Last May, a new company called Horror Inc. announced the launch of the Jason Universe, an initiative aimed at injecting fresh life into the Friday the 13th franchise. Though the company has a hand in Crystal Lake, the upcoming Peacock prequel series, its first big launch is Sweet Revenge, a short film bringing everyones favorite hockey-masked maniac back to slay.
After teasing the short at San Diego Comic-Con (and reassuring fans a feature film is most definitely on the to-do list), Horror Inc. has premiered it online. io9 got a chance to talk to Sweet Revenge writer-director Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn, Silent Night Deadly Night) and star Ally Ioannides (Into the Badlands) about the short. We do get into spoilers, so watch it before you read on!
Cheryl Eddy, io9: Sweet Revenge is celebrating the 45th anniversary of the franchise and is bringing the new Jason Universe initiative to the forefront in a big way. Did you get many instructions, notes, or things to do or not to do? What was the process like?
Mike P. Nelson: I think thats what was so exciting about working with Sheri [Conn] and Robert [Barsamian] and Robbie [ Barsamian]; t hey were really open to hearing a new take. And sure, theres always little things, especially with an IP is as big as this, we want to make sure and be true to certain things. But they were open to a new take and to a little bit of a new twist. As long as we can bring back Jason as ferocious as ever, doing Jason things, that was the big thing.
And then of course it was cool that it was just as important to them as it was me to actually, like, for 13 minutes, try to tell an interesting story and not just, Lets just have Jason kill as many people as possible. Im not going to say that people wouldnt like that, but I just have a feeling it would just get a little tiresome after a while. And my motto is always: its the heart. Heart is what makes horror great. That was an important aspect: telling a story that had some heart and introducing a character that people fall in love with and get to see a transformation.
io9: If you pay close attention early on, youll see some clues that this is not a typical Friday the 13th story. We have Eve being called a force of nature who didnt run away. Some people find the one, sometimes the one finds you. Eve takes a bite of an apple. Knowing that the film would be so short and fans would be watching it more than once, did you pepper in things that people would only pick up on the second time through?
Nelson: A thousand percent, which makes me so happy you literally said all the right moments. Im just like, I hope people pick up on all these little things that I think are important to her in the story. You said them all and that makes me very happy.
� Jason Universe io9: Eve is underwater for a long time before she pops back up. Are we to assume that she dies in Crystal Lake and then is reborn with Jason-like powers?
Nelson: To a certain extent, yes. When I came up with this concept, the idea was that I didnt care to see how Jason [underwent] his transformation. I love that we still keep that shrouded in mystery. Theres always conspiracies on what happened to him. Is he alive? Is he dead? Did he really drown? Did he not drown? And I think all thats great. Now, from my perspective, thats how I see Jason: is that he did drown, and he came back because theres nothing more powerful emotionally than a story about coming back for revenge.
And to me, its a very similar story with Eve. And Eve allowed me to explore how it might have gone down for Jason. Every character is different, but being able to see what Eve goes through was this fun sort of body horrornot understanding quite whats going on, why do I feel this way, why do I look this way, and then realizing that theres something that brought her back. I mean, look, she gets impaled with a machete. Shes not coming back from that unless theres something else going on. So I think keeping thatyes, there is ambiguity, which again all the Jason movies have, which I think is really important to have. But I also feel like having that wink and a nod to, Did she go through the same thing that Jason did is? is definitely there. Yeah.
io9: Ally, what did you think when you heard about this project?
Ally Ioannides: I was in shock, honestly, when Chad [Villella], the producer, called me and told me about it. Being asked to be a final girl in a Friday the 13th film is pretty iconic. Im still like, I honestly cant believe it.
I went back and watched the first four and just tried to take it all in and sort of understand what is good about it and what people expect from it, because obviously it is such an iconic franchise and people feel very special about it & I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything that I could to give people that same feeling.
Nelson: Ally to me was somebody who we could introduce as Eve as somebody who was almost the complete opposite of Jason. Shes in pink plaid, she almost resembles a combination of Annie and Tina from [ Friday ] part one and part seven. Shes soft-spoken & But then crazy shit happens.
