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If Jason Voorhees (F-13) Came Back From Death, What About the Rest of His Family?

As most people probably know, the original Friday the 13th

is the only film in the franchise not to feature Jason Voorhees as the perpetrator of any murders. Although the movie does act as something of an origin story for Jason himself, the original killer is his mother (Betsy Palmer), who is motivated by an unquenchable thirst for revenge over the apparent drowning of her son, when irresponble counselors at Crystal Lake failed to watch him closely enough. Mrs. Voorhees meets her end by the time the first installment is through, and every other Friday thereafter has featured the more phycally impong Jason as its boogeyman.

Personally (and I know I might catch some flak for this), I find the first Friday to be just a tad overrated. I see Jason as the more effective and scary murderer, and I really have trouble stomaching the bit in the first installment where the final girl tries to fend Mrs. Voorhees off with a spool of yarn. That said, there is something I have been wondering about for years now in regards to this franchise.It has been well established that pretty much nothing can take Jason out of the game for good. Shoot him, electrocute him, stab him, blow him up, or chop him up and mail his parts to the four corners of the globe, but Jason always returns to spill more (mostly) teenage blood. I'm not sure whether the creative forces behind any future installments intend to make this part "canon", but Jason Goes To Hell even made the controveral move of presenting Jason as some sort of evil, worm-like entity that could mply possess a new body when his current one is destroyed. Whether the remake continuity ever follows up on that or not, what is certain is that Jason Voorhees is something far beyond just a normal psychopath who can withstand a lot of pain and punishment. Whatever the explanation for that might be, he obviously received half of his genetic material from mommy dearest. Unless he sacrificed his soul to the devil or went through some other process later in life that somehow altered him, it makes a certain level of sense that whatever trait he possesses that makes him unkillable must have been passed down to him from Mrs. Voorhees. So why has she stayed dead for so long, while he has risen from the grave time and time again? The most obvious explanation is that, once the writers of these films realized the goldmine Jason himself represented, they mply decided to stick with what works, and Mrs. Voorhees became nothing but an afterthought. nce the death of his mother also seems to be part of Jason's motive to continue his rampage, it's also posble the writers felt that bringing her back would dilute Jason's reason to kill. However, there are other options here that, in my opinion, are more compelling. Perhaps Mrs. Voorhees has risen from the grave already, and has mply chosen not to reveal herself just yet. Perhaps her dark existence is even somehow sustained by each new murder Jason commits, and if he ever stops killing, he will lose her all over again. Or perhaps there is something malevolent in Jason's genetic makeup, but it skips a generation. Is it posble that Jason has an evil, immortal grandparent out there that even he isn't aware of? Along that same line of thought, I can't help but realize that (to my knowledge, at least) the identity of Jason's father has never been revealed. Perhaps whatever makes him immortal came from his dad's de of the family. Maybe his father is even Satan himself. You have to admit, it's not that much of a stretch to picture Mrs. Voorhees shacking up with the devil. I think any of the above ideas, if done well, have the potential to be fascinating new directions for the franchise to explore, if it wants to take a creative risk in an effort to stay original. While it would be foolish, at this point, to advocate for a Friday the 13th

movie that doesn't feature Jason, there certainly could be a movie where Mrs. Voorhees returns as well, and joins Jason in his slaughter, or where Jason finally encounters his father or a grandparent.All of this is stuff that has been turning around in my head for a very long time now, so I applaud HorrorBid for holding today's Friday the 13th extravaganza, and allowing me to finally exorcise these thoughts. I can't guarantee that a plot featuring any of these ideas wouldn't blow up in the faces of fans and filmmakers alike, but if nothing else, they're worth thinking about and discusng.So sound off, Bidites! Do any of these ideas appeal to you? Do you dig the thoughts of seeing Mrs. Voorhees return, or of finally getting to meet Mr. Voorhees? Or do you think the

Friday the 13th

franchise should just stick to its established formula, where Jason's inexhaustible rage leads him to continue his killing spree all by his lonesome?
ImmortalSidneyP Friday 1/13/2012 at 11:37 AM | 89403
The way I like to look at it is this.

in parts 2 - 4 we had a human who had raised himself in the woods. constantly replaying the moment he witnessed his mother die. I dont believe Jason drowned in the lake as a boy. The remake addressed this. the mother mply thought he had. So You have a mentally disturbed man-child walking the forest. He would become a bitter, ferral being of rage. So much rage in fact that he was compelled to murder and destroy because all he knows is the only good thing in life 9to him) was his mother.

