Back in December I spoke of my quest to obtain the Friday the 13th sequel Deluxe Editions. Because you surely couldn’t sleep at night without a follow-up on that, I’m pleased to report I indeed purchased all of them – some of them being the French Canadian versions, but same content. Against habit, I didn’t whip through them, opting instead to spread them out over the past few months so I could appreciate each over-watched film again, and more importantly savor those exquisite special features put together by His Name Is Jason director Daniel Farrands. Now that my sojourn is over, I’ve taken away one major thing:

My opinion on Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood has completely changed.

I’ve probably watched The New Blood more than any Friday… yet found it the most plodding and derivative of them all. Oxy moronic? I’m a multitasker and like to do fifty things at once, so sometimes it really helps to have a movie in the background that is – how shall I say – reliably bland. As a result, movies of dubious merit get a special concession. For a specific period in my life, TNB fit the bill: Nothing really happens in it. The finale has some fun stunts and pyrotechnics. It’s a dollar store version of The Final Chapter. And all of John Carl Buechler’s talk in Fangoria back in the roaring 80′s of this entry’s deep metaphysics was prime horseshit. But dangit, I loved having that video on repeat, providing a easy visual and aural backdrop to my daily work while not demanding dedicated attention. I loved it, just not in the way most others did.

Now that I have the DVD? Woowee, you’ve watched the deleted scenes, right? If not, check ‘em out below. I actually bypassed the ‘slashed scenes’ section of the disc because I assumed I’d already seen them in the From Crystal Lake To Manhattan boxset and knew no better source had been found in the intervening years – it was just JCB’s old workprint tape being put through the ringer again. Psh. It wasn’t until later on when I decided to give it a play so I could technically say I watched every part of the Deluxe DVDs I paid handsomely for. What I watched was a revelation, plain and simple.

Compare the meager clips of MPAA-censored gore shots off the FCLTM set against the 16 minutes (!) of scenes of the recent DVD! Seeing them in full, and in some case alternate form, really hammered home that the cuts didn’t just remove the ‘money shots’ of the movie, but really depowered Jason as the furious – yes, metaphysical – force of nature both JCB and Kane Hodder intended him to be. Those censored kills turned out to be only part of the losses TNB suffered, with some character development moments and a fun stalker POV scene between Kevin Spirtas and Lar Park-Lincoln that provided a little thematic continuity with Jason Lives and lightened up the drab story. The sloppy way the gore was edited out and the extraction of these interesting ‘people’ moments leads me to believe MPAA weren’t the real villains in this chapter of the saga but once again Paramount. TNB was neutered from the get go – way back in the development stages, but it turns out both screenwriter Daryl Haney and director Buechler really did try to elevate the material during the darkest period of Paramount Picture’s embarrassment over the series’ success.

As much as Paramount have sucked, they also rule for allowing these deluxe editions to happen and making the right choice to get the right people to make them happen. I know many fans won’t be happy with anything less than a restored uncut version – but complaining and petitioning for that is an exercise in futility. The original elements being lost by now and the reality that this is not a cash cow that has can be bled dry like say, Army of Darkness and Halloween (both of which received extended cuts as just one variation between several reissues). The ship has sailed. But here’s the cool thing – the power is now in fans’ hands to do the dirty work themselves. We have all the censored elements now. The New Blood is the most wanted uncut version, for the reason that the cuts so drastically altered the impact of the movie. So it’s astounding that no one has yet taken the footage from the recent DVD and done the movie justice. Well, there has been talk in fan circles and I do already own a fanmade Unrated Edition (cover sleeve pictured up top), but it was constructed pre-Deluxe Edtion so is only half a victory when viewing, you know?

I have some advice to anyone seriously intending on putting it together: first off, it isn’t as simple as treating the project as a puzzle and dropping the slashed scenes into their rightful places – finesse is needed to properly integrate them and editorial sacrifices need to be made: Deletion of some material in the existing film and proper transitioning of scenes. Minor digital cleanup work on the slashed scenes will be vital to correct the contrast so it matches your source copy of the movie. Which brings me to the most important move a fan-ed can make: using a DVD print of the movie will tank the edit completely. The difference in quality is going to be jarring and that is going to mean immersion will be impossible and the cut only enjoyed on a novelty level. The vital key to restoring The New Blood is to use an old, beat up VHS  copy of the movie as that would most match the crappy quality of the slashed scenes. By that, the viewer than has the best chance of being able to appreciate the restored cut as a whole and watch the story the way it was meant to unfold.

Director: John Carl Buechler
Writers: Daryl Haney, Manuel Fidello
Starring: Lar Park Lincoln, Kevin Blair, Terry Kiser, Susan Blu, Susan Jennifer Sullivan, Kane Hodder, Diana Barrows, Heidi Kozak
Producer: Iain Paterson
Music: Harry Manfredini, Fred Mollin
Special Makeup Effects: John Carl Buechler

Although Jason Lives had fared better with both fans and critics than its predecessor, the success of the Friday the 13th franchise had started to show signs of stalling. Paramount had attempted to gain permission from New Line Cinema to cross over the series with their own product, A Nightmare on Elm Street, for what would eventually become Freddy vs. Jason. The studio had discussed concepts with a variety of filmmakers, including Jason Lives‘ Tom McLoughlin but, whilst Friday the 13th had begun to struggle at the box office, 1987′s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors had become a phenomenal success, and soon it became apparent that they would be unable to compromise with New Line. Whilst Paramount had enjoyed minor acclaim with their small screen spinoff, Friday the 13th: The Series, they began to entertain ideas for what would be their eighth installment. Frank Mancuso Jr., who had nurtured the franchise throughout most of its sequels, was hard at work with his own production company, Hometown, and no longer had interest in Jason Voorhees, thus allowing Paramount’s Senior VP Barbara Sachs to oversee the production.

