Editorials
Did Jason Voorhees Really Almost Appear in ‘Waxwork’?
Waxwork is a childhood favorite of so many who grew up with it in the height of the video era—and for good reason. For kids introduced to horror through the relatively tame Universal Classic Monsters, maybe moving onto something like The Monster Squad after that, Waxwork is the perfect next step. It brings together nearly all the great monsters while modernizing things in great, goofy, gory glory. Anthony Hickox both treats the material seriously and embraces its sheer campiness in almost equal doses. Thanks to the recent Vestron Blu-ray release, it is being introduced to a bigger audience than ever.
Because of this cult audience it has amassed over the years, so many fans have suggested Waxwork as one of those rare horror movies that could benefit from a remake. Most of the comments are exactly the same: they believe that it should naturally be done by bringing in the iconic “modern” monsters of the ‘70s and ‘80s instead of simply reusing the timeless classics.
What these fans don’t realize, however, is how close we actually came to getting something like that in the first place.
Waxwork was never meant to include every current horror icon of the time in which it was made, but it was at one point going to at least include one—none other than Friday the 13th’s signature villain, Jason Voorhees!
For Waxwork fans, this was a rumor that had persisted for a very long time. I had always heard that Jason was in the original script, but was eventually taken out and replaced with another monster. The way it had always been described, Jason was meant to appear when Jonathon went over to the Waxwork to look for China and the others, only to be “fed” to the Phantom of the Opera. In the scene, Jonathon stops to see the wax figure and has a kind of fan boy reaction, recognizing the mask from the movie Curse of the Opera. David Warner’s Mr. Lincoln pauses, surprised, to say “They made a movie about the Phantom of the Opera?” And Jonathan replies, “Several.”
This scene makes no sense in its finished form in the film. Jonathan is a full-on jock, an established meathead and it’s a surprise for him to know much of anything about the Phantom of the Opera. But this absolutely seems like a guy who would have eagerly taken in whatever Friday the 13th was currently playing that weekend.
If you replace the Phantom with Jason in that scene, it makes perfect sense. All of that dialogue that doesn’t match up is immediately believable if Jonathan’s marveling at a hockey mask instead of the Phantom’s mask, or if Lincoln’s shockingly asking “They made a movie about the Crystal Lake killings?” Or something along those lines.
When looking at that scene and hearing that Jason was supposed to appear in it instead, it’s a no-brainer. It could also be completely wrong.
I actually looked up the original script and in that, Jason is nowhere to be found. He is definitely not present in the Phantom of the Opera sequence, which is written exactly the same way in the script as it appears in the finished film. But, not every monster that appears in the movie appears in that script, either. There were so many creatures featured in the waxwork and in the huge finale that didn’t get their own standout sequence, many of which were devised by Bob Keen and his FX crew during production.
From the Invisible Man, Frankenstein’s monster, to even Audrey II and the baby from It’s Alive, there are famous monsters all over Waxwork. It’s the Ready Player One of ‘80s horror flicks.
Yet there are several times when the camera will cut away to a generic woodsman holding an ax. He’s got nothing to do with anything, he’s not even a loose parody of a particular monster, so he seems a little out of place whenever he appears. He seems, at the very least, to be a simple stand-in for the generic 1980s slasher villain. It’s entirely possible that this could have been Jason, had he originally been meant to be included in the film.
But if Jason doesn’t actually appear in the script, how have fans known about his possible appearance for so long? The answer is pretty simple. To coincide with the film’s release, a comic adaptation of Waxwork was released by a small company named Blackthorne Press. Running only a single issue, the comic was available in both a standard and 3D version—this was sort of standard practice at the time; both Fright Night and Freddy’s Dead saw their own 3D comics as well, the latter in attempt to faithfully adapt that film’s finale.
Not only does Jason appear in the comic adaptation of Waxwork, he specifically appears in the Phantom of the Opera scene, as the rumor had always suggested. In this version, China is the one to ask if that mask is the same one from the movies, with Lincoln referring to the villain by name as he responds, “Films were made about the Jason killings?”
Jason makes several other appearances in the comic as well, right from the opening sequence. Instead of the homeless man being presumably murdered by Lincoln at the beginning, as he was in the film, he stumbles onto a wax figure of Jason and winds up getting his head split open by Jason’s trusty machete.
Jason also appears in the huge battle royale at the end, when all of the wax figures are brought to life during the grand finale. Whether any of these scenes are representative of where or when Jason was supposed to appear in the movie is completely unclear. As to why he didn’t appear, that is still open to some debate… but it’s probably pretty obvious.
Most of the classic characters that appear in Waxwork are public domain, with the designs of characters like Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster changed so as not to infringe on Universal copyright, similarly to The Monster Squad. Other characters are visual references, maybe looking similar enough to be recognizable, but are not mentioned by name. Jason, however, was a very popular, modern, and most importantly trademarked horror icon at the time. He was very much owned by Paramount, and any major changes to his design would not have believably been the same character.
We did reach out to director Anthony Hickox to confirm that he does think Jason was considered, at least briefly, for either the first or second movie. But with those standing copyright issues in place, it’s easy to understand why he never actually made it into the film. If he would have had to appear wearing a mask similar to the one on the VHS cover for A New Beginning or a generic-brand hockey mask instead of the one we all know and love, it’s probably better that his appearance never came to fruition.
But one way or another, thanks to his lengthy guest appearance in the comic book adaptation, Jason Voorhees will forever be a part of the Waxwork legacy.
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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