Editorials
Why a ‘Friday the 13th’ Origin Story is Probably the Smartest Move
For the sake of recapping, Aaron Guzikowski is penning the next installment in the Friday the 13th franchise for Platinum Dunes and Paramount, which is tentatively set for release on January 13, 2017 – though likely to be pushed back again. What do we know about it so far? Well, for starters, it most definitely will not be a found footage film, and we just learned that it will delve into the origin story of Jason Voorhees. As revealed by producer Brad Fuller earlier this week, we’ll be getting a bit of a different Voorhees backstory than the one we’re all familiar with, which is almost guaranteed to piss off those who refuse to embrace the slightest bit of change.
Speaking of pissing off fans, the very suggestion of a Voorhees origin story has done just that in the wake of Fuller spilling those beans. At this point, seven years after the release of the 2009 remake, most are hungry for little more than another mindless bloodbath at Camp Crystal Lake, and the fear is that an origin story not only threatens to demystify Jason but would ultimately result in less time spent watching him do what he does best: kill, kill, kill, murder, murder, murder.
While it’s very true that origin stories are sometimes detrimental to horror villains, we mustn’t forget that the Friday the 13th franchise is an entirely different beast than, say, the Halloween franchise – the latter being at its best when we weren’t really provided with a reason as to why Michael Myers was killing. Jason Voorhees, on the other hand, is quite the opposite of a villain who’s a stronger character without a backstory. Because Jason Voorhees, when you really think about it, is a villain who doesn’t even exist without his tragic origin story.
The method to Jason’s madness and (understandable) reason for slaying horny teens was established so far before his actual arrival on screen that his franchise didn’t even begin as his franchise – the original Friday the 13th, boiled down to its essence, was an unintentional Jason Voorhees origin story. So how do you reboot the franchise without addressing any of that? To do so, if you’re asking me, would be to do a huge disservice to the Jason Voorhees character.
Of course, one could argue that a Jason origin story is pointless not because it would harm the character but because we’ve already been there and done that, which is a point that’s a bit harder to counterpoint. But let’s not misread what Brad Fuller said. He specifically pointed out that the origin story Guzikowski has written is different than the one present in the original franchise, suggesting that they’re taking the series to places it hasn’t been before. And that’s an exciting thought, especially since there’s so much about Jason’s past that hasn’t ever been addressed and is very much ripe for exploration.
Sure, we know Jason drowned due to the negligence of sex-happy camp counselors, and probably witnessed his beloved mother get beheaded, but the franchise hasn’t actually delved too deep into the specifics of any of that stuff. Who is Jason’s father, for example, and where was Jason on the night Pamela went on a murder spree? Furthermore, if Jason was still alive at that time, why didn’t he just show himself to her? Did he really even drown on that fateful day, and what exactly was he up to all those years before he started killing?
The answers to these and questions like them can only add to the mythology of Jason Voorhees and the Friday the 13th franchise as a whole, and I have a hard time viewing that kind of storytelling as anything but a good thing. You may think you want little more than 90-minutes of pointless murder, but when it comes down to it, wouldn’t you rather get a Friday the 13th movie that tries something different and adds new layers to the series – perhaps even fills in some of the blanks left behind by the original films? Once the hockey mask is on and the machete is in his hand, mindless killing is really all Jason’s good for, so I fully welcome an exploration of the character prior to the new reboot – and subsequent sequels – showering us with the red stuff.
Brad Fuller noted that you “kind of have to understand Jason Voorhees” in order for the franchise to really stay true to itself, and the smartest move on the path to bringing the machete-wielding maniac back to life may very well be starting from the beginning and making sure audiences both new and old understand what he’s all about. Because Friday the 13th isn’t ruined by making Jason a sympathetic character. It’s ruined by failing to acknowledge that he has always been one.
What say you? Am I as crazy as Ralph? Sound off below!
Image at top courtesy: Wickedbeard Creations
From child-eating witches to village-burning dragons, fairy tales have always had a foot in the horror genre. That’s why it makes sense that, for every The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, there are also darker and more adult-oriented stories about magical worlds inhabited by ravenous monsters and cruel villains.