Amongst the writers to audition for the task of bringing back Jason in a way that would compete with Elm Street was Daryl Haney who, after a string of failed pitches, suggested that the heroine have some kind of telekinetic ability. Sachs was immediately struck by the proposal and dubbed the concept Jason vs. Carrie, in reference to Brian De Palma’s classic adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. Flying back from Los Angeles to New York the following day, Haney was contacted by Sachs and informed that he was hired, thus starting several weeks of phone discussions between the two as they attempted to formulate a plot. Demanding something bigger than fans had seen before, Sachs would lay out a synopsis which saw a yuppie businessman arriving at Crystal Lake with the intention of building luxury condos, much to the distress of the local residents who feared that Jason would return. A playful poke at capitalism – something common amongst filmmakers during the 1980s with such satires as Trading Places, Wall Street and RoboCop – Jason would not actually appear in the story until midway through.

Despite his lack of interest in the project, Mancuso Jr. was horrified by how much the script had diverted from the traditional formula and advised Haney to view Joseph Zito’s 1984 sequel Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, which many considered the best installment. Unlike the previous Friday the 13th movies, the task of directing Part VII would be entrusted to an experienced special effects artist, an aspect that would prove useful during production. Having developed a passion for make-up from an early age, John Carl Buechler had begun experimenting with clay and latex and soon became a regular letter writer to acclaimed FX artist Rick Baker, whom he would land an apprenticeship with, before gaining his break at Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, where he would be involved in such schlock classics as Forbidden World and Deathstalker. From there he moved onto Charles Band’s Empire, which would lead to his first official directing credit with 1984′s The Dungeonmaster, shooting the segment Demons of the Dead. But it would be his low budget fantasy Troll, which he had first tried to finance whilst still at New World, that would bring Buechler to the attention of Mancuso, Jr.

By this point, the Friday the 13th franchise had begun to compete with A Nightmare on Elm Street, which was far more revered and professional, and so the telekinetic subplot would add a supernatural element. There was immediate tension between Haney and Buechler, with the latter reworking the script to remove many of the tired slasher clichés and adding several action sequences, whilst also refining the central character, Tina. Determined to avoid the basic slice-and-dice formula of its predecessors, Buechler wanted to explore Jason’s supernatural elements and how he had finally found his match. Haney, who had been unimpressed by Troll when Sachs had screened the film for him, felt that Buechler would not be able to do his script justice and soon entered a dispute over his salary when he felt that he was not receiving the payment he was owed. The rewrites on Birthday Bash, as it would be tentatively known, were credited to Manuel Fidello, many of whom believed was an alias for an unknown writer. It is worth noting that Manuel Fidello was also the name of Spencer Tracy’s character in Victor Fleming’s 1937 classic Captains Courageous.

Once again the casting sessions would consist of an endless supply of young, good-looking actors eager to be mutilated or disrobe. Kerry Noonan, who had already been dispatched in Jason Lives, was invited in to audition for the role of Tina, without the casting agents realising that she had appeared in a previous Friday movie. In fact, none of the young cast who attended the auditions were aware that Birthday Bash was a Friday the 13th film, although with the script’s antagonist sporting a hockey mask some began to suspect the truth. The part of Tina would eventually go to twenty-six year old Lar Park Lincoln, whose prior experience in the horror genre had been the tongue-in-cheek flick House II: The Second Story (produced by Friday the 13th‘s Sean S. Cunningham). Kevin Spirtas, who would ultimately be cast in the heroic role of Nick, had first cut his teeth on Broadway at the age of eighteen, where he performed in such productions as A Chorus Line and Meet Me in St. Louis. As he left his teens he began to pursue roles in low budget movies under the name Kevin Blair, landing his first break in Wes Craven’s critically mauled The Hills Have Eyes Part II.

Making a brief appearance as Michael, whose birthday the fake title was in reference to, was William Butler, who had moved to Los Angeles at the age of seventeen and, through his friend John Vulich (who had worked on The Final Chapter), had been hired by Buechler to work at his special effects workshop Mechanical and Make-Up Imageries, where he would learn the basics of prop and creature design on cult movies such as From Beyond and Cellar Dweller. Discovering that Buechler had been hired to direct the latest Friday the 13th, Butler pleaded for an audition. Susan Blu, who would be cast as Tina’s well meaning-yet-incompetent mother, Amanda, was previously known for her work as a voiceover artist, with her most successful role being the robot car Arcee in the 1986 animated hit Transformers: The Movie. At the suggestion of casting agent Anthony Barnao, Blu reluctantly read for the role, despite having little on screen experience.

Whilst C.J. Graham had given a memorable performance as Jason in Part VI, Buechler was determined to cast stuntman Kane Hodder, whom he had recently worked with on a horror movie called Prison. Mancuso Jr. was at first reluctant to cast Hodder, whom he felt was too small for the role, and so to convince him Buechler shot screen test footage of Hodder in full make-up, which would include extra padding to bulk the up character and allow for segments of flesh to be cut out of his torso and spine. Finally satisfied that he would be more than capable of taking on the role, Hodder was cast and would portray Jason for the next three movies. So passionate was his approach to the role that Hodder would redefine the character and would become a favourite amongst fans, causing a backlash when he was replaced by fellow stuntman Ken Kirzinger for 2024′s Freddy vs. Jason. Ironically, Kirzinger had appeared briefly in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan fourteen years earlier, where he was tossed into a mirror by Jason. Although Graham had worked briefly with fire on the previous film, Hodder and Buechler would subject Jason to an array of explosions, pyrotechnics and other dangerous stunts during the movie’s action-packed climax.

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood was completed on a budget of $2.8m, approximately $200,000 less than Jason Lives, and was released theatrically in the United States on May 13th 1988, making it the third of the franchise to be released on a Friday the 13th. Released on approximately 1,800 screens, the movie took $19,170,001 at the US box office, falling just short of its predecessor. Clearly disgusted in his review of the film the day after release, Richard Harrington of The Washington Post said; “Those reviews of Friday the 13th movies that come out on Saturday the 14th could never be as mindless and brutal as the films themselves… So why should we expect Part VIII (More New Blood) next year? Well, Paramount has already made $172 million on six sick films and should easily reach the $200 million plateau with this edition.” Variety added; “He meets his match with the girl who cooks up her own storm with a willful stare. Although their duel offers original effects-laden thrills and stunts, it’s too little and too late.”

