PopHorror Let's Get Scared
August 13, 2018 is the quarter century mark for Director Adam Marcus’ debut feature, Jason Goes to Hell. The film also marked the return of Sean S. Cunningham who co-created and directed the first Friday the 13th. It was tagged as the final Friday, but luckily for us, it would not be the last time we would see Jason Voorhees. Let’s take a moment to look back on Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday.
For a good portion of the movie, we don’t get the normal machete-wielding, hockey mask-wearing Jason Voorhees, who was once again played by Kane Hodder. Jason Goes to Hell follows the storyline of Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan with the water-logged killer heading back to Camp Crystal Lake, but his homecoming is not as welcoming as he would like it to be. He is blown to bits by an FBI special ops team that was tracking him back to his old hunting grounds. But never fear, because Jason’s dark heart still beats. He ends up killing a few security guards (Kane Hodder plays one of them) and the coroner’s assistant (Screenwriter Dean Lorey), and eventually possesses the coroner (Richard Gant). The possession is probably the grossest thing in horror I have ever seen. The coroner actually eats Jason’s black, rotting, juicy heart.
We also learn that Jason had a sister. Who knew that there are other Voorheeses in the F13 world? This sister pulls double duty, as her bloodline is the only way for Jason to be reborn and is also the only surefire way to kill him. Throughout the film, we see a couple of characters get possessed by Jason as he is making his way back to the family roots.
We are also introduced to Creighton Duke (Steven Williams), a bounty hunter who knows how to get rid of Jason for good. Duke reminded me so much of Quint from Jaws, and I have heard Jason referenced as a shark. Steven Williams has said that he would only play the bounty hunter if he could dress up as a cowboy with the boots, the hat, and the long duster jacket. Duke has some kind of connection to Jason, although is not fully explained in the film. But in 2017, Director Adam Marcus came out with Duke’s backstory in a Facebook Q&A. According to 1428 Elm:
“Here’s what happened. A teenage Creighton was out on Crystal Lake with his girlfriend. Jason capsized their small boat and pulled the girl down into the lake. Creighton tried to save her but could not. She was never seen again. Creighton vowed revenge, and from that moment on, he spent his life in the study and pursuit of Jason. He became a bounty hunter just to fund his work in taking down his nemesis. That’s the story.”
At the end of the movie, Jason was defeated by his own niece, but you know you can’t keep that huge killing machine down. As he is dragged down to Hell by some creepy-ass demons leaving only his hockey mask, our favorite dream demon, Freddy Krueger, pulls the mask down with his iconic clawed glove. This was when we realized that was not the final Friday… it was only the lead up to the ultimate fight between these two beloved villains in Freddy vs. Jason.
To me, Jason Goes to Hell was an interesting direction for the Friday the 13th franchise. The film is the polar opposite of the prior films in the series, as it is more of a supernatural take on why Jason doesn’t ever really die. To me, it was definitely the grossest F13 film. But, in the end, Jason Goes to Hell still stands the test of time by being one of the most unique versions of Jason Voorhees yet.
To find out more about the film, heck out the documentary about the making of Jason Goes to Hell, called The Dark Heart of Jason Voorhees: The Making of The Final Friday.
