Friday part 6 who played the grave keeper, Kelly Tappan, Sanae Loutsis, Joy Curtis TJ Bowser along with the Dewback Discussion Network with a cameo and this is just a handful of names that go with this great cast and crew behind the project. Jeremy Brown along with Dustin Montierth both did awesome with directing this project keeping it true to the Friday feel and glory of the predecessors, the story unfolds as you watch you see connections and then some unbelievable twists as it all unravels. This is a film to certainly check out and it’s certainly more than a fan film as it states on it poster and tagline! To see and watch this movie you can find it on youtube and vimeo! So go and get to it or else