After his real death at the hands of a young Tommy Jarvis, Jason was no longer Human, but rather the physcial imbodiement of REVENGE. Much like the Incredible Hulk is the phycal form of Human rage and emotion neither Jason or the hulk can be stopped because those powerful emotions are infinate in thier power.

In part 5, even though Roy was running around caung trouble, Jason STILL tormented Tommy in his dreams. It was this fear and energy, combined with the tangible Rage and dere to avenge that allowed Jason to rise in part 6 (jump started of course with lightening) Now jason is no longer restricted by the mortal limitations of the human condition. Jason truely became a phycal force of nature fueled not by foot, or flesh, but pure Rage.

This is why His mother, or father or any other family member can not come back. Jason was a unique series of events that transformed a boy into a monster.
clownnation Friday 1/13/2012 at 01:40 PM | 89405
The way I like to look at it is this.

in parts 2 - 4 we had a human who had raised himself in the woods. constantly replaying the moment he witnessed his mother die. I dont believe Jason drowned in the lake as a boy. The remake addressed this. the mother mply thought he had. So You have a mentally disturbed man-child walking the forest. He would become a bitter, ferral being of rage. So much rage in fact that he was compelled to murder and destroy because all he knows is the only good thing in life 9to him) was his mother.

After his real death at the hands of a young Tommy Jarvis, Jason was no longer Human, but rather the physcial imbodiement of REVENGE. Much like the Incredible Hulk is the phycal form of Human rage and emotion neither Jason or the hulk can be stopped because those powerful emotions are infinate in thier power.

In part 5, even though Roy was running around caung trouble, Jason STILL tormented Tommy in his dreams. It was this fear and energy, combined with the tangible Rage and dere to avenge that allowed Jason to rise in part 6 (jump started of course with lightening) Now jason is no longer restricted by the mortal limitations of the human condition. Jason truely became a phycal force of nature fueled not by foot, or flesh, but pure Rage.

This is why His mother, or father or any other family member can not come back. Jason was a unique series of events that transformed a boy into a monster.

Definitely an interesting way to look at it! The only problem I see is that your fear, energy and rage explanation is a little more vague than the explanation for why the Hulk is the Hulk (to follow up on your comparison). Future films certainly could play up the fear angle, though, and further explain that as long as people fear Jason, he will always come back. I feel like other movies have kind of covered that, though, and then people would figure out that they just had to conquer their fear of Jason in order to do him in for good. Admittedly, some aspects of some of my ideas have been done, in one way or another, in other films, too. Personally, I still would love to find out that Mrs. Voorhees was also lurking out there somewhere, or that Jason had a badass, evil father, but that's just my opinion. I like a lot of the implications of your idea, too. Thanks for the reply!
ImmortalSidneyP Friday 1/13/2012 at 03:42 PM | 89410
I really wish they'd give us some kind of back story on Jason's Dad, there's no way he was just some normal dude. You see him briefly in the comic Jason vs Leatherface, as an abuve drunk who liked to hit young Jason. I honestly expected a little more from him than that, even though this isn't really canon.

Nick Death Friday 1/13/2012 at 08:25 PM | 89418
Well, she came back at the end of Part 3... but that was mostly a nod to the end of the original... Plus, if she was able to return, she would not be able to do nearly as much damage as Jason is, seeing as she is only a head.
Kidtut Sunday 1/22/2012 at 07:35 PM | 89791