Further reading -
- CRYSTAL LAKE’S BLOODY LEGACY pt.1 – Friday the 13th (1980)
- CRYSTAL LAKE’S BLOODY LEGACY pt.2 – Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
- CRYSTAL LAKE’S BLOODY LEGACY pt.3 – Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)
- CRYSTAL LAKE’S BLOODY LEGACY pt.4 – Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
- CRYSTAL LAKE’S BLOODY LEGACY pt.5 – Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
- CRYSTAL LAKE’S BLOODY LEGACY pt.6 – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) (1985)
- CRYSTAL LAKE’S BLOODY LEGACY pt.7 – Alice Cooper: He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask) (1986)
- CRYSTAL LAKE’S BLOODY LEGACY pt.8 – Friday the 13th: The Series (1987-1990)

If the Friday the 13th franchise is to be remembered for anything, other than the iconic hockey mask, then it will be the elaborate and graphic special effects, which were created by various different artists and workshops, from the legendary Tom Savini and Stan Winston to the likes of Martin Becker and Greg Nicotero. Twelve movies, hundreds of victims – it would be impossible to narrow their gory highlights down to just a few but here’s thirteen of Jason’s most memorable kills.

I couldn’t decide which one should claim the top spot so instead these are listed in chronological order. No doubt you’ll have your own favourites so tell us which you would have included.

Enjoy!

FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) – Jack (Kevin Bacon)
Long before the awards and critical acclaim, Kevin Bacon’s claim to fame was his iconic death in the original Friday the 13th. Storyboarded by associate producer Steve Miner (who would later direct the first two sequels) and executed by special make-up effects artist Tom Savini, the sequence saw an arrow being driven through Bacon’s throat from underneath the bed. This relatively complex gag would be created by designing a cast of the actor’s torso, whilst his real body was hidden underneath the bed. With a neck cast attached to Bacon, a hand belonging to stills photographer Richard Feury (who would later be credited as second assistant director on Part 2) reached up from under the bed to pull Bacon’s head down whilst the arrow was pushed through the neck cast. But when the tube that ran the blood from a bag to the neck cast came loose Taso N. Stavrakis, Savini’s assistant, improvised and blew hard down the tube, causing the blood to spray out from the open wound. Although not a Jason kill, this is still a favourite amongst fans.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (1981) – Mark (Tom McBride)
To prove that Jason Voorhees was an equal rights serial killer, Part 2 saw him dispatch of the franchise’s sole wheelchair-bound victim. Having seemingly scored with pretty-yet-naïve Vickie (Lauren-Marie Taylor), Mark (Tom McBride) waits patiently before heading outside the house, where he is suddenly struck in the face by a machete and sent hurtling backwards down a set of steps. For this highly effective sequence, special make-up effects artist Carl Fullerton designed a mask for McBride to wear, which the balsa wood machete was then attached to. Pulling the blade away from the actor’s face, the footage was then played back in reverse to create the illusion that Mark had been hit in the face by the machete. McBride was then replaced by stuntman Tony Farentino (who would later work on the underrated slasher Alone in the Dark the following year), who was sent backwards down the stairs using a rig to avoid the wheelchair losing control.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 (1982) – Vera (Catherine Parks)
Having rebuffed the advances of shy practical joker Shelly (Larry Zerner), Vera (Catherine Parks) finds his wallet in the water and looks through the contents, before realising that a masked figure has appeared from behind the house. Believing it to be Shelly, who had previously scared her whilst wearing his hockey mask, Jason (Richard Brooker) raises a speargun towards her and fires a shot directly into her eye. Yet another gag played back in reverse, the sequence began with Parks reacting to the arrow being pressed against her eye, before the arrow was retracted via a wire and rod. Cutting away, the next shot saw Parks with an arrow attached to her eye as she fell backwards into the water, although this could only be shot once as the prosthetics that the make-up crew had created would fall to pieces when wet. This scene has an important place in the history of the franchise as it would be the first on-screen kill committed by Jason after obtaining his infamous mask.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 (1982) – Rick (Paul Kratka)
Accommodating for the 3-D effects that would be the selling point for Friday the 13th Part 3, director Steve Miner took every opportunity he could to have objects jumping or reaching out at the camera; from yo-yos and joints to spears and even eyeballs. The latter would be used for the death scene of Rick (Paul Kratka), the lumberjack boyfriend of heroine Chris (Dana Kimmell). Having returned to find the house deserted, Chris searches for her friends whilst Rick heads outside, only to be accosted by Jason. Grabbing his head from behind and crushing his skull, Rick’s eyeballs burst literally from their sockets under the pressure and leap out at the audience. Weeks before principal photography had begun, Kratka was brought to the FX workshop to have his upper torso and head cast in plaster to create a life-size dummy that would be used for the majority of the sequence. With a mark having been set between the two lenses that were used to capture the images in 3-D, the eyeballs were sent out of the fake skull using wires after several attempts using compressed air had failed to achieve the desired result.

FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER (1984) – Axel (Bruce Mahler)
Despite having launched his career on the back of his work on the first Friday the 13th movie, Savini had declined the chance to return for the subsequent two sequels, instead choosing to work on other splatter flicks like The Burning and Creepshow. Yet when the possibility to end what he had helped create by killing off Jason once and for all for 1984′s The Final Chapter arose he found the offer too tempting. After two relatively tame sequels, Savini was determined to outdo his own work on the original by creating some of his most brutal set pieces since The Prowler in 1981 (which, coincidentally, was also directed by Joseph Zito). Aside from Jason’s own demise, the stand out death scene was awarded to Axel (Police Academy‘s Bruce Mahler), an obnoxious orderly whose failed seduction attempts with a nurse (Lisa Freeman) results in him watching aerobics on television. Jason (Ted White), having awoken from the slab after believing to have died from his wounds endured at the end of Part 3, sneaks up behind Axel and grabs him by his head, before taking a surgical hacksaw used for cutting through bone and slices deep into his throat. A dummy was created using a cast of Mahler and a saw, whose blade was filled with blood, was placed against the throat, which also allowed for the head to be violently turned as Jason sunk deep into his neck.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 5: A NEW BEGINNING (1985) – Joey (Dominick Brascia)
Sweet-yet-simple loner Joey (Dominick Brascia) is often dismissed by his fellow patients at the relatively laxed Pinehurst mental institution and, after an attempt at helping two of the girls with the laundry results in the clean clothes being covered in chocolate, tries to make friends with resident psychotic Victor (Mark Venturini, also known to splatter fans for his turn in Return of the Living Dead, released the same year). Angered by his persistence, Victor swings his axe down on Joey’s back and begins to hack him to pieces as the other patients watch in horror. Some time later, an ambulance arrives on the scene and one of the paramedics (Caskey Swaim) pulls back the sheet that is covering his corpse to reveal hacked-up body parts. Whilst the murder itself is shown off screen (with only a brief reaction shot from Brascia at the point of impact), it is the following scene when the state of the body is revealed that showed the gruesome handiwork of the special effects team. Not technically a Jason kill, but the murder would become the catalyst for the Jason copycat murders that followed.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 6: JASON LIVES (1986) – Sheriff Garris (David Kagan)
Sheriff Garris (David Kagan) would prove to be the archetypal authority figure of the slasher film. Much like A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Lt. Donald Thompson (John Saxon), who would also refuse to believe the fact that a seemingly dead killer was responsible for a recent series of grizzly murders, Garris’ ignorance and refusal to accept the warning from former mental patient Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews, Venturini’s Return of the Living Dead co-star) would eventually cost him his life. Having made his way with his deputies to Camp Forest Green – formerly Camp Crystal Lake, the scene of countless murders at the hands of Jason (C.J. Graham) – Garris soon finds himself alone and takes shelter in the bushes as he watches Jason from afar. But when his daughter, Megan (Jennifer Cooke), arrives at the camp with Tommy, Jason heads back out of the woods to kill them both, forcing the sheriff to finally face the truth and fight back, resulting in him being literally broken in two. Although heavily censored by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) prior to release, the sequence was achieved by fake legs being bent back over Kagan’s shoulders as Jason breaks his back. In an effort to avoid the same kind of problems with the censors that the previous movies had encountered, director Tom McLoughlin would shoot several versions of the scene, including one which would be relatively gruesome, although sadly this would not be used in the finished print.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 7: THE NEW BLOOD (1988) – Judy (Debora Kessler)
Unlike his contemporaries, namely A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Freddy Krueger and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘s Leatherface, Jason Voorhees has never taken much pleasure in torturing his victims, instead opting for the fastest way to dispatch them. Kane Hodder, who would be cast in the role at the insistence of director John Carl Buechler, would take the character of Jason to new heights by creating a unique body language that he would use through the subsequent three sequels. With Buechler also being a renowned special effects artist, many of the set pieces in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood would be extremely elaborate and graphic, this was until the MPAA ordered drastic cuts to many of the film’s highlights. One sequence would see one of the young vacationers, Judy (Debora Kessler), dragged across the ground by Jason in her sleeping bag and swung against a tree, killing her instantly. Originally, Jason was to have thrown her against the trunk several times but the MPAA ordered the filmmakers to reduce the number of hits, resulting in Jason simply swinging her against the tree once and then tossing her body aside. Ironically, this would make the sequence all the more effective.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 8: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN (1989) – Jules (V.C. Dupree)
Although ultimately defeated at the end of each movie, Jason rarely faced a character who was able to match him physically, with his victims often resorting to weapons, water or even telekinesis. In 1989′s Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, the latest graduating class embark on a cruise from Crystal Lake to New York City, which soon turns into a fight for survival as Jason (Kane Hodder) makes his way onboard and begins to dispatch each of the teens one-by-one. Although the majority of the deaths would be relatively blood-free (again, due to strict regulations from the MPAA), one that would stand out would be that of Julius (V.C. Dupree), undefeated high school boxing champion who, tired of running, faces off against Jason on top of a building in a rough neighbourhood of New York. With bloody knuckles and gasping for breath, Julius in unable to fight Jason any longer and challenges him to punch him back. In one swing, Jason sends Julius’ head from his shoulders, down the side of the building and into a dumpster in the street below. Showcasing his sick sense of humour, Jason later left Julius’ head on the dashboard of a police car as the other students attempt to escape.

JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY (1993) – Deborah (Michelle Clunie)
With Paramount having eventually sold the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise to rival studio New Line Cinema (the home of A Nightmare on Elm Street), the series received a makeover in 1993 with Adam Marcus’ Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. Ostensibly a rip-off of Jack Sholder’s 1987 science fiction thriller The Hidden (also distributed by New Line), the movie boasted impressive special effects by the always reliable KNB EFX, although predictably these would be heavily censored for the theatrical print. Thankfully, Marcus’ original cut was later released on video and featured in all its glory the murders of horny young campers Deborah (Michelle Clunie) and Luke (Michael B. Silver). With their friend Alexis (Kathryn Atwood) having allowed them to keep the tent for the night whilst she sleeps outside, the couple had begun to make out before moving onto sex, whilst a coroner (Richard Gant) from a hospital who has been possessed by the spirit of Jason appears at the tent, thrusting his weapon through the material and into Deborah’s stomach, before violently thrusting it upwards, tearing her torso in two.

