The Friday the 13th sequel that put the nail in the coffin for Jason Vorhees’ initial franchise is explained by the makers.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday was a bonkers sequel that took the simple masked slasher movie franchise to new heights (or new depths?). The early 90s film that attempted to end the franchise was hated by critics and very divisive with fans. However, now you can get the full story of what the creative people were thinking as director Adam Marcus recalls being a bright-eyed, fresh-faced film student who was given the keys to the kingdom and didn’t exactly know what to do with the newly purchased property from New Line Cinema. The trailer for Hearts of Darkness: The Making of The Final Friday is now here.
Marcus has spoken directly with fans as he announced that the documentary is “almost 2 hours long.” The Blu-ray edition will feature “another 2 hours of goodness that we could not fit in a theatrical feature film! Oh yeah! We’ve got 13 mini-docs on the insanely STACKED Blu-ray. Tons of stories that only lovers of physical media will be getting in one package!“
Directed by Marcus from a screenplay by Dean Lorey and Jay Huguely (who also gets story credit with Marcus), Jason Goes to Hell has the following synopsis: After being blown away by a team of FBI agents, Jason Voorhees needs to find a way to overcome certain death. When his bloodied remains are sent to the morgue, his heart, still intact, is able to hypnotize a coroner and take over his body. After brutally dispatching a couple of FBI agents, he heads back to his favorite stomping grounds: Crystal Lake. Jason commences another teen massacre while a bounty hunter discovers the only way to kill him.
The film stars John D. LeMay, Kari Keegan, Steven Culp, Erin Gray, Rusty Schwimmer, Leslie Jordan, Richard Gant, Billy Green Bush, Kipp Marcus, Andrew Bloch, Adam Cranner, Allison Smith, Michelle Clunie, Michael B. Silver, Kathryn Atwood, and Julie Michaels, with Steven Williams and Kane Hodder playing Jason Voorhees for the third time.
Jason Goes to Hell is frequently seen as the black sheep of the franchise. It was the first Friday the 13th film to be released by New Line Cinema after Paramount Pictures sold them the rights to the character. After the critical and commercial failure of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, the new team went in a very different direction. Unfortunately, this new direction didn’t go over well with fans. The physical version of Jason Voorhees we know and love barely appears in the film. Much of it follows Jason’s spirit as it possesses various people to continue his killings. In order to resurrect himself, Jason has to possess a member of his bloodline, but he can also be permanently killed by a magical dagger wielded by one of his relatives.
While the film was panned by fans and critics, it does have its moments, including some stand-out gore sequences and the great Steven Williams as Creighton Duke, an over-the-top bounty hunter who just so happens to be a Voorhees expert.
