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Let’s Explore the Shared Slasher Movie Universe That Already Exists

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Freddy Vs. Jason

Are they fun Easter eggs, or do our favorite villains live in the same universe?

“Shared cinematic universes” are all the rage in Hollywood right now. Of course, it all began with the Marvel and DC comic book superhero universes that have been dominating the box office for the last several years, and in 2017, Universal is launching their own shared monsters universe with the action-oriented reboot of The Mummy. And then there’s the so-called Cloverfield Cinematic Universe, which continues next year with a film that will share some connection to both the 2008 found footage monster movie and this year’s universe-expander, 10 Cloverfield Lane.

But what about the big horror movie franchises of the 1980s? Fans have for years been begging for a “Shared Slasher Universe” of sorts, hopeful that the likes of Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, and Ash Williams will eventually come together for either an epic mash-up film or a series of interconnected movies. Of course, it will likely never happen. Then again, does it already exist?

Back in November 2015, our own Daniel Baldwin wrote an excellent piece about the Universal Monsters Universe that already exists, and today we delve into the Slasher Universe.

It all began in 1987…

freddy-glove-evil-dead-2

'Evil Dead 2'

In response to Wes Craven featuring a scene from The Evil Dead in A Nightmare on Elm Street, which itself was a response to Sam Raimi putting a torn up Hills Have Eyes poster in The Evil Dead, Raimi cleverly hid Freddy Krueger’s glove in Evil Dead 2. The glove appears in two different scenes: at one point it hangs above the workshed door, at another it can be seen hanging in the fruit cellar. Freddy’s glove subsequently popped up for a cameo appearance in “Ash vs. Evil Dead” last year. Of course, the various appearances of the glove in the Evil Dead franchise can’t really be viewed as anything more than Raimi paying tribute to Craven, but Evil Dead 2 was the first time a major prop from one franchise found its way into another.

If nothing more, it’s fun to imagine Ash and Freddy residing in the same world.

predator-2-skull

Eagle-eyed fans spotted another fun little franchise-to-franchise nod in 1990’s Predator 2, which has since become one of the most well-known Easter eggs in cinema history. At one point in the 1997-set sequel, an instantly-recognizable Xenomorph skull is spotted in a trophy case aboard the Predator Mother Ship. Though an Alien vs. Predator comic series had just begun at the time, the skull represented the first time the two franchises crossed over on the big screen. Of course, two Alien vs. Predator films followed many years later: AvP in 2004 and AvP: Requiem in 2007.

The skull suggested that the battle had begun long before we were given a front-row seat.

jason-goes-to-hell-evil-dead

If there’s any one lynchpin of the Slasher Universe it’s Jason Goes to Hell, released in 1993. While Evil Dead 2 suggested that Freddy and Ash live in the same world, Jason Goes to Hell went ahead and made it clear that Jason lives right alongside them. Down in the Voorhees basement, the Evil Dead franchise’s Necronomicon is spotted, and if that wasn’t direct enough a connection between the series’, the Kandarian Dagger is also prominently featured in the body-hopping film. In fact, it’s the Kandarian Dagger that possesses the power to kill Jason Voorhees once and for all; and indeed it serves precisely that purpose, suggesting that… Jason is a Deadite?! Freddy then pops up at the very end to drag Jason into Hell, teasing their 2003 battle a decade in advance.

Maybe it was the Necronomicon that brought Jason back from the dead?

That’s not all that Jason Goes to Hell brings to the table, in terms of universe-building. Also seen down in the Voorhees basement is the crate that housed the monstrous Fluffy in Creepshow, and you may remember that at one point, a character makes mention of something happening near “the old Myers place.” The implication is that Michael Myers lives in that very same world.

pumpkinhead-2-evil-dead

Speaking of the Necronomicon, did you know that it also pops up in 1994 sequel Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings? It can be seen in Ms. Osie’s cabin, suggesting that the witch uses the Book of the Dead as part of her spells. Does Pumpkinhead have some connection to the Necronomicon?

