ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - April 26th
"JASON X" released in 2002
In the future, Earth is no longer inhabitable, so humans have colonized in outer space. One colony receives two cryogenically frozen bodies, and when they defrost them, one of the bodies turns out to be.....who else? Jason Voorhees, of course! Jason's no longer in Camp Crystal Lake anymore in Jim Isaac's sc-fi slasher, Jason X!
Don't miss out on future blogs, trailers, and clips IHdb has coming up
by Following IHdb's Facebook page above
by Following IHdb's Facebook page above
Finally captured in the year 2008, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) is held inside a government research facility whose scientists try to answer the question that keeps eluding them - why one of the most infamous mass murderers in history cannot die. Once Rowan (Lexa Doig), leader of the research project, prepares the specimen for cryogenic suspension, the greedy Dr. Wimmer (David Cronenberg) goes over her head and comes to remove Jason, only to have the mad slasher break free and slaughter him and his entire entourage. Tricking Jason into following her, Rowan eludes him into entering the cryogenic freezer and begins the process, but a breach in the system causes her to freeze with him. The government denies any evidence of the project and buries the secret deep underground, until nearly four centuries later, during which time the Earth has gradually become less and less habitable (and humans have relocated to a planet in another star system that they've named Earth II), a team of young students, led by the morally dubious Professor Brandon Lowe (Jonathan Potts), descends onto the ruined Earth, where they find the frozen bodies of Jason and Rowan in the forgotten research facility and take back on board their ship with them. Rowan is thawed and revived, but the team mistakes Jason to be dead, having no idea of his abilities or motives. Before long, Jason awakens to the sound of young people having premarital sex once again, and the carnage erupts once again as the ship proceeds to Earth II. The remaining survivors fight for their lives as the centuries-old mad slasher proves that he is just as evil and just as indestructible during their time as he was centuries before!
[Dr. Wimmer arrives with soldiers to take Jason from the facility]
Rowan: What are you doing here?
Dr. Wimmer: I'm taking the specimen.
Rowan: Well, you can't. I haven't prepped the cryostasis chamber.
Dr. Wimmer: I don't want him frozen, Rowan. I want him soft.
Rowan: We've already discussed this.
Dr. Wimmer: Yeah. Well, I had to go over your head. I'm moving him to our Scranton facility.
Rowan: Dr. Wimmer, you can't risk transporting him through open country.
Dr. Wimmer: This isn't open for discussion. His unique ability to regenerate lost and damaged tissue... I mean, it's just cries out for more research.
Rowan: And you'll risk the deaths of innocent civilians if he escapes?
Dr. Wimmer: Yes.
Top: Science student on a "field trip" to Earth I, find the frozen remains of Jason Voorhees (kane Hodder);
Above: Also found at the site, and regenerated, is government scientist Rowan LaFontaine (Lexa Doig).
After the success of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, original Friday the 13th producer Sean S Cunningham (who reacquired the rights to the series after the release of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan), concentrated solely on producing the long awaited Freddy vs Jason crossover. However, the constant delays from studios Paramount Pictures and New Line Cinema (who owned the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise) began to frustrate Cunningham, who soon decided to make another entry in the Friday the 13th series, hoping to maintain Jason's popularity at the box office until the horror match-up Freddy vs Jason was given the green-light. During Jason X's development process, the filmmakers kept with the concept used in Jason Takes Manhattan - whereby taking Jason outside of Crystal Lake - director Jim Isaac, producer Noel Cunningham (Sean's son), and screenwriter Todd Farmer kicked around any scenario they could think of it; typically "Jason in [insert blank] (the hood, snow, underwater, the arctic, in L.A. fighting gangs, on safari)." They even considered something involving the NASCAR circuit. Farmer suggested "in space" because he knew Freddy Vs. Jason was on the way, and it'd be best if Jason X was set after the events of that epic battle. So, they needed to jump into the future, and going into space certainly did that!
Because Isaac wanted the acting in his film to "blow every other Friday movie out of the water", the associate producer videotaped the rehearsals on a camcorder for Isaac, who would view them afterward to get ideas from seeing his characters in action. Unfortunately, the problems with all the script re-writes meant a lot of the time Isaac didn't even know if what the actors were rehearsing was still going to be in the movie (which most of it wasn't). Among the first to be cast were stars Lexa Doig as Rowan and Lysa Ryder as robot Kay-Em 14, although both actresses were required to finish their scenes relatively early in the schedule so they both could return to film the new season of their sci-fi TV series Andromeda. Joining the cast was Jonathan Potts as Professor Brandon Lowe, Chuck Campbell as Tsunaron, and Peter Mensah as Sergeant Brodski. Screenwriter Todd Farmer also appeared as ship pilot Dallas, as well as a special cameo by genre director David Cronenberg - who agreed to appear in Jason X as a favor to producer Cunningham, but also because he reportedly really "wanted to get killed on screen!". And of course, the legendary Kane Hodder returns for his time as the unkillable Jason Voorhees.