Jasons big, and he has this mass to him, and hes this force of nature. And Eve doesnt come across that way. Were told that she is, but she doesnt come across that way until finally you realize, Oh, she is! And so seeing that opposite side of the spectrum, you see Eve and then you see Jason; its a fun matchup, if you will. Also just the fact that you have a final girl whos not just a final girl. Its a final girl who sort of becomes the monster in a way, which I hadnt seen done before. Especially a final girl killing one of our protagonistsI mean, come on! How cool is that?
� Jason Universe io9: How did you cast your Jason Voorhees? What kind of direction did you give to shape that performance?
Nelson: Its Schuyler White, and hes actually a stunt coordinator. I worked with him on a couple movies prior to this, so him and I had a pretty good rapport & hes 65, he loves horror, and he excels in stunts in horror films and he understands horror. Hes a huge fan. Hes the sweetest guy in the world, which doesnt necessarily lend itself maybe to Jason on the surface. But I think to work with somebody who understands and has just a pure love of that character and has loved and watched him all of his life, him bringing his own vibe and also that sort of wink and a nod to what Jason was, especially in those first four movies, was huge. And he brought that. It was immediate.
We didnt want to do the running Jason. We wanted to make sure that it was the Jason thats gonna get you no matter how fast he goes. And hes not in any rush. The joke on set was, theres almost an artistry to what Jason does in some of the things in the short, like his tableau on the clothesline and the fact that he grabbed the apple slicer. Its not just grabbing a kitchen knife to poke a bunch of holes in this woman on a table. He grabs the apple-slicer & Theres something going on up there that he wants to see certain things happen while people are experiencing pain while hes murdering his victims, which I think was again a fun wink and a nod to how hes handled his victims in the past. Schuyler brought it and he was a joy to work with. He just understood the job and got it done in the best way possible.
io9: This is the ultimate horror fans dream that you got to live, making a Friday the 13th movie and planning out a Jason rampage. First, Eves discovering all these dead bodies, and Im like, when are they gonna show him actively killing people? Then of course we get to that. How did you map all that out?
Nelson: In the pitch, it wasnt just, Lets just see how many people Jason can off for 13 minutes. It was more, Eve goes through what she goes through, and then [its almost like] she comes across crime scenes, like all these aftermaths, because that was something thats always been fun in the Friday the 13th movies. You come across the dead bodies, and sometimes you didnt even see the kills happen on screen & that always stuck with me watching those movies, and so to me, that was sort of my What if instead of [Eve just] getting to the cabin after she comes out of the lake, she has to go through the horror of witnessing his handiwork?
Building that excitement that, to your point, Oh my God, when are we going to see him? Getting to see what hes done over the course of the filmthat, to me, was fun. That was an exciting thing. And then, of course, when you see him for the first time, and then the absolute slaughter fest in the cabin, thats our big climax, you know what I mean? Our big Jason scene, where he just goes to town, doesnt hold back. And we bring him back in full force.
� Jason Universe io9: The short has a suggestive yet open ending. What do you think happens next?
Ioannides: I do like the idea that theres some sort of kinship, some sort of knowing. I think its more interesting than just a fight. But who knows? I mean& proposal?
io9: She already had the ring!
Nelson: I would agree with Ally. I think it sets up this idea of, what does Jason do when he realizes theres someone else like him? What is that response? Is the response at first, like, Im going to kill you because I dont understand? Is it, Well, youre like me, maybe I need to hang out? There was always this sort of idea of, does Eve want nothing to do [with Jason] and Jason just keeps following her around? Or is it the other way around?
I think that theres a lot of fun to be had in a story like that because it doesnt ruin the mythology of what the Friday the 13th movies are, because you still have Jason, you still have his past, you know where he comes from. Hes mad that his mom was murdered and that he died due to an accident because people werent paying attention. You still have all that. [This] doesnt rewrite anything. But what happens when somebody else goes through a similar transformation as him and has to deal with that sort of body horrorand then what happens after that?
Those are the questions that are fun to play with. And I honestly love the idea that it sits within the fans and the viewers after, so they can start talking about it. I think thats one of the most exciting things. Yes, I have my own ideas and what Id love to do after the fact and how that could end up going. But where does that take the viewers mind afterwards? That, to me, I think is where things get really exciting: where can this go?
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