Another film that heavily expands on the Slasher Universe, if you choose to have a little fun and use your imagination, is 1998’s Bride of Chucky. Early in the film, Tiffany steals Chucky’s remains from a police compound, and several iconic horror movie props are seen in the same building.

bride-of-chucky-easter-eggs

Locked up in the station is Freddy’s glove, Jason’s mask, Michael Myers’ mask, and Leatherface’s chainsaw. We already knew up to that point that Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers inhabited the same world, but Bride of Chucky posits that maybe the killer doll and Leatherface do as well.

I’d be remiss to not also mention 2006’s Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which is set in a world where all the big slasher villains exist. At one point, Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers are mentioned by name, and it’s also worth noting, as I recently did in a separate article wherein I spoke with the film’s writer, that Eugene is supposed to be Billy from Black Christmas.

Also worth reminding that Leslie Vernon is mentioned in Hatchet 2, which would place bayou monster Victor Crowley into the same universe as all the other slasher icons!

Now look. Before anyone jumps down my throat, I feel I must once again point out that this is all for fun. Most of this stuff isn’t canon but rather the work of filmmakers paying tribute to the horror movies they love; it’s just amusing to examine all the homages, connect the dots, and imagine a world where all of our favorite slasher characters exist and breathe the same air.

Did I miss any franchise-to-franchise connections? Let me know if you think of any!

freddy-vs-jason

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Editorials

‘The Fog’ 19 Years Later: There’s a Reason You Don’t Remember This John Carpenter Remake

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The Fog remake
Pictured: 'The Fog' (2005)

John Carpenter’s illustrious catalog of horror and non-horror classics has already seen three remakes (Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13, and this column’s focus), with at least one more kinda-sorta confirmed on the way (Escape from New York). If you consider 2011’s The Thing enough of a remake, notch another on the bedpost. It makes sense; Carpenter turned his no-bullshit attitude into a masterful filmmaking style, and those listed titles harbor nostalgic admiration. We’re probably closer than we think to seeing Bryan Fuller’s Christine remake for Blumhouse or a contemporary They Live, while Dwayne Johnson’s Big Trouble in Little China sequel project fades away. Imagine Julia Ducournau’s Christine should Fuller exit, or what about if James Gunn booked a brief horror vacation away from the DCEU for his take on They Live?

Carpenter’s brand of down-and-dirty storytelling mixed with societal commentaries make his works perfect for generational updates, but they can’t all be winners.

Take 2005’s woefully tragic The Fog, for example.

Rupert Wainwright’s disastrously shallow remake lacks the finesse of even a crusty barnacle attached to the underbelly of Carpenter’s original. During a period of horror cinema inundated by remakes, The Fog asserts itself as one of the worst. The 2000s had a very “show, don’t tell” approach to horror filmmaking and leaned on grisly violence popularized by Saw, all exploited in their lowest forms throughout The Fog. Bless both Carpenter and the late Debra Hill for serving as producers, but Wainwright and writer Cooper Layne do their salty source shanty zero justice.


The Approach

‘The Fog’ (1980)

Carpenter’s The Fog is successful because of the auteur’s influence. Between his stronger emphasis on churchly greed, eerie musical score, and abilities as a simplistic yet impactful visionary, viewers get plenty of “bang for their buck” in 90 minutes. Wainwright doesn’t possess those qualities and relies on archaic horror templates without any investment. In an era where computer graphics were still advancing, and some producers only valued horror as gory inserts within a lax narrative, Wainwright’s direction equates to background noise. There’s nothing spectacular or signature about the filmmaker’s approach, as recyclable as the plethora of 2000s horror films plagued by the same churned-out doldrums.

