Saturday, May 14, 2016

DEAR PARAMOUNT, LET'S TALK ABOUT FRIDAY THE 13TH

I'm a long time, unapologetic fan of Friday The 13th. It was the first slasher series I was aware of as a kid, with the TV commercials scaring the shit out of me. It was the first slasher film that I sat up and watched on late night TV. As much as I loved A Nightmare On Elm Street and Halloween, Jason Vorhees captured my imagination in ways Freddy and Michael didn't. Maybe it was because there was so much mystery around Jason. Yes, we know through his mother that he drowned as a little boy and then mysteriously he appears as a full grown man five years after she loses her head. That story alone is a movie.
Look, it's been seven years since we got a new F13, that is if we're counting the remake as a new F13. I think, and I know I'm not alone, that now Jason has come home to Paramount the only way to bring him back is in an epic fashion that not only honors the past, but paves a new road to the future. Epic isn't found footage or a period piece set in the 1980s. Epic pulls together all those story threads, all those hints and mysteries. Epic is a F13 we've never seen before, a true evolution of the Vorhees legend. Epic is modern and maintains the timeline. Epic considers the whole franchise without being a slave to it. Epic answers old questions and sets the stage for new ones.
I was always disappointed that Jason Goes To Hell was the only film in the series that explored any supernatural aspects of F13. Yes, Tommy Jarvis referred to books on the occult in Jason Lives, but the supernatural has permeated F13 since the end of part 1 and has begged to be unleashed. People complain about the lack of Jason in JGTH, but introducing the Lovecraftian cosmic horror and madness via the Necronomicon in the old Vorhees house was delicious. Maybe we don't need to refer back to the Necronomicon, but some sort of malevolent supernatural force, probably involving the mystery of Jason's father would make for a solid sub plot and could start filling in holes in the already established story. Then on top of that bring back an older, grizzled, damaged Tommy Jarvis. Where has Tommy been for the almost three decades since we last saw him? Underground with Megan? Locked up in another institution or prison, accused by Deputy Rick of committing all those murders? (Let's face it, its the word of Megan and a bunch of scared kids to clear Tommy's name, since all the cops and counselors who came across Jason died, versus the word of Rick, who never saw Jason, locked up in a cell after Tommy escaped.)
I'm rambling a bit, I know, but I'm a fan. A big fan. I grew up on F13 and still get a kick out it. Hell, I've wanted to write an F13 film since New Blood, which my stepdad rented for me the week it came out on VHS. So I write this with love and respect, for Paramount, New Line, and Platinum Dunes. I really want another Friday The 13th and I want it to be so good it shuts up the critics. All the ingredients are there and it doesn't need any gimmicks or reboots.
Thank you sincerly,
Tim Murr
St Rooster Books and Stranger With Friction
5.14.16  

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