Crystal Lake, the upcoming Friday the 13th prequel series, wrapped production in October. We don’t know all that much about the series, but creator Brad Caleb Kane recently dropped a few details while speaking with Entertainment Weekly, including that it will contain “rivers of blood.” That’s good, because I can only imagine how fans would feel about a bloodless Friday the 13th story.
Kane Teases Crystal Lake as a Paranoid ’70s Thriller
“In many ways, it’s a psychological thriller. It’s a paranoid ’70s thriller,” Kane said. “It has all of the DNA of a slasher without quite being a slasher. There are rivers of blood in the show. There are very, I think, ingenious kill sequences and deaths and murders, but it’s all done in service of character and theme and place and time.“
The series stars Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees. As most of us know, Pamela was the killer in the original Friday the 13th movie. She was seeking revenge on the counsellors trying to reopen Camp Crystal Lake after her son Jason drowned at the camp years prior. “She’s gonna shock and surprise a lot of people,” Kane said of Cardellini’s performance. “I think she’s gonna get a lot of attention for this role. She’s inconceivably brilliant in it. I can’t really say any more.“
Kane continued, “I tried to think about Crystal Lake and a Friday the 13th prequel as, ‘What era did the first movie come out of?’” Kane explains. “It came out of the paranoid ’70s thriller era. It came out of the mistrust-of-institutions era. It came out of the women’s lib era, the National Organization for Women era, this consciousness-raising awakening era in America. I wanted to go and play with all of those themes.“
Who Else Stars in Crystal Lake?
In addition to Cardellini, Crystal Lake also stars William Catlett (Abigail) as Levon Brooks, Devin Kessler (Godfather of Harlem) as Briana Brooks, Cameron Scoggins (Shades of Blue) as Dorf, and Gwendolyn Sundstrom (newcomer) as Grace. Callum Vinson also appears as young Jason Voorhees.
Crystal Lake doesn’t have an official release date yet, but it’s expected to debut on Peacock sometime in 2026. I’m honestly not sure what to think of the series. Friday the 13th fans have been starved for anything involving the franchise for years, and personally, that Sweet Revenge short film didn’t do much to scratch the itch. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Crystal Lake.
