The Friday the 13th franchise has seen a lot of changes since its premiere in 1980, particularly with its ever-changing villain, Jason Voorhees.
Marcus Nispel’s 2009 remake of Friday the 13th made a solid attempt to revert the franchise back to its start as a slasher franchise by bringing the horror back to Camp Crystal Lake. Nispel and his team worked to answer some of the questions raised by previous installments and showed Jason transition from wearing a sack over his head (which he did in the second movie) to donning his iconic hockey mask (which happened in part three) for the first time. While the remake wasn’t intended to be an origin story for Jason - and actually focused very little on his backstory - the producers of the film wanted to incorporate much of the history surrounding the film, and bring everything full circle in a logical way, which hasn’t always been the franchise’s strongest suit.
Even though the writers were dedicated to revising Jason’s character so he wouldn’t come across as cartoonish or too sympathetic, there was one particular change to the slasher’s story that made absolutely no sense in execution.
Friday The 13th’s Remake Had Jason Travel By Tunnels
While certainly not the franchise’s most ridiculous alteration to Jason’s character in the entirety of the franchise, the choice to have him travel via a series of underground tunnels throughout Camp Crystal Lake was an odd one. Derek Mears, who played Jason in the remake, had a lot of inspiration for the new character that Nispel wanted. Said Mears, “My take on Jason is that he is a mix of John Rambo from First Blood, a little bit of Tarzan, and the Abdominal Snowman from Looney Tunes. I want to say that he is like Lenny from Of Mice and Men, but that sounds sort of actory. He is very much John Rambo.” According to Mears, a lot of his characterization for Jason included bits and pieces from other actors who played the role, such as Kane Hodder, but he also tried to depict the character as intelligent, someone who thought through his plans and actually had a plan rather than just bursting through doors and using brute strength to accomplish his goals.
This is an interesting take because Victor Miller’s characterization of Jason was a lot more simplistic, and not just because he was said to have developmental delays. Miller originally wanted to make Jason a normal child with a developmental disability, but Tom Savini had the ideas for his physical deformities, which became a big part of the character, too. The Rambo aspect might have inspired writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon to create the tunnels that Jason used to travel around the campgrounds undetected. Their rendition of Voorhees set traps, including one that involved a marijuana farm to lure in unsuspecting teenagers, and camped out in his underground lair instead of a shack like he did before. The reason for the tunnels was likely to explain how Jason randomly appears in a location and how he can track his victims so thoroughly and quickly, but given Jason’s history, it just doesn’t make sense.
While the legal battles surrounding the Friday the 13th franchise are ongoing, it’s likely Nispel’s vision won’t be the last fans see of Jason Voorhees, as there are plenty of ideas in circulation that could revisit Jason’s story in the future.
Next: Friday the 13th Part 3’s Ending Is A Giant Plot Hole