JASON X (2001) – Adrienne (Kristi Angus)
With the regular setting of Camp Crystal Lake having grown stale over several installments, filmmakers had been forced to try new locations in which Jason could continue his bloodbath. New York had failed to impress the fans and so the makers of Jason X, in a last attempt to rejuvenate the formula, sent their antagonist into twenty-fifth century deep space. This new science fiction location would allow for an array of possibilities; some of which would be exploited, whilst others were sadly neglected. The film’s best death would go to scientist Adrienne (Kristi Angus), who is given the responsibility of performing an autopsy on the recently thawed out Jason (Kane Hodder), whose body was found in an abandoned space station. Whilst distracted, Adrienne is unaware that Jason has awoken behind her and grabs her by her hair, forcing her face-first into a sink filled with liquid nitrogen, causing her head to immediately freeze. Removing her and looking at his handiwork, Jason would smash her head against the work surface, shattering her face, before tossing her corpse aside.

FREDDY VS. JASON (2003) – Trey (Jesse Hutch)
Freddy vs. Jason had been fifteen years in the making, pitching the villains from the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises against each other in a fight to the death. Having gone through numerous writers and directors, the task of bringing the concept to the big screen fell to Ronny Yu, who had previously given the Child’s Play series a postmodern makeover with 1998′s Bride of Chucky. The story that was eventually selected saw both antagonists trapped in the bowels of Hell, with Freddy desperate to escape so he can continue his killing spree at his old stomping ground, Elm Street. Allowing Jason (Ken Kirzinger) to escape Hell, he lures him to Elm Street in an effort to evoke enough fear in the town’s teenagers so that he will be able to break free from his restraints and control the dream world once again. Jason makes his way to the former home of Lt. Donald Thompson and his daughter, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), a house which Freddy is strangely drawn to time and time again. Finding a group of teens partying without the supervision of parents, Jason appears over the bed of obnoxious jock Trey (Jesse Hutch) and begins to butcher him with his machete to the point that the bed breaks in half, crushing Trey’s lifeless body.

FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) – Nolan (Ryan Hansen)
Having made a suitable impression on the executives at New Line with their script for Freddy vs. Jason, writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift were given the task of resurrecting the Friday the 13th franchise for Michael Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes (previously responsible for the all-style-no-substance remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hitcher). Taking elements from the first four movies, arguably favourites among fans, the reboot saw Jason (Derek Mears) reinvented as a hunter, who kidnaps a young woman (Amanda Righetti) who resembles his dead mother, prompting the girl’s brother (Jared Padalecki) to head out to Crystal Lake in search of her. Whilst the characterisation would be lacking, even for a slasher film, and the acting would be subpar (with the exception of Mears and Danielle Panabaker, the film’s only truly sympathetic character), some of the murders would be gruesome enough to delight fans of the series. The most memorable of which was the death of Nolan (Ryan Hansen) who, whilst out on the lake with his girlfriend (Willa Ford), is suddenly shot in the head by an arrow.

If anyone has a reason to hate Harry Potter, it’s John Carl Buechler! Back in 1986, a low budget fantasy called Troll was released and enjoyed minor success at the box office. Its protagonist was a young man named Harry Potter Jr., portrayed with wide-eyed innocence by Noah Hathaway, previously known for his roles in Battlestar Galactica and The Neverending Story. Some eleven years later, British author J. K. Rowling became an overnight sensation with her novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which was adapted into a successful feature four years later by Chris Columbus (Home Alone) and would earn Rowling a fortune of an estimated £560m. Troll, meanwhile, had slipped into obscurity and reduced to the label of ‘cult.’ Over twenty years later, Buechler plans to take back his most famous creation with a big budget remake of Troll.

Buechler was first introduced to cinema at the age of three when he fell in love with King Kong. He began experimenting with special effects by sculpting clay and playing with latex, whilst reading various magazines about monsters and fantasy. It was here that he first discovered Rick Baker, who had begun as an assistant to make-up legend Dick Smith on The Exorcist before finding acclaim with his own work on the likes of It’s Alive and John Guillermin’s 1976 remake of King Kong. After corresponding with Baker, Buechler was invited for a short apprenticeship, where he learnt the basics of special effects within the film industry. His first work as a make-up artist was on Jason of Star Command in 1978, a Saturday morning show for CBS that ran for twenty-eight episodes. He then worked alongside rising artist Stan Winston on The Island and provided the make-up for a low budget movie called Mausoleum.

Soon afterwards, Buechler was invited by legendary producer Roger Corman to join his FX team at New World, creating the special effects for such cult favourites as Android, Sorceress, Forbidden World and Deathstalker, the latter of which he would also perform second unit directing chores on. After finally running New World’s make-up department, Buechler eventually parted ways with Corman and soon joined Empire, a low budget production run by producer Charles Band. It would be here that he would first develop his filmmaking skills and receive major acclaim for his work as a make-up artist. Aside from directing a segment of The Dungeonmaster in 1984, much of Buechler’s early work with the studio would involve creating the impressive make-up for a variety of cult classics, ranging from Re-animator and Ghoulies to From Beyond and Prison.

It was around this time that he started his own FX company, Mechanical and Makeup Imageries (later renamed Magical Media Industries Inc.), which would handle all of the effects for Empire. Having previously attempted to convince Corman to produce a script he had written entitled Troll, he decided to pitch his idea to Band. Whilst he was intrigued by the concept, Band felt that the story was too elaborate for the kind of budget that would be available, and so Buechler was forced to scale down his vision and instead set the action in an apartment block, with just brief glimpses of the magical world of the evil wizard Turok. The enclosed environment allowed Buechler to show an array of weird and wonderful creatures and demonstrate his company’s impressive talents. Incidentally, a few years later two Italian movies were produced that were released under the titles Troll 2 and Troll 3, neither being official sequels or relating in any way to Buechler’s movie.

Troll would make enough of an impression on Frank Mancuso Jr. at Paramount that he would offer him the director chores on the latest sequel of the long-running Friday the 13th franchise. Initially intended to have been Freddy vs. Jason (a crossover with A Nightmare on Elm Street, that was eventually released in 2024), Paramount and Elm Street‘s owners New Line Cinema were unable to come to an agreement and so the story was instead adapted into a Jason vs. Carrie-like tale, in which a teenage girl with telekinetic powers accidentally resurrects Jason Voorhees from the bottom of Camp Crystal Lake and is forced to use her gift to defeat him. Knowing Buechler’s background as an effects artist, Mancuso Jr. was confident that the inexperienced director would be more than capable of handling elaborate set pieces and action sequences.

