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Friday the 13th: The Pop Culture Phenomenon of Jason Voorhees

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The final Friday the 13th of 2018 is here, and you can count on at least one cable channel to air a Friday the 13th marathon in celebration. The popular horror franchise has taken over a day once steeped in superstition; now it belongs to Jason Voorhees. A franchise that has spawned 11 films and a reboot, Friday the 13th is the top grossing horror franchise stateside. That the franchise rights are currently hung up in legal limbo makes sense as iconic series’ killer Jason Voorhees doesn’t just slay camp counselors but profits as well. Nearly 40 years after audiences first glimpsed young Jason at Camp Crystal Lake, fans can’t get enough. Not in movie or video game form. His machete-wielding reach doesn’t just extend to horror fans either. Jason Voorhees has long been established as one of the most prominent pop culture icons in America.

Throughout the decades Jason Voorhees has become a household name, deeply embedded in American culture. He’s not just a well-loved horror icon, but a marketing tool as well. His likeness and persona has been referenced and used in countless movies, talk shows, commercials, video games, music, and moreover the decades. Here are some of the highlights of Jason Voorhees’ major influence in pop culture.


Talk Shows

In promotion of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Voorhees made a guest appearance on Arsenio Hall’s late-night talk show. Since most late-night talk shows involve an interview session with guests, and Voorhees isn’t known for being particularly talkative, this appearance by Jason is comical.


MTV Lifetime Achievement Award

A tongue in cheek award for those who were hugely influential in pop culture at the MTV Movie Awards in the ‘90s, Jason Voorhees was the very first recipient. Well. Sort of. It was Jon Lovitz in a Jason Voorhees costume, accepting on his behalf, and he was plugging his latest movie at the time. Still though, the first lifetime achievement award, humorous or not, was awarded one of horror’s top killers. Pretty cool.


Commercials

Jason, or his likeness, has been used to promote various products completely unrelated to the Friday the 13th franchise throughout the years. From shoes to cable TV, here are some of the more memorable commercials that featured the horror icon.

Banned Nike Commercial

This Nike commercial featured a Jason and Michael Myers mashup chasing distance runner Suzy Hamilton with a chainsaw. The commercial aired during the Olympics in 2010, but complaints via email and phone caused NBC to pull the ad. Bummer.

RadioShack Commercial

Remember that Superbowl commercial in 2014 for RadioShack that featured a ton of iconic ‘80s characters? It highlighted the likes of Hulk Hogan, Slimer, Chucky, and of course Jason Voorhees. Even in 2014 Jason was still being used as an effective marketing ploy.

DIRECTV

Chances are you’ve seen the meme of iconic horror characters frolicking together, but maybe you didn’t know where it started. I present you with this DirecTV commercial. You’re welcome.


Non-Horror Movies

Though Jason’s peak killing season is summer break, that didn’t stop his influence from pervading Christmas. The 1989 holiday classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation features a nod to Jason when Clark Griswold emerges from his garage sporting a hockey mask and a chainsaw.

There’s also a bit in Police Academy 4 where a guy sporting a hockey mask cuts his way out of a body bag with a chainsaw. Or a line of dialogue in Meatballs II, “just like the camp from that movie Friday the 13th, you know, where all the counselors get killed for no reason.”


Television

The long-running animated series The Simpsons has referenced Friday the 13th and Jason Voorhees numerous times, and not only in the horror-centric “Treehouse of Horror” episodes. Marge was kidnapped and brought to Camp Crystal Lake in “Take My Wife Sleaze,” Sideshow Bob shows off his hockey mask and chainsaw attire in “Cape Feare,” and of course there are references in the episode that Tom Savini guested in “Worst Episode Ever.”

References and copycats of Jason have also graced family friendly programming like Full House, where Kimmy Gibbler tried to have a Friday the 13th wedding in “Taking the Plunge,” Animaniacs episode “Video Review,” and Gilmore Girls episode “The Fundamental Things Apply.” If there’s a Halloween themed episode or one that features a Friday the 13th, it’s a safe bet that Jason Voorhees will get a nod.


Video Games

Jason got his own game for the NES in 1989 (and an awesome game in the present as well), but that didn’t stop him from invading other games throughout the years. There were Jason lookalikes in 1988’s Splatterhouse, 1993’s Zombies Ate My Neighbors, House of the Dead, and more. His appearance as a playable character in Mortal Kombat X with signature fatalities like “Kill for Mother” and “Sleeping Bag Killer” was a must have.


Music

Remember that time Eminem rocked the Jason Voorhees look? Or 2pac’s reference to Jason in his lyrics for “Got My Mind Made Up”? There are endless lyrical references to Jason in music, from artists like Jay-z, LL Cool J, System of a Down, and so many more. It’s not just stateside that has integrated Jason with music either. Japanese girl group Alice Juban wield chainsaws and wear Jason style hockey masks while performing. Yup. It’s a thing.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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