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?