It seems like a clichéd trope that once a film franchise resorts to being set in space, it’s gone off the rails. “Leprechaun,” James Bond, “The Fast and the Furious” all resorted to sending characters into space.
Even “Critters 4” is set mostly in space but it was actually a sci-fi movie to begin with.
And it seems like with Artemis II taking astronauts back to the Moon, it’s a good time to re-examine the horror franchise that took a note from a discarded “Halloween” entry concept.
Following the conclusion of “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday” which was a ripoff somewhat of “The Hidden,” it hinted of the inevitable “Freddy vs. Jason” movie. But that was 1993 and the actual movie wouldn’t be released until 2003.
And it seemed the slasher craze was dead with “Jason” finally in 1993.
But “Scream” would help resurrect the genre and numerous movies followed in the late 1990s.
New Line Cinema had acquired the rights to the character of Jason Vorhees but not much of anything else which is why there’s no official “Friday the 13th” title. Also there were some rights issues about characters such as Tommy Jarvis whereas he was considered to be a main character at one point.
So to keep an IP still fresh and legal, “Jason X” was set in production under the help of the Canadian film tax shelter. I mean a lot of movies mix Canadian and American actors but with the exception of Kane Hodder as Jason and writer Todd Farmer popping up in a few scenes as one of the victims, there hasn’t been this huge Canadian cast reaching mostly American audiences since they took “You Can’t Do That on Television” off the air.
Farmer himself seems uninterested with the concept and just pens a by the numbers slasher. Jason kills this guy and then kills that girl and so on and so on. With James Isaac, who mostly worked in special effects, directing as this was his second movie, it really does feel amateurish even for a movie like this.
The sets seem like they were left over from TV shows like “Relic Hunter,” “Fringe,” “TekWar” and “PSI Factor” (all Canadian productions) and take a lot from the “Alien” franchise including a group of military commandos who are quickly dispensed.
The movie begins with a “Somehow Jason has returned” lazy writing as Jason has been detained around 2010 and in custody of the military but he quickly goes on a killing spree offing people including a scientist played by David Cronenberg who had worked with Isaacs on previous movies.
When Rowan LaFontaine (Lexa Doig) is able to get Jason trapped in a cryogenic chamber, she ends up being wounded and freezes with him.
Flash forward to 2455, Earth is no longer habitable but a group of college students on a salvage trip find both Rowan and Jason and put them abroad their ship and yadda yadda yadda, Jason comes back to life when a young couple begin to have sex.
Farmer and Isaacs know that there’s nothing scary about these movies so they have a little fun sending up the franchise as other horror movies have done the same.
During a simulation, two nude women in sleeping bags invoke Jason’s ire as he uses one to beat against the other one, parodying the infamous death from the seventh movie. It’s not the best but it almost plays like a parody with the self-aware humor of the sixth movie.
The special effects are mostly typical of what one would expect from a TV show of the era. It was filmed in 2000 in Toronto on a budget up to $14 million but wasn’t released in North America until April 2002.
I’d also like to add the conclusion sets up a sequel in which Jason, as a genetically enhanced cyborg zombie lands on Earth II. Of course the next movie was “Freddy vs. Jason” but I think this might explain a few continuity errors even though both “Friday” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies have had many.
Most of the “Nightmare” movies are set in and around the fictional Springwood, Ohio. Even though it’s never mentioned but Crystal Lake from the “Friday” movies is somewhere in rural New Jersey close to the Jersey coast.
There’s a good 400-500 miles between eastern Ohio and coastal New Jersey, a trip the teens in “Freddy vs. Jason” couldn’t make in less than an hour in a van.
So my theory is the “Nightmare” movies are set in 25th Century on Earth II which explains the palm trees in the first movie. Settlers set up new states but followed the same models and since Ohio is one of the most populous states, people just sectioned some new land off as Ohio on Earth II. And since Jason doesn’t have the type of cognitive abilities normal would, he just assumes he’s back at Crystal Lake.
Yes, it’s a stretch but so is this movie especially for the tenth installment and the title sounds foolish but at least it doesn’t sound like a laxative like “Fast X.”
What do you think? Please comment.
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Zane Says 