Review: Roseblood: A Friday The 13th Fan Film

Continuing our series of fan film reviews, today we take a look at writer/director Peter Anthony’s Roseblood: A Friday The 13th Fan Film. The boom in fan films produced over the last several years coincided with the release of Gun Media’s Friday The 13th video game as well as the very public rights battle between Horror Inc. and Victor Miller. An opportunity was seized by aspiring filmmakers and fans of the Friday The 13th films to not only satisfy their own creative juices, but also fill the void of material left by the lack of films created since Friday The 13th 2009. What has resulted in recent years are some well made fan films satisfying a number of story arcs tied to the original set of franchise films.

In Roseblood, Peter Anthony has crafted a script that is a direct sequel to Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood. Set a year after the events of Tina Shepard encountering Jason Voorhees at her lake house, Tina is now a resident of the Crystal Lake Research Facility. Yes, that same facility Todd Farmer created for the opening of the 2002 film Jason X. The film definitely relies on a bit of the formula established in that space adventure whereas, like Jason X, Roseblood is shot almost exclusively on sets with a very small location shot found in the entire film. It is an interesting choice that does create a claustrophobic feel, but may also have been done due to budgetary constraints as well. There is also a tough group of elite soldiers brought to the research facility to not only keep order, but to detain a certain impending visitor that will eventually arrive to meet everyone. This group definitely had the same vibes of the Space marines of Jason X, but a bit more believable in their roles in Roseblood.

What is the film about? As mentioned before, Tina is being kept at the Crystal Lake Research Facility to continue to exploit her telekinetic powers in order to not only use for military purposes, but to also summon a certain hockey mask wearing individual. Along the way, we meet a number of research doctors, military personnel, and Creighton Duke! Yes, the only one who knows how to kill Jason Voorhees is in the research facility as well, consulting the military on their activities. It was a bit strange to see his character in this film, but Duke is one of the best characters to ever be in a Friday The 13th film, so I appreciated his presence within the story.

After a number of introductions to the characters of the research facility, a new telekinetic kid is brought to the festivities, Rose. She is even more powerful that Tina and the villainous and sometimes gleefully over the top General Brackbower (portrayed by director Peter Anthony) is very eager to get started in experimenting with Rose. It is revealed that a new drug has been developed that enhances the telekinetic powers of Tina and Rose and the General fully intends to use these powers to the advantage of the military.

There is a lot of dialogue and character setup in this film, which is not a bad thing at all. It is welcome, but be warned that this film is roughly an hour and half long, and we do not see Jason Voorhees at all, or any killing by Jason until the third act, just over an hour into the movie. I know that fans complain about this with other films sometimes, but older films would show Jason killing from his point of view or just his arms or feet in frame. Typically Jason is then fully revealed in the third act until the conclusion of the story. That is not the case with Roseblood. Jason truly does not arrive in the film until the third act. It is a bold move, but for what this film wants to be, it is a good choice.

Once Jason Voorhees arrives at the Crystal Lake Research Facility, fans are treated to over 20 minutes of non-stop carnage with some outrageous and exciting death scenes. Full fan service is on display when Jason wipes out the elite soldier group using many famous instruments of destruction from The New Blood film. The climactic conclusion, when Jason reaches Rose, Tina and the General, is exciting, but a very odd choice is made to bring Michael Myers into the fold. I sort of understand the thinking here, once again, but it is still a very odd choice to bring into the story of Tina, Rose, and the Friday The 13th canon. Perhaps a bit more fan service is at play here, much like the tease of Freddy vs Jason at the end of Jason Goes To Hell?     

Overall, the film looks good, utilizing high definition to shoot the scenes. It is a true feature length movie with a run time of just over an hour and a half. If you enjoy Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood, I think you will enjoy this extension of that story and perhaps the new direction Tina’s character may be heading towards. I liked the kills, they were inventive and contain some great gore affects, and I did like the research facility angle used for the setting. This film will not be for everyone, but if you have not watched it already, definitely give it a view and you can find something to enjoy, either from the characters in the film, the telekinetic story line, and of course, Jason Voorhees.