PLOT: The Jason Universe kicks off with Jason terrorizing a group of young adults as they try and…drink Angry Orchard?
REVIEW: I need to state right out of the gate that I’m a MASSIVE Friday the 13th fan. I’ve seen most of the series dozens of times and get a kick out of each of them to a degree. I have a pretty specific idea of what the character’s motivations are, and what a final girl in them should look like. And that’s a pretty wide spectrum. So it’s disappointing to say that Sweet Revenge gets pretty much nothing right.
It’s a little strange to be getting an officially licensed Friday the 13th short film, especially one that is sponsored by a hard cider company (Angry Orchard, in case you missed that). And it’s hard not to be extremely distracted by the overt product placement. But the worst part about this, besides the hard cider on display, is that it really just feels like a fan film. It’s shot cheaply, and there’s better production value in some Friday the 13th YouTube videos. At least give me some good music!
Writer/Director Mike P. Nelson seemed to take inspiration from Rob Zombie’s Halloween in the worst of ways. I’ll avoid spoilers but his usage of the main girl is absolutely baffling. The Final Girl is supposed to be formidable and be the absolute antithesis of Jason Voorhees, even if they feel sympathy for his plight. But Nelson just wanted to beat to his own drum. Which has been a common occurrence when Sean S Cunningham is actually involved in the franchise (see: Jason Goes To Hell). And it never works. Follow the formula!
You come to a Friday the 13th movie for the kills and the carnage, so what about those? Disappointing to say the least. Far too many of the kills are done off-screen, with us just being witness to their aftermath. Thankfully, they’re done practically, but it’s hard to commend that when we aren’t even seeing full impact of 90% of these. And the lead girl goes into Final Girl mode way too quickly. And then subverts the standard arc in the silliest of ways. I get it, this is a short film and they didn’t have much time, but this feels like a fundamental misunderstanding of Voorhees in so many ways. Even in the entries that are censored like crazy, we still get to see the buildup. I would have loved to have seen some of these kills instead of just repeatedly coming across bodies. When that happens in past entries, it’s because we actually saw what happened to them.
This feels like McDonald’s Jason, with the mask being the only halfway decent part about it. He’s way too small to be the hulking brute that we all know and love. I don’t hate the entire design overall, but his movements and stature do not work in any way. The Tommy Boy quote, “he’s just a little guy,” kept popping into my head. I won’t deny that it was nice to see Jason back in action but it feels a bit like getting blue balls; being teased for something greater, only for it to completely let down. This wasn’t Jason. This was like watching some high schooler cosplaying as our favorite Hockey Mask wearing psycho.
This is not a great start to the “Jason Universe” and is likely a sign of things to come: the property just being whored out to make a few bucks. I was at least hoping for even a slight modicum of understanding of what makes the character and his world so great, but they instead seemed to want to do their own thing. Sweet Revenge did not intrigue me for more entries and instead just made me think that maybe Friday the 13th should just be put to rest for good. Because if this is the kind of stuff we’re getting, then the world is better off without it.
SWEET REVENGE IS AVAILABLE TO WATCH ON YOUTUBE HERE.
