I was in two minds whether or not to do this film as I do hope to also do the “A Nightmare On Elm Street” franchise in the future. So I decided to do this based on a F13/Jason point of view and then if I do the “A Nightmare On Elm Street” I can do it from a Freddy point of view (Which you can read HERE.)
With the release of “Jason X” alot of fans were confused as they’d thought the next Jason film would be this film, after waiting over ten years it finally happened and the Horror genre exploded with excitement.
As much as I was excited about this film I was very disappointed when I heard that Kane Hodder had been replaced by Ken Kirzinger. I wasn’t the only one disappointed by this but director Ronny Yu had stated he wanted a taller, bigger Jason.
Another thing that got me was the replacement of Betsy Palmer as Pamela Voorhees. Paula Shaw was the actress to take her place and even though it annoyed me she did do a good job as did Ken Kirzinger.
From a Jason fans point of view this film is great, we see Jason in his prime, getting brought back to life by Freddy, he is back doing what he does best, slaughtering horny, drugged, drunk teenagers.
The kills are as great as always and a little more thought seems to have gone into them, the film also shows off more of his strength (think of the bed death and the head twisting death).
We also see Jason’s vulnerabilities, the scared little child inside of him that gets brought out by Freddy, it’s a strange site to see but also a refreshing one. It’s great to see inside the mind of Jason.
Also the final battle between Jason & Freddy is great for a Jason fan, throwing Freddy around like a rag doll and depending on your own view of the ending, Jason fans were truly happy.
It is an enjoyable film for a Jason fan to watch, there are F13 elements in it (not as many as you’d like) and well worth a watch for any Horror fan.
Miscellaneous facts about the film (Jason/F13 only):
According to writer Mark Swift, producer Robert Shaye seemed a bit more interested in the Freddy side of things which made a huge elimination in their screenplay (and in the film) from the Crystal Lake/Jason side of things.
Standing six feet, five inches (1.96 meters) tall, Ken Kirzinger is the tallest actor to date to play Jason Voorhees.
An alternate opening scene which has Billy, a camper, telling Heather, a counselor, that he had a bad dream. He asks her to stay with him until he can fall asleep again but she refuses and leaves. She goes skinny dipping but hears something and gets scared so she runs back to the cabin. The door is locked however so she asks Billy to open it for her but he gives her the finger.(Part of this scene can be seen in the theatrical cut.)
A bit more of the Freddy and Jason fight inside the burning cabin. Lori utters the line “Freddy vs. Jason. Place your bets.”(Part of this scene can be seen in the trailer and tv spots.) Betsy Palmer, who played Jason’s mother in previous Friday The 13th movies, was asked to reprise her role of Mrs. Pamela Voorhees, but turned it down because she felt the role was too small of a part for her.
The bag placed over Jason’s head in the Crystal Lake nightmare is a reference to the bag Jason wears in Friday the 13th Part 2 before he started wearing his trademark hockey mask.
When Jason impales Frisell and Gibb is a reference to Friday the 13th Part 2 where he does the exact same thing to Jeff and Sandra.
One early version of the script called for the beginning of the film to take place in medieval times, while another called for the beginning to start out at camp crystal lake, with Jason getting arrested. Another script was to have the beginning of the film take place at the eve of the millennium.
The way Jason looks at his hand after Freddy cuts off his fingers is a nod to Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter when Trish stabs him in the hand between his fingers. He stops what he’s doing and looks at his hand the same way.
The scene in which Jason knocks down the two different doors at Westin Hills is a reference to Jason X where he knocks down multiple doors aboard the Grendal.
When Jason is impaled on his own machete, Freddy uses some iron plates to push the machete in deeper. The last three plates that fly through the air form the New Line Cinema logo.
While filming the scene in the fiery cabin where Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees confront each other, actor Ken Kirzinger (Jason) actually caught on fire. A stuntman for over twenty years, Kirzinger remained calm while stage hands rushed in with fire extinguishers to put him out. This incident is discussed in the DVD commentary for the film.
In the first interview concerning about the film, Ken Kirzinger did the whole video interview in Jason’s costume wearing the mask, clothes and make-up, in order to make the viewers more confident in him and his loyalty to the character.
Ken Kirzinger had to undergo some dental work during filming, but it would have taken too much time to remove his makeup and costume and reapply them. When he arrived at the dentist’s office still dressed as Jason (without the hockey mask), people were afraid he was an escaped psychopath and almost called the police.
The scene which featured Jason’s bed kill was originally rejected by New Line studio executives, but writers fought hard for filming it. They acted it out on the floor to convince director Ronny Yu After he liked the idea, the scene was filmed and it turns out to be the biggest reaction of audience during the test screening.
The first film since Friday The 13th Part Vll: The New Blood not to feature Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees.
Chronologically, the film is set after the events of Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare and Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday but before Jason X which was released beforehand as Freddy VS Jason spent so long in development hell.
Ken Kirzinger reckons he was hired because at 6’5″, he is considerably taller than Robert Englund’s 5’10”. The previous Jason, Kane Hodder, stands at 6’2″.
A sequel was planned but never materialized. Wildstorm did publish a six issue comic series in late 2007/ early 2008. This added “The Evil Dead”‘s Ash Williams to the mix.
Ken Kirzinger is the only actor besides Kane Hodder to have played Jason Voorhees more then once. Long before he took over the role of Jason from Hodder, Kirzinger wore the hockey mask when he doubled for Hodder in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. He was also one of the stunt coordinators for that film.
Director Ronny Yu and the producers tried to limit Ken Kirzinger from doing his own stunts as much as possible for legal reasons.
Ken Kirzinger got the part of Jason when he went to New Line Cinema for an interview for the stunt coordinating job. The producers noticed his physical looks, and asked him to audition for the role of Jason.
Veteran Friday the 13th actor Kane Hodder, who played the part of Jason Voorhees in the last four Friday the 13th movies offered to reprise the role for this film, but was turned down for the part because New Line Cinema envisioned the Jason character to be tall and large so they could create a David and Goliath sort of visual imagery between Freddy and Jason. New Line felt that Kane Hodder was too short and bulky to be Jason.
According to Ken Kirzinger the hardest thing he went through for performing as Jason was sinking into the lake. Director Ronny Yu shot the scene in a tank which was highly chlorinated and had debris to make it look like lake water. Ronny Yu needed the close-up of Ken’s left eye and needed him to sink into the water keeping his eye open. Then also he couldn’t breathe because it would be visible on film. So Kirzinger was lying on top of the water and had to let himself sink down to the bottom of the tank without breathing, keeping his left eye open. Kirzinger really held his breath, and the chlorine in the water burned both of his eyes.
Because the ending had to be reshot, and Ken Kirzinger was not available, Douglas Tait was cast in the role of Jason. His few days on the film were largely spent underwater. The crew discovered that when Tait was submerged, his clothes would cling to him and make him look less bulky. Tait had to be bulked up with pads and extra clothing. He also had to walk along the lake floor so he had to hold onto a rope tied under the water.