One decision that Buechler would make with the movie that would have a profound impact on the subsequent sequels was with the casting of Jason. Although C.J. Graham had been a popular choice after his work on Part VI, Buechler insisted on stuntman Kane Hodder, whom he had previously worked with on Renny Harlin’s Prison. Mancuso Jr. was unconvinced, claiming that he lacked the physical requirements for the role, and so Hodder performed a test screening in full make-up (which would include segments of flesh missing to reveal the spine beneath) and gained Mancuso Jr.’s immediate approval. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood was released in 1988, and whilst it may have failed to impress the critics, the fans were more than happy with their new take on Jason, although the film would prove to be the least successful at that time (a trend that would continue until Freddy vs. Jason fifteen years later).

Over the next few years, Buechler and his company would provide the special effects for a whole host of successful movies, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Bride of Re-Animator, before returning to the director’s chair once again in 1991 with Ghoulies Go to College. Having been the one who had created the creatures for the original movie back in 1985, and its sequel two years later, Buechler would take the series in a more comedic direction, even allowing his antagonists to spout out one-liners (as had happened with the Gremlins sequel the previous year). The movie was originally scheduled to have been released theatrically but Vestron Pictures, the company responsible for its distribution, suffered a great loss and were unable to back the film.

In 1993, Buechler would collaborate for the first time in a decade with Corman, working on the fantasy Carnosaur. This would lead to several more projects together, including Piranha (a TV remake of the Joe Dante classic, also produced by Corman), Inhumanoid and Watchers Reborn, another directorial effort from Buechler. He would also continue to work alongside Band, whose defunct Empire had been replaced by his straight-to-video company Full Moon. Over the following years the two would work together on such projects as Evil Bong and The Gingerdead Man, which would produce the humorously titled sequel Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust. After completing work on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 2024, Buechler would finally get to produce his goriest work since The New Blood (which had sadly been neutered by the MPAA prior to release).

Adam Green was a thirty-year old horror fan who had written a script that was intended as an homage to the old school slasher films of the 1980s that he had grown up on. Hatchet would boast a selection of recognisable faces from within the horror genre, including Robert ‘Freddy Krueger’ Englund, Tony ‘Candyman’ Todd and Hodder, once again teaming up with the man who made him a horror icon as Jason. The special effects on display in Hatchet were extremely gruesome, specifically one scene in which a woman is brutally hacked in half by the antagonist, Victor Crowley (Hodder). The movie would unsurprisingly encounter issues with the MPAA, who wanted much of the violence removed, but the film eventually found its audience on DVD, courtesy of an unrated cut.

In 2024, Buechler announced his plans to remake Troll as a big budget fantasy adventure. The project was conceived with the help of producer Steve Waterman (Casper, Stuart Little) and was to star Hathaway as Turok, whilst a casting call was put out for young actors to audition for the role of Harry Potter Jr. (Buechler refused to change the name of his hero, despite the success of the Harry Potter franchise). Whilst all had been quiet on the project for some time, occasionally Buechler issues an update stating that production is set to commence, with the possibility of cameos from Anne Lockhart and Phil Fondacaro, both of whom appeared in the original. Finally, after over twenty years, Buechler will get the chance to bring his original vision to the screen. He had previously stated that he also intends to adapt a new version of Frankenstein, although the fate of this project is unclear.

Throughout its thirty year legacy, the Friday the 13th franchise has boasted some truly memorable moments. But there were several scenes that were cut, either from the script or the finished film, for a variety of reasons. Here’s a few that, in a perfect world, would have made their way into the series…

JASON X:
One scene to have made its way into Todd Farmer’s script but not the movie was a sequence in which an explosion on board the Grendel resulted in a temporary loss of gravity. With both cargo and crew floating aimlessly, ship android Kay-Em manages to grab hold of the wall using her magnetics and attempts to rescue her friends, who desperately try to escape from Jason. This scene would involve several characters who were eventually omitted from the movie (Thorgan, Rizzo, Boeman, DeLongpre) forming a ‘human chain’ as Kay-Em tries to stop them from drifting towards Jason. Sadly, despite a few promising moments, the scene would not result in any zero gravity bloodshed but could still have made an interesting sequence.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES:
Having been rescued from the depths of Crystal Lake by Megan, Tommy Jarvis looks out at the water and declares ‘It’s over, it’s finally over. Jason is home.’ The next scene to have originally been included in writer/director Tom McLoughlin’s tongue-in-cheek script would have been the introduction of Jason’s as-then-unmentioned father, Elias Voorhees. Martin, the cemetery caretaker (who had not been killed in the original script), is knelt down pulling weeds from off of a tombstone when a large shadow is cast over him. Quickly turning around, he nervously says ‘Nice to see you again, Mr. Voorhees…Haven’t seen you in Crystal…er, Forest Green, in quite some time.’ Martin insists to the imposing figure that he has been taking care of both his wife and son’s graves as he is passed his regular payment. Left alone to inspect the resting place of his family, McLoughlin describes that ‘These eyes are truly evil. Cold. Dark. Demonic.’ Elias Voorhees was once again set to appear in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday but was eventually cut from the story.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3:
Instead of the generic retread of the first film’s infamous climax, in which this time the rotten corpse of Pamela Voorhees would jump out of the lake and pull heroine Chris under the water, only for the event to be revealed as just a dream, a planned alternative ending for Steve Miner’s 3D spectacle Friday the 13th Part 3 would have been far more shocking. Having seemingly defeated Jason and survived until dawn, Chris opens the door to discover that Jason is still very much alive and, with a swift blow of his machete, slices her head clean off. Again, this was to have been a dream and the character would have been shown to still be alive at the end, but the sequence would have packed more of a punch. Another effect which the filmmakers attempted saw Jason having his stomach hacked open, causing his guts to spill out at the camera in 3D. Sadly, nervous executives at Paramount chose to ignore both endings and eventually went with the one used in the theatrical cut.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKEN MANHATTAN:
Avoiding the usual criticism of very little of the film actually being set in New York (due to budgetary issues), one minor incident to have been removed from the script was on the characters’ first arrival in the Big Apple. Having made their way to shore after the massacre that took place on board the S.S Lazarus, the kids head off into the city whilst Jason climbs out of the water. His first evil deed would have been to brutally kick a dog, presumably just for the sake of it (Hodder’s performance in the movie was at Jason’s most angry). But, surprisingly, the actor refused to do the scene, stating that the one thing Jason would never do is hurt a dog. A somewhat redundant argument as he succeeded in doing just that in the second film, but perhaps the way that writer/director Rob Hedden had scripted it was a little too savage.