Funnily enough, these sinister tales were precisely the ones that I gravitated towards back when I was a kid, and I was reminded of this while watching Netflix’s recently released I Am Frankelda, Mexico’s first ever feature-length stop-motion animation and one hell of an entertaining parable about the intersection between fiction and reality.
In honor of this special kind of horror-adjacent fairy tale, today I’d like to share this list recommending six Dark Fantasy films that horror fans might enjoy.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be defining Dark Fantasy as fantastical stories that don’t shy away from the more macabre elements that fuel classic fairy tales. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own grim favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
I’m fascinated by bizarre attempts at blockbuster filmmaking – especially when the resulting movies are somehow still fun despite their corporate-mandated origins. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is precisely one of these strangely compelling studio projects, as this surprisingly successful action-thriller boasts a lot of heart (and tongue-in-cheek humor) for a CGI-heavy creature feature.
Directed by Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola, Witch Hunters re-frames the classic fairy tale as an origin story for a duo of badass monster-slayers. Of course, it’s the flick’s anachronistic aesthetic and overall visual flair that make it stand out from other action-horror endeavors from around the same time.
5. The Wolf House (2018)
Made in the tradition of faux cursed films in the same vein as Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made, the eerie backstory to 2018’s Chilean animated flick The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo in the original Spanish) already makes it a nightmarish experience before the flick even really begins.
After all, the movie is presented to us as a faux propaganda film produced by the leader of a death cult (heavily inspired by the real life Colonia Dignidad), with this hybrid animated feature using complex movie magic to simulate a single uninterrupted shot as it tells the story of a lazy young girl who runs away from an isolated colony and encounters a creepy old house in the woods.
4. The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Out of all the Monty Python alumni, Terry Gilliam has had the most interesting career outside of the original comedy group. From fascinating canceled projects (such as his scrapped adaptation of Watchmen) to dystopian parodies that feel more relevant by the minute (1985’s Brazil), even his “lesser” films are still intriguing in their own way.
2005’s The Brothers Grimm is one such project, with this peculiar movie attempting to combine the comedian-turned-filmmaker’s unique visual style with a more blockbuster-oriented plot reimagining the titular brothers as con-artists rather than mere writers. The end result isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it’s still a legitimately fun ride with plenty of memorable monsters and wonderful performances by both the late, great Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.
3. Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010)
2010’s Dante’s Inferno game may have a reputation as something of an unapologetic God of War clone, but I’d argue that the now-obscure game was aesthetically unique enough to deserve a bigger fanbase. However, while the title remains trapped on the seventh console generation, its highly underrated anime adaptation is a lot easier to get a hold of!
Animated by 6 different studios in order to make the 9 circles of hell feel unique from each other, this may not be a completely faithful adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s poem, but it’s still one heck of a great (not to mention gory) time that I’d highly recommend to fans of Netflix’s take on Castlevania.
2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
My personal favorite entry in the Underworld franchise, Rise of the Lycans, is a highly ambitious prequel that actually works better if you haven’t had the story spoiled to you by the previous Underworld films.
While the rest of the series features plenty of urban fantasy elements as the movies combine machine guns and modern environments with gothic storytelling, Patrick Tatopoulos’ prequel fully embraces its fantastical origins and tells a classic tale about a doomed romance between a werewolf and a vampire amid a medieval uprising.
And the best part is that we get a lot more Michael Sheen as the fan-favorite Lucian.
1. Solomon Kane (2011)
One of my personal favorite movies on this list, MJ Basset’s criminally underseen adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s other iconic warrior is thoroughly steeped in horror ambience and features plenty of memorable monsters. However, it’s also a classic origin story for a swashbuckling hero that wouldn’t feel out of place in a tabletop RPG.
While I’ve already written about how the film deftly combines both horror and fantasy elements without breaking the bank, I’ll never pass up an opportunity to recommend the bizarre movie where James Purefoy expertly plays a puritan John Wick.
It’s just too bad that we never got the other films in this intended trilogy.
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