Smallville heartthrob Tom Welling follows in the footsteps of fellow WB/CW stars like Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki to shepherd his own horror remake, playing Tom Atkins’ role of fisherman Nick Castle. He’s a descendant of Norman Castle, one of the founding fathers of Antonio Island, which is located off the Oregon coast. It’s been over 100 years since the island’s bustling Antonio Bay community was established, and to celebrate an upcoming anniversary, a statue is commissioned that displays its founders as a dedication to their contributions. Mayor Tom Malone (Kenneth Welsh) wants everything to be perfect, but little does he know Antonio Bay is about to have an undead problem to confront when a mysterious fog rolls in thick as sauna steam.

The bones of The Fog are all there, but both needlessly overcomplicated and disparagingly unkempt. Carpenter introduces his film with an eerie ghost story told around a campfire that becomes a grave truth for Antonio Bay — Layne’s remake screenplay does backflips to try and explain the unexplainable. Nick’s charter fishing vessel unleashes the curse when second-mate Spooner (DeRay Davis) rips open a burlap bag concealing curse items with the boat’s anchor because the film doesn’t trust audience comprehension past any viewer’s eyesight. One of the biggest scourges upon 2000s horror cinema was creators believing their audiences were as dumb as algae-covered rocks, causing them to spell the obvious out in even more blatant and less captivating methods.


Does It Work?

The Fog remake carpenter

‘The Fog’ (2005)

The adjustments Wainwright oversees in 2005’s remix are a bungle of what out-of-touch producers presumed horror fans wanted to see at the time. Carpenter’s quaint coastal atmosphere is eradicated by Spooner’s Girls Gone Wild behavior or the need to belabor flashbacks that lay out every grim detail about Captain Blake (Rade Šerbedžija) and his lepers. Antonio Island’s tainted history is still prevalent as a driving force behind the weather-based haunting, but where Carpenter leaves us to imagine the atrocities founding fathers committed, Wainwright and Layne lean on time jumps that detract from overall moods for cheap betrayal thrills. The remake retains less reflection, whereas Carpenter’s original better depicts a town reckoning with its horrifying heritage — an example of hollow vengeance versus frightening introspection.

Maggie Grace co-stars in Jamie Lee Curtis’ hitchhiker role, except she’s no longer affable nomad Elizabeth Solley; she’s Kathy Williams’ (Sara Botsford) daughter, Elizabeth Williams. Her ties to Antonio Bay are supposed to represent how we can’t escape our fates, fair enough. What’s unfortunate is Layne’s need to shoehorn relationship drama because she’s (apparently) the love of Nick’s life despite his handful of hookups with KAB radio DJ Stevie Wayne (Selma Blair) while Elizabeth fled her hometown for six months — a love triangle situation that adds no special sauce and is practically forgotten. Carpenter is fantastic when letting his characters exist without bogging their arcs with fifty reasons why they’re exactly where they are in any given scene. Wainwright is no mimic, nor does his film’s desire to tangle characters together as friends, lovers, or family members add further intrigue. If anything, it adversely tanks character development because there’s no resident we intimately care about.

Which brings us to the “fog” of it all. Carpenter’s maggot-ridden swashbucklers from the deep are memorable and creepy, while Wainwright pulls his haunted visuals from a grab-bag. Sometimes, they’re atrocious see-through animations made of mist — other times, indiscriminately human entities. One victim contracts leprosy as his punishment, another fried to ash upon touch, and yet another is dragged underwater by invisible hands — there’s zero continuity to Wainwright’s justifiably antagonistic forces. They become a Mad Libs gaggle of props fitting whatever scare-of-the-hour The Fog decides is necessary at that moment, none of which ever collaborate in unison. That includes Captain Blake’s parting climax, in which he abandons his group’s attack on Antonio Bay because he claims Elizabeth as his ghost wife after it’s clear she’s the spitting image of Blake’s 1870s lover [insert seventy thousand question marks].


The Result

The Fog remake tom welling

‘The Fog’ (2005)

The Fog remake is everything I despise about thoughtless horror outputs rolled into a briny clump of seaweed and misbegotten reinventions. It’s hardly scary, unable to let audiences invest in atmospheric spookiness, and so wildly incompetent. Each scene gets progressively worse, starting with the reveal of evil personal belongings stamped with identifiable “Hallmarks” that become pieces of a puzzle that never gets finished. Carpenter makes you feel the offshore breeze rolling in with his fog, sending chills up your spine as these scurvy-soaked scoundrels start stabbing and hooking Antonio Bay residents. Wainwright doesn’t ever grasp what his iteration of Blake’s demons should look like or how they should cause havoc, so he starts throwing basic horror visuals at the screen out of desperation.

Revolution Studios’ The Fog downgrade sinks thanks to primarily messy effects, hampered by the early millennium’s digital capabilities. That’s not exclusive to awful ghost illustrations that look like someone just decreased the “Transparency” slider in Photoshop. The fog, the TITULAR FOG, doesn’t even hold up to Demon Wind standards (in which the wind is essentially fog, roll with it). Wainwright and his team brainstorm ideas that sound rad on paper — an older woman gets barbecued, a ghost outline appears in fog like Imhotep’s sandstorm face, a younger woman is attacked by seaweed — but execution almost exclusively whiffs. The remake’s drunkard generalization of Father Malone (which is such a slap in the face to Hal Holbrook’s fantastic original performance) should meet an epic death when Captain Blake levitates glass shards as a containment circle, but three pieces fly through Malone’s body, and it’s over. That’s the level of SFX disappointment that festers throughout 2005’s The Fog, all buildup with no reward.

The film’s finale feels like a prank; the rest of the conflict’s resolution is lost at sea. Carpenter’s much heavier scolds against organized religion’s dirty dealings help give his film an identity down to the glimmering golden cross, while Wainwright goes as generic as they come and abandons ship when the well runs dry. Nothing justifies the kind of conceptual excitement that comes along with worthwhile remakes, whether that’s copycat role replications (I love Selma Blair, but her Stevie doesn’t match Adrienne Barbeau’s presence) or storytelling reductions that choose numbing violence over folkloric sensations of dread. We love a horror movie that’s critical of early America’s disgusting colonization tactics, but The Fog doesn’t know how to turn those frustrations into a compelling genre production. Whatever’s kept from the original holds no candle to Carpenter’s version, and whatever’s added — like Nick and Elizabeth’s awkward shower sex scene set to softcore porno music — brings nothing of value.


The Lesson

‘The Fog’ (2005)

Just because your remake starts with a banger like Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down Swinging” doesn’t mean the film itself is a banger. There’s no world where I’d recommend Wainwright’s The Fog over Carpenter’s titanically superior original, and I say that as a leading Aughts horror remake champion. It’s another Nu-Horror approach that strips away commentary crucial to the plot’s intrigue since all Layne musters is a non-creepy and waterlogged story that feels like an unwieldy CW episode — not meant as a compliment. Not even the chiseled beauty of an early 2000s Tom Welling in a wool turtleneck can save this travesty from becoming another forgotten wreck.

So what did we learn?

● Not all CW figureheads have a hit horror remake in their blood.

● Less is so often more when it comes to horror movies, as long as you’re selling scares and confidently telling a story within your means.

● Some movies from the 2000s horror era will always suffer thanks to dodgy digital effects because while it was the shiny new toy everyone wanted to play with, golly, the technology was rough to start.

● Horror fans can be easy to please, but they’re also first to call out your bullshit — get out of here with these ghosts and their inability to pick a lane.

Wainwright’s film never knows what kind of horror movie it wants to be, and that’s the kill shot. Is it a slasher flick? Zombie movie? A large-scale haunted house blueprint? There’s never any indication that Wainwright or his screenwriter conceptualize a path forward, so they barrel on, praying there’s enough horror familiarity to appease the masses. There isn’t, it’s a boneheaded slog, and that’s that. Horror fans deserve better than to be fed the equivalent of table scraps for 100 minutes. To each their own and all, but now that I’ve finally seen 2005’s The Fog, the only times I’ll think about this movie again will be if someone interacts with my Letterboxd post.

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