Because Isaac wanted the acting in his film to "blow every other Friday movie out of the water", the associate producer videotaped the rehearsals on a camcorder for Isaac, who would view them afterward to get ideas from seeing his characters in action. Unfortunately, the problems with all the script re-writes meant a lot of the time Isaac didn't even know if what the actors were rehearsing was still going to be in the movie (which most of it wasn't). Among the first to be cast were stars Lexa Doig as Rowan and Lysa Ryder as robot Kay-Em 14, although both actresses were required to finish their scenes relatively early in the schedule so they both could return to film the new season of their sci-fi TV series Andromeda. Joining the cast was Jonathan Potts as Professor Brandon Lowe, Chuck Campbell as Tsunaron, and Peter Mensah as Sergeant Brodski. Screenwriter Todd Farmer also appeared as ship pilot Dallas, as well as a special cameo by genre director David Cronenberg - who agreed to appear in Jason X as a favor to producer Cunningham, but also because he reportedly really "wanted to get killed on screen!". And of course, the legendary Kane Hodder returns for his time as the unkillable Jason Voorhees.
[programmed to trick Uber-Jason]
VR teen girl #1: Hey, do you want a beer?
VR teen girl #2: Or do you wanna smoke some pot?
VR teen girl #1: Or we can have premarital sex?
[both remove their tops]
VR teen girl #1, VR teen girl #2: We love premarital sex!
Top and Above: Nanotechnology enhanced Uber-Jason is confronted in a 80's virtual reality simulation by two semi naked "campers"... with predictable results!
As production progressed in Toronto in early 2000, neither the casting director, Robin D. Cook, nor Isaac's initially wanted to do the virtual reality scene. Cook was so adamant the scene was nothing but gratuitous nudity that she refused to cast the roles of the two topless girls - played by Kaye Penaflor and Tania Maro - and relegated those duties to her casting assistant. Likewise, Isaac agreed that it was clearly just nudity for nudity's sake, and the only way he could personally justify it is if they had fun with it and made it really silly. The "virtual '80s" scene was originally meant to be much more detailed, including a number of topless women playing volleyball (although this would be toned down to just two). One idea even included the appearance of Pamela Voorhees, Jason's mother, and even went so far as to have Jason attack her, showing the extent of just how evil he had become. The latter idea was dropped. In fact, Betsy Palmer was doing a play in Toronto at the time Jason X was filming and, according to Palmer, one of the producers contacted her about possibly reprising her role as Pamela Vorhees. They did not come to an agreement, and the character was not included in the scene. Interestingly, Jason X recreated one of Hodder's favorite kills from the series, the "sleeping bag death" scene.
Jason X only suffered a couple seconds of cuts/alterations to earn an R rating from the MPAA, making it the least censored entry in the entire Friday the 13th series; even though Jason murders 28 people in Jason X, more than any of the other Friday the 13th movies (and it was also the first film in the series to rely on digital effects for death and gore shots). But approving an actual release date for the movie proved more problematic, having four different U.S. release dates before it was finally released. This latest installment in the series was a moderate success, grossing over $13 million at the US box office (against it's $11 million budget), but received mainly negative reviews from critics. Critic Roger Ebert wrote a scathing review of the film, even quoting one of the film's lines, "This sucks on so many levels." However, Jason X was better received in the United Kingdom (where it was the first Friday the 13th film to be rated '15' in the UK), gaining positive reviews from the country's two major film magazines, Total Film and Empire. Empire's review by Kim Newman in particular praised Jason X as "Wittily scripted, smartly directed and well-played by an unfamiliar cast, this is a real treat for all those who have suffered through the story so far."
When Stony (played by Yani Gellman) opens the door and gets stabbed and his blood sprays in Kinsa's (Melody Johnson) face, she of course screams. But apparently, the effects guys weren't supposed to spray the blood into Johnson's face, and she was screaming - not because she just saw her characters boyfriend die - but because the fake blood was actually burning her eyes!
Jason X only suffered a couple seconds of cuts/alterations to earn an R rating from the MPAA, making it the least censored entry in the entire Friday the 13th series; even though Jason murders 28 people in Jason X, more than any of the other Friday the 13th movies (and it was also the first film in the series to rely on digital effects for death and gore shots). But approving an actual release date for the movie proved more problematic, having four different U.S. release dates before it was finally released. This latest installment in the series was a moderate success, grossing over $13 million at the US box office (against it's $11 million budget), but received mainly negative reviews from critics. Critic Roger Ebert wrote a scathing review of the film, even quoting one of the film's lines, "This sucks on so many levels." However, Jason X was better received in the United Kingdom (where it was the first Friday the 13th film to be rated '15' in the UK), gaining positive reviews from the country's two major film magazines, Total Film and Empire. Empire's review by Kim Newman in particular praised Jason X as "Wittily scripted, smartly directed and well-played by an unfamiliar cast, this is a real treat for all those who have suffered through the story so far."
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 19%
___________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment