Jason Rising: A Friday the 13th Fan Film
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
This is a review of a film from The Great Canadian Horror Film Festival that just concluded. Click here to find information surrounding the upcoming The Great Canadian Sci-Fi Film Festival.
Well, what you see is what you get. Jason Rising: A Friday the 13th Fan Film is exactly what it sounds like: an indie film by James Sweet that is built entirely on the lore of Friday the 13th. This feels quite fitting, because the original film itself is a breakthrough in indie horror cinema. Now, readers here might remember that I’m not a big fan of the original film or its franchise (see more here if not), but this film clearly wasn’t made for me. For what it is — a low budget homage made for fun full of new ways that Jason Voorhees and his mother can slaughter the innocent — Jason Rising is just fine. It’s clearly an entertaining time on set with super fans. It has somewhat of a Rob Zombie approach with the language and focus on grizzly gore, but it has that indie charm as well. Severed limbs are meant to look like tricks. An entire spinal column — skull and one eyeball included — gets ripped out of a corpse. All sorts of gruesome oddities happen, but you’re kind of there for that.
Despite not being a Friday the 13th fan, I have made films as a teenager and know what a rush it is to just make a film just because. With that in mind, I do connect with Jason Rising, especially since it is exactly that kind of project. Furthermore, for a fan film, there’s some major kudos earned for having actual Friday the 13th alumnae here: actresses Adrienne King and Amy Steel. Their roles are obviously self referential, and bordering on a breaking of the fourth wall. Again, this is for the fans, and that includes the film acknowledging this in a metaphysical way as well. You can’t complain too much about a film of this nature, and it makes sense as to why it wound up in a horror film festival. Sometimes, an hour to let loose with a tribute of a franchise you adore is just what you need. It won’t break any ground, but it will feel like that spark you’ve forever chased again.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.