FRIDAY THE 13TH:
The original opening for Sean S. Cunningham’s movie would have been a more dramatic and action packed sequence than the one eventually used in the finished release. Having left the campfire to be alone, young lovers Barry and Claudette were to have taken a walk around the lake as the unseen killer slowly followed them out-of-sight. A chase would have then ensued around the boathouse, instead of them simply being stabbed in the barn. This drastic re-write was necessary as, on the first night when the sequence was due to be filmed, snow would caused various technical problems and a more simplistic scene was required.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD:
Whilst it would hardly have made a drastic change including the brief scene, The New Blood would have originally featured an epilogue after the action packed finale in which a fisherman is seen out on the lake enjoying a leisurely morning, when suddenly Jason jumps out from under the water and drags him down below. Perhaps, with similar sequences having already been used in both the first and third film, director John Carl Buechler decided against using the shot.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART V: A NEW BEGINNING:
Probably the most uninspired killing in Danny Steinmann’s otherwise ultra-sleazy Friday the 13th movie A New Beginning was the death of punk chick Violet. Whereas her friends had been dispatched in a variety of brutal and inventive ways, Violet’s demise came with a simple stab to the gut. But that was not how Steinmann had originally envisioned it. Whilst performing her bizarre-yet-awesome robot dance to the tune of Pseudo Echo’s ‘His Eyes’, Jason would slowly sneak into the room and make his way towards her. Sensing a presence, she turns around as a machete is thrust violently up between her legs, the blade digging deep into her crotch. Realising that the movie would fall foul of the censors (it would eventually take nine attempts to get the film past the MPAA), Steinmann panicked and re-shot the sequence.

Two years ago I spoke to actor John Otrin regarding his role as Tina’s father, John Shepard, in John Carl Buechler’s 1988 sequel Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood. Unfortunately, the interview was never published and remained gathering dust until now. Otrin was suspiciously absent from both Making Friday the 13th and Crystal Lake Memories, as well as not taking part in last year’s documentary His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th, so this is rare treat for fans listen to John Otrin’s experiences with Jason Voorhees.

Did you have any interest in Friday the 13th and slasher movies in general prior to your involvement in The New Blood and what was it about these type of movies that seemed to attract such loyal fans?
“Everyone loves a great story … and everyone loves a great horror film! I remember in high school reading The Modern Prometheus (Frankenstein) by Mary W Shelley. I kept reading the story and I could not put the book down. I think all fans of horror films are very loyal. We grew up watching them, having the tar scared out of us, in the safety of a movie theatre. That’s why my film company, Laddie O Productions, has agreed to “revive” my character in a new graphic novel and film franchise Scattered Bones (El Huesos Regados)

What kind of threat do you think the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise placed on Friday the 13th and what effect did it have on The New Blood?
“I think each new film franchise helps the other. So, it’s all good! Freddy was evil in life and death and Jason became evil only after death.”

How did you first become involved in The New Blood and what were you first impressions of the script? What was it about the movie that appealed to you?
“The casting director (Anthony Barnao) had seen and liked my work and brought me in for an audition for the director (John Carl Buechler). The working title was Birthday Bash and I knew it was a horror movie. Every new film, horror or any genre, is an exciting challenge. So, I was very glad to read this new script for The New Blood and, as a movie, it has stood the test of time with fans.”

Were you hesitant to take a role in a franchise as despised (by critics) as Friday the 13th, and did you have any issues with the level of violence and nudity in the movie?
“No, I wasn’t hesitant at all. (Critics are critical!!! What else is new?) I knew it was a great film franchise and, at the time, I was happy to be part of this new film…. What matters is that the fans enjoyed the movies and have remained loyal.”

How quickly did Kane Hodder settle into the role of Jason and how would you describe your working relationship with him? Did you perform any of your own stunts in the movie?
“The only stunt I did personally was breaking through the wooden boards of the pier and bringing Jason (Kane Hodder) down with a chain to save my daughter, Tina (Lar Park Lincoln). I was impressed with Kane Hodder. Our working relationship was professional and good for both our careers. As for the other stunts… when Kane approached me, I suggested that he handle the more difficult stunts since he was a professional stuntman. But for me, there were two very dangerous stunts, and because of insurance considerations they were handled by two different stuntmen, doubling for me. One was the hydraulic pier, on location in the swamp, where Shepard had to go into cold, alligator-infested water. The other was in a tank in Mobile, Alabama where the guy was weighed down and had to remain underwater for the length of the shot… Both of these were pretty dangerous. I really appreciate what these guys did to make me look good!”

Which special effect would you have said was the most effective and which death was the most disturbing for you?
“I think the most effective special effect for me was in the Director’s Cut of the movie, where I appeared in three different stages of “zombie decay”… But it never was seen in the edited theatrical release. And I guess my own death should have been the most disturbing to me. It certainly disturbed my children, but hey… I enjoyed it.”

