‘Stream’ Showcases a Wealth of Horror Veterans
Taking an iconic character you helped to create and having to rebuild him from the ground up is a daunting task. That’s what Victor Miller had to do in 13 minutes with Jason Voorhees. Fans have been displeased with how their beloved Jason has been handled ever since a lawsuit gave Miller the sole rights to the hockey masked entity.
The moment of truth came on August 13 when Sweet Revenge premiered on YouTube. This is a Jason Universe (the official Jason IP) production in collaboration with Angry Orchard, a hard cider beverage brand.
So, did they do Jason justice coming out of retirement, or was the whole thing just a massive cash grab?
The good news is that the “extended short” has its strong points. The bad news is the heart is gone. Jason is a killing machine, yes, but he also had personality, something that’s missing from this uneven short film.
You might be saying, but it’s only a 13-minute spot! That’s true. But another recent legacy sequel (prequel) Final Destination: Bloodlines, managed to capture likable characters in the first minute. Sweet Revenge seems like it tried to do the same, but failed.
Let’s face it, anything beyond Friday the 13th Part 2 is pure comedy, and Sweet Revenge delivers on that, but somehow the bits border on parody.
Historically, the kills in the franchise are funny; technically.
In other words, the SFX team created some terrifying yet unique kills, which sometimes made you laugh. They were always creative and the audience’s laughing was verbal applause to the artist’s creativity.
Sweet Revenge’s visual gags could almost be bits from a Scary Movie film.
Spoiler: an entire lower torso and arms and legs hanging from a clothes line is not only physically impossible but hyper unrealistic. Did Jason chop them up, stop and hang their parts to dry? Then there’s the man with a knife in his eye and a huge red apple shoved in his mouth; it seems way too sketch-comedy to be immersive. And Jason attacking a woman with a small apple corer to the face, isn’t just parody, kitchen gadgets have been done before, but better.
People who watch Sweet Revenge aren’t going to replay the exposition, but they will keep rewatching the kills and gore. The Henry Manfredini score is a nice touch and his “ha-ha-ha-ha” sound effect is nostalgic.
Director of Sweet Revenge Mike P. Nelson is no stranger to rebooting horror franchises. His Wrong Turn retcon wasn’t bad and maybe even improved on it.
Sweet Revenge might get fans hyped for what’s coming, but no more so than a fan-made film would. Even Jason looks too small to fit into his jumper and the jury’s still out on the mask.
But all is not lost. Sweet Revenge may have some issues, but the kills and practical effects are pretty good. There’s a very impressive kill that shows there’s hope for the franchise yet. Although the wonky and confusing ending isn’t doing it any favors.
Overall, Sweet Revenge isn’t the return of Jason fans like me were looking for, even though it’s a nice attempt. It suffers from having had too long of an absence and trying to pick up where it left off. Sadly, in the meantime, the gap was filled with In a Violent Nature, which took Miller’s concept and modernized it. Now, any Jason movie will be compared to that film unless they come up with something unique. In fact, there is one POV of Jason in Sweet Revenge that seems lifted directly from Violent Nature — it could be a visual recall to the Friday the 13th video game, but it’s already been done.
For a monster franchise that’s lasted through several generations, what Sweet Revenge did with fan service could have been painted with a broader stroke. While they kept the trope intact, anything beyond that was hung on the clothesline to dry.
