“Come before mother. You’ve done well, Jason.”
The character of Jason Voorhees has displayed incredible feats of strength, speed, and survival across the many iterations of the Friday the 13th franchise. But his greatest attribute is his inexplicable staying power. The fans just love the guy, myself included. This power has spilled over from feature films and bled into comics and video games. For many fans, alternate exploits of the hockey-masked man-child of the woods have graciously found another vessel: crowd-funded fan films.
The latest of which, Jason Rising, is the third fan film feature from the upstarts at Womp Stomp Films. The preceding installments, Never Hike Alone and Never Hike in the Snow, showcased Jason in his natural habitat – in the woods surrounding Camp Crystal Lake. In those two films, the supernatural and zombie-fueled cadences that pumped through the back half of the original catalog – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives through Jason X – were gone (mostly). With a much needed breath of fresh air, these fan films featured Jason stalking his prey organically in a grounded fashion, cementing a realistic tone to an already well-known, if not wholly goofy, premise. I liked this revamped intimate approach. The 2009 reboot Friday the 13th had the same idea – albeit with some wobbly execution – and I still feel that it doesn’t get the respect it rightfully deserves. But I digress.
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Both Never Hike films kept the body count low but left the dread and suspense running steady throughout. Womp Stomp’s latest outing – Jason Rising – steps away from this pattern. Here we have a more return to form presentation of what the franchise became: lots of blood, extravagant kills, supernatural tie-ins, snarky characters, and loads of fan service. This is all well and good, but it lacks agency.
The plot is silly and plays it safe in most of its development. However, there is some good here too. Jason Rising opens with a punchy scene involving Jason Voorhees being buried alive in a chained wooden crate. Then we have a time jump, but more on that later. In the present, local cops Sheriff Pete Daltry (Kyle Vahan) and Deputy Eve Glover (Anna Campbell) team up with U.S. Marshals Bear Wilson (Jerry Bell Jr.) and Jed Daniels (Jason Reynolds) to chase down three convicts who just escaped from the local women’s prison. The three ladies hop a fence – that is boldly labeled with warnings to not enter – and run into the woods to wait out the night hiding from their pursuers. This fence they mounted borders the rest of the world from the haunted and cursed woods of Camp Crystal Lake.
Speaking of curses, the film opens with a title card defining the word “curse.” Maybe the filmmakers were trying to evoke deeper lore meaning with this, but all that came to mind for me was Friday canon character Crazy Ralph whispering how “doomed” we all were.
“It’s got a death curse!”
Realizing where the prisoners have made good their temporary escape, Sheriff Daltry hesitates into entering the Crystal Lake woods. With good reason. His father – who appeared in the opening sequence – warned him about the Jason legend. Daltry tries to deftly be coy with his colleagues about this bogeyman tale, but as the body count rises, so does the truth. In a mystifying turn, the deceased Pamela Voorhees, Jason’s mother, rises from the grave in pure beheaded zombie fashion. She yanks Jason from the ground and the pair set off to hunt down human prey into all hours of the night. This sets the stage to an idea we’ve all seen explored so thoroughly before.
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The sound design and score are particularly note-worthy, while the special effects range from mediocre to effective. Creatively speaking, Jason actually racks up some new methods of killing and maiming. We see someone’s spine get yanked out, another character gets beat to death with his own arm and for the first time ever, Jason wields a chainsaw!
This film takes other risks. Mainly with Jason being a bit playful with his victims. The writing team of James Sweet and Vincente DiSanti giving the J-Man a little personality was a ballsy move. There is some fun banter between the two local cops and the U.S. Marshals as they track down the fugitives. The dialogue here is polished enough to snatch a few laughs, but doesn’t stray far from slasher movie drivel either. I appreciate the story arc with the Sheriff character and his Deputy. I particularly enjoyed the imposing U.S. Marshal Bear Wilson recognizing that he is being tracked by Jason through the woods.
“We’re not alone. It’s been following me for the last ten minutes.”
His ensuing fight with Jason had a nice callback to a specific scene to Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.
DiSanti directed the first two Never Hike films. While his influence here is apparent, this is definitely director James Sweet’s film. Sweet shoots Jason Rising like an arthouse production. There are grand drone shots showcasing the beautiful scenery balanced well with intimate close-ups. The latter of which don’t get utilized too often in slasher horror.
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I found myself really liking the moments featuring Pamela in human form. Alyxandria McCormack’s performance as a youthful Pamela Voorhees was surprisingly insightful, albeit very short lived. I wish I had more time with her. Jason is portrayed by Dan Kyle in lieu of DiSanti who suited up as Jason in the two Never Hike releases. Kyle does his best to fill out the hockey mask this time around, putting his own stamp on the Jason Voorhees’ signature saunter. Sadly, everyone else here is generically written and quite forgettable.
Despite Jason Rising incorporating small shiny spots, the narrative as a whole feels less focused when put altogether. I found myself scratching my head at a few moments during this film. Why would Pamela be buried in this place? Why did she come back this time? How long was Jason buried in that box? Just how long was that initial time jump? There is also a pair of cameos at the end that die-hard Friday fans will certainly appreciate. The larger of these two cameos was satisfactory yet also puzzling, but I dare not spoil. Be sure to stick around for an enticing mid-credits scene as well.
“You should’ve stayed at the bottom of that lake!”
Despite noting the contrivances, I realized I was missing the point. This is a fan film, funded by a great many Indiegogo contributors who just want their Jason back in the woods doing Jason things. That is the only iron-clad logic to be found here, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The two Never Hike films are undoubtedly better by comparison because they simply punch at a higher weight class. But Jason Rising will appeal to the hungry Friday fanbase all the same. What it lacks in spirit and heart, it makes up for in fun and campiness. And most importantly, people will still love Jason.
You can now watch Jason Rising for free on YouTube.
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