Two Schools Of Thought Among Fans For New Friday The 13th Films
For many years now, there have been two groups that exist among the Friday The 13th fans. One group considers themselves the "elder statesmen" of the franchise as either they have seen all of the earlier films in theaters or have at least grown up in the 1980's and experienced the mass hysteria of the slasher genre explosion of that time period. The second group consists of "next gen" fans that either found the franchise just after the original Paramount films debuted in the the 1980's or have discovered the films recently within the last several years. As there is such a large disparity in time with how all of our great readers have found the Friday The 13th films, including a significant generation gap, it has been evident the last 10 years that there are two schools of thought when it comes to how fans feel about new Friday The 13th films being produced.
Based on many conversations I have had with the "elder statesmen", it seems a large number of older fans resent the notion of any newer films being created. Who could blame them, really, as look at the type of films that have been produced over the past 20 years compared to what they know as the films from the early 1980's. We have had Jason Voorhees body hopping as a hell demon into new victims, being sent into Space in the future, fighting another fictional killer in a versus movie, and then finally rebooted with many actors who were already well known from television and film. People who are reading this already know where you stand and there are many of you that feel cheated that your once proud franchise has been over produced, over marketed, and made to be a parody of itself.
There are even fans that believe so strongly in their convictions of disdain for the newer movies in the Friday The 13th franchise that they don't even recognize that they exist past the first four or five films. Seriously, those fans do exist. There is nothing wrong with that as there are franchises I own on home video with missing films because I cannot stomach how bad I think they are.
As a contradiction, the same kind of newer movies in the franchise that the "elder statesmen" hate (Jason Voorhees body hopping as a hell demon into new victims, being sent into Space in the future, fighting another fictional killer in a versus movie, and appearing in a rebooted film) are the type of movies that the "next gen" fans embrace. Ask anyone who has been a fan of the franchise for only the past 20 years or less and they will tell you they love Jason X and Freddy vs Jason! Jason has become a larger than life icon and maybe the younger generation of fans really do feed off of that. The newer films are more action orientated and fast paced, and that is truly what younger fans want in a roller coaster ride that slasher films are built to be.
As a humongous Friday The 13th fan myself, I see the purity of the original films and their truly historic mark in film history, but I also crave Jason Voorhees in new adventures. I grew up in the 1980's and experienced all of the great Horror films of that time with revolutionary make-up effects and filming ideas. Although I understand that the best of the franchise still lies with the older films, I am excited for more Crystal Lake adventures to see what else can be done next. Other fans do not share my excitement.
I find it interesting to see the debates among fans of the same franchise whenever talk of a new movie is out there in the public. I remember prior to the release of Friday The 13th 2009 that Blake Washer, who use to run another Friday The 13th website, wrote an open letter against the film and any thought of a remake or reboot. This was a person who championed the films in the franchise for many years helping grow a large community online for fans, who also helped promote Jason X in collaboration with Sean Cunningham's Crystal Lake Entertainment, and he hated the idea of remaking the original films. My point in mentioning this is that even the most devoted fan has their breaking point and I wonder if someone like me would ever have that?
So, the debate among our readers will rage on with the different ages and races of fans that each find something different in the franchise that they enjoy and also can relate to. You will never change an individual's mind on how they feel about the newer films in the Friday The 13th franchise, but those films do represent a turning point in not only the community, but the history of the series as a whole.
Based on many conversations I have had with the "elder statesmen", it seems a large number of older fans resent the notion of any newer films being created. Who could blame them, really, as look at the type of films that have been produced over the past 20 years compared to what they know as the films from the early 1980's. We have had Jason Voorhees body hopping as a hell demon into new victims, being sent into Space in the future, fighting another fictional killer in a versus movie, and then finally rebooted with many actors who were already well known from television and film. People who are reading this already know where you stand and there are many of you that feel cheated that your once proud franchise has been over produced, over marketed, and made to be a parody of itself.
There are even fans that believe so strongly in their convictions of disdain for the newer movies in the Friday The 13th franchise that they don't even recognize that they exist past the first four or five films. Seriously, those fans do exist. There is nothing wrong with that as there are franchises I own on home video with missing films because I cannot stomach how bad I think they are.
As a contradiction, the same kind of newer movies in the franchise that the "elder statesmen" hate (Jason Voorhees body hopping as a hell demon into new victims, being sent into Space in the future, fighting another fictional killer in a versus movie, and appearing in a rebooted film) are the type of movies that the "next gen" fans embrace. Ask anyone who has been a fan of the franchise for only the past 20 years or less and they will tell you they love Jason X and Freddy vs Jason! Jason has become a larger than life icon and maybe the younger generation of fans really do feed off of that. The newer films are more action orientated and fast paced, and that is truly what younger fans want in a roller coaster ride that slasher films are built to be.
As a humongous Friday The 13th fan myself, I see the purity of the original films and their truly historic mark in film history, but I also crave Jason Voorhees in new adventures. I grew up in the 1980's and experienced all of the great Horror films of that time with revolutionary make-up effects and filming ideas. Although I understand that the best of the franchise still lies with the older films, I am excited for more Crystal Lake adventures to see what else can be done next. Other fans do not share my excitement.
I find it interesting to see the debates among fans of the same franchise whenever talk of a new movie is out there in the public. I remember prior to the release of Friday The 13th 2009 that Blake Washer, who use to run another Friday The 13th website, wrote an open letter against the film and any thought of a remake or reboot. This was a person who championed the films in the franchise for many years helping grow a large community online for fans, who also helped promote Jason X in collaboration with Sean Cunningham's Crystal Lake Entertainment, and he hated the idea of remaking the original films. My point in mentioning this is that even the most devoted fan has their breaking point and I wonder if someone like me would ever have that?
So, the debate among our readers will rage on with the different ages and races of fans that each find something different in the franchise that they enjoy and also can relate to. You will never change an individual's mind on how they feel about the newer films in the Friday The 13th franchise, but those films do represent a turning point in not only the community, but the history of the series as a whole.
