Night of the Demon Retrospective – Delays, Death Threats and Jason Voorhees

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Well, folks … I made up my mind some time ago that Mr. James Coker won our weird retrospective contest. His unbridled enthusiasm – as evidenced by good usage of caps lock and exclamation points – charmed me in a way too profound to deny him an in-depth look back at Night of the Demon, an ugly and gruesome Bigfoot flick from 1980.

So why aren’t you reading the retrospective instead of this gibberish? Because only one fucking video store in the city has only one fucking copy – and it’s been checked out. For forever. To make matters worse, one of the employees let it slip that another of the store’s employees is the culprit.

This place refuses to take my name and phone number to call me when the tape finally returns, making it necessary for me to call every day and harass the help. What’s really starting to burn me is this: how many times have I called and actually spoken to the bastard who is harboring the tape? Does he just pretend to check the computer then give me the inevitable ”Uh….nnnnnnnno, that one ain’t come back yet.” routine? It’s making me rabies-crazy, and I’m considering nailing a pig’s heart to the store’s front door with a note written in blood simply saying “I’ll be taking the Demon NOW, please.”

Savvy readers may realize that Night of the Demon is, in fact, available almost in totality on YouTube. NO. We need an unhindered version of this flick for an honest review, and a few chunks of nudity and murder are removed from the YouTube cut. Unacceptable.

So. Here I sit, broken-hearted. Called the video store, they only farted.

In the meantime, while I decide whether or not just to get on Amazon and buy the damn thing once and for all (which I should’ve done in the first place), here’s something weird to accompany this angry note/excuse:

What the Hell Happened to Jason Between Friday the 13th Part 2 and Part 3?

I’ve written about Jason’s outrageous shift in appearance in Friday 3 before, due to an unhealthy obsession with the film. My curiosity cannot be quelled. Let’s roll back the clock:

At the end of Friday 2 , Jason has a half-beard and half a head of long, dirty locks. And his left arm is barely hanging onto his body, thanks a machete blow through the collarbone and into the pectoral muscle. See?

Night of the Demon Retrospective – Delays, Death Threats and Jason Voorhees

Begin Friday 3. After a flashback, we see Jason pulling the machete out and getting to his feet. The next time we see him, he’s looming around a small grocery store. He is now bald, clean-shaven, and has changed his clothes. This sort of makes sense, but in Friday 3 terms, it’s rather strange.

There’s a clothesline hanging ‘round back of the store, filled with clean duds wafting in the night’s breeze. This is probably where Jason got the new threads. The grocery store seems reasonably well-stocked, so it’s likely they sell some sort of razor blades. In fact, there’s such a weird array of goods in the shop, I’d venture to guess there may also be some fishing line on sale for the tourists to snap up on their way to Crystal Lake.

So let’s get this straight: Jason locates the store, steals some clothes, breaks in the back door, locates some razors, shaves his face and his head, then uses the fishing line to stitch his gaping machete wound up. He’s now good to go, and immediately whacks the husband and wife store owners before making his way to the Higgins Haven barn for a rest. Jason’s mug during Friday 3’s finale:

Night of the Demon Retrospective – Delays, Death Threats and Jason Voorhees

That’s a close shave, buddy – a beautiful job over such rocky terrain. And that arm seems to have healed just fine, perhaps thanks to some powerful ointment Jason also lifted from the shop.

This is what Friday 3’s filmmakers would have us put together. Special thanks to director Steve Miner for never truly explaining the logic behind this extraordinary set of events, either in print or on a DVD commentary. At this point, I don’t want to spoil the thrill of considering how resourceful Jason truly was back then. People say the new “Rambo” Jason showcased in the remake was too resourceful. I respectfully beg to differ.

Hang in there for the Night of the Demon retrospective, my friends. I promise it’s coming – as soon as possible. And congratulations again to Mr. James Coker for winning the contest – I’ve already begun putting a special package together to send you, James, and I hope you’re ready for it.

Yours —

Chris Haberman

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