What were your thoughts on the rather abstract ending where Tina brings her father back from the dead to pull Jason down into the lake? Do you think that the telekinetic aspect of the script worked well without becoming ludicrous or clichéd?
“The abstract ending resulted from the director not having the final cut of the movie. (You have the picture where Jason and I appear as zombies… one good, one evil… Guess who’s the good guy?) The ratings board didn’t allow John Carl Buechler to include these shots in the final release because of their graphic nature. If the Director’s Cut of the film had prevailed, the telekinetic aspect would have been “crystal” clear.”

How did John Carl Buechler balance his duties as both director and FX artist and was he easy to collaborate with?
“Hey, Carl’s a pro and I have nothing but respect for what he accomplished. He’s great, and I’m proud to have worked together with him on the film.”

Rumour has it there was a deleted ending where Jason jumps out of the lake and attacks a fisherman. Do you know why the filmmakers chose not to use this?
“I don’t remember that scene even being in the script.”

Do you think that the producers were setting up Tina for further battles against Jason or was this movie to be her only story?
“Well, you would have to ask the producers. But from what I saw on location, it appeared to me they were heading toward a future showdown between Jason Voorhees and John Shepard.”

Looking back on the movie twenty years later, are you proud of your involvement in the franchise and how well do you feel The New Blood stands up against other horror movies of the era?
“Proud? Absolutely! Does The New Blood stand up well against other horror movies?? Sure does! – If it didn’t, we wouldn’t be discussing it right now! And Laddie O Productions wouldn’t be developing a new graphic novel and film franchise, Scattered Bones.”

Anyway, when the Deluxe Editions started trickling out last year (I’m not talking parts 1-3, I’m talking the real Deluxe Editions – 4-8 produced by Dan Farrands of His Name Is Jason) I noticed the early films getting re-releases on my end of the globe. Different cover art, but also different extras – Friday The 13th part 3 lacked 3D, however did have the missing chapter of Lost Tales From Camp Blood so I made the decision to follow the train of local releases. I waited and waited. Eventually we got shitty bare-bones editions of part 4 onward instead. Mind-boggling. So I slapped the USA Super Deluxo’s in my digital cart and… timejump to today.

Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter – $11.99 – bingo! Not so fast, bucko. A New Beginning, Jason Lives, The New Blood and Jason Takes Manhattan all ranging from – $24.50 to $26.99 or completely unavailable at all. Sure, Amazon Marketplace can help, but individual postage from each buyer is going to make a buy there a no-go. Alright, back-up plan: screw the certificate and take my moolah to DVD Empire – but the truth doesn’t get much better over there when they confirm those four sequels are Out Of Print.

Ouch, man. That hit me right here in my hellbaby heart.

I figure it’s an elaborate conspiracy to teach me a very large lesson to strike while the iron’s hot, haste wakes waste, he who hesitates is lost, etc. etc. etc. But listen, I’m seeking a solution. I’ve relied on Amazon for a decade (and Ebay for single purchases) so haven’t stepped foot outside their perimeter into the online DVD retailer market much. Perhaps someone out there can recommend a reputable place I can get all four for decent prices?

Pictured below are the two axes in the discussion. Mario from the Friday the 13th Props Museum was nice enough to share pictures of these axes for fans to see. The axe on the left of the main pic is made of rubber and was used to swing at Susan Jennifer Sullivan (Melissa) by Kane Hodder in The New Blood. The axe on the right of the main pic was used in two different instances, to our knowledge. The first film it is believed to be the axe that is attached to Jason’s head in Friday the 13th Part 3 after Chris embeds it in his head and mask. The second film it is used in is The Final Chapter towards the beginning when the cops are placing the axe in the evidence bag.

We have examined these axes and a very strong case can be made that both of these axes were created from the same mold! There are very distinguishing marks on the pieces that Mario and I have seen that are not displayed in the photo above that make a compelling case. As of right now, it can be said that the same axe that killed Jason, killed Melissa!

We are in the process of verfying this information with members of the production crew, but what an unintended and spectacular find to see that the two axes from the very same mold were used throughout multiple Friday the 13th films!

The costume pictured below is one of five costumes that were worn on screen consisting of shirt and pants. One costume set was worn during the fire stunt at the end of the film, in Tina’s basement, and that was burnt down entirely. A second costume set was worn AFTER the fire stunt at the end of the film (it was more broken down, ripped up and dirty than the others). The other three costumes were worn as the “hero version” of the costume. The hero pants and shirts that were worn were mixed up throughout the film. You can see a particular pair of pants paired with a shirt in one scene and then with another shirt in the very next scene.

The pair of trousers pictured in the costume set above is handmarked inside as the main costume. Also included in the costume set pictured above is the suit with the body appliances attached. Bones, ribs and skin made from a silicone kind of material were formed over the suit to give actor Kane Hodder the appearance on-screen of having his body heavily rotted and ripped apart.

This particular appliance undersuit was worn during the scenes that required fire stunts. For example, the undersuit utilized exploding squibs during the scene where Tina electrocutes Jason in the puddle of water using the power lines and also, of course, the suit was used during the most memorable and famous fire stunt in the basement of Tina’s house. The undersuit still has wires running along with activated squibs attached and is heavily burnt at the rearside. It has velcro running down the entire front so Kane could slip out of it real quick in case of danger. You can actually see the velcro when watching the fire scene.

Although there are three hero costume sets used in the film, each set looks very unique in distressing and markings. Mario was able to screen match both the shirt and pants of the pictured costume set to various scenes in the film. The costume is still in fairly good condition considering it’s heavy usage on screen and it’s age. Mario also mentioned that pictures do not do the costume justice as he says it looks spectacular in person.

Big thanks to Mario Kirner for sharing images of his screen-used Jason Voorhees costume and lending somer great insight into not only its use in the film, but also some information on all of the costumes used throughout the filming of The New Blood!

The depiction of Jason in the spitball follows by thinking as he has the axe cut in the mask as well as the boat motor damage on the lower left side of the mask as well. I still have these spitballs after all of these years. Somehow, they have survived countless moves. Unfortunately, they are not in the packaging anymore, but they are classic memoribilia that remind me of my youth and an era of filmmaking that still lives on in memory today.