‘Jason Rising’ Premiere [Event Recap]
I was stoked at the chance to hit up the inaugural screening of James Sweet’s Jason Rising. But my expectations weren’t sky-high. It’s a fan film that was made for a meager budget. So, I walked into Portland’s historic Hollywood Theatre hoping for the best and prepared for the worst.
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Upon settling into a seat in the packed theater and observing a brief intro from the director, James Sweet, who gleefully announced, “We’re here because we love the s**t out of Friday the 13th, I found myself actually getting into the story. The flick follows a group of law enforcement officers as they track a trio of escaped convicts on the run near Camp Crystal Lake. To the surprise of both the liberated inmates and the police, Jason Voorhees is alive and well and thirsty for blood.
It became abundantly clear early on that Jason Rising is a film made by fans of the series for fans of the series. It’s definitely rough around the edges and shows its budgetary constraints at times. But for a crowd-funded fan film, Jason Rising is pretty impressive. Moreover, it was just fun to see Jason Voorhees on the big screen again. It’s hard to say how long it will be before we see the machete-wielding maniac return to the silver screen in any official capacity. But until then, this serves as an enjoyable stopgap.
Jason Rising has all of the typical trimmings one would expect from a Friday the 13th film: Epic kill sequences, the familiar score, and strong, resourceful women facing off with Jason. Sweet seems to understand the formula and the final product, which is under an hour in length, shows that. Sweet’s film makes a series of nods to other franchise entries but it also stands pretty well on its own.
Perhaps my favorite thing about Jason Rising is the appearance of Friday the 13th final girls, Adrienne King and Amy Steel. Both appear in some capacity and that lends an authenticity to the project that other fan films often don’t have. I won’t go into any more detail than that because I don’t want to ruin any surprises. But I suspect fans will like the way Sweet and company weaved King and Steel into the narrative.
Speaking of Adrienne King, the actress was present at the screening and appeared to be very excited about the project. She was grinning from ear-to-ear during the Q&A after the film and seemed to be so stoked to be a part of the series (even in an unofficial capacity) one more time.
King is far from the only one excited about her involvement with this project. The cast and crew were all visibly passionate. Everyone was eager to be there and seemed like they were having the time of their lives. It’s not entirely uncommon to attend a Q&A and come away with the impression that all of the participants would rather be anywhere else in the world. But James Sweet and his cast and crew seemed to relish answering audience questions and interacting with fans, which made the experience that much more enjoyable.
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All in, the entire affair was a helluva lot of fun. The flick is brimming with great callbacks to multiple other franchise entries. And there’s even an easter egg that references Evil Dead if you listen closely.
If you’re curious to give the film a look, you can check it out for yourself on YouTube. And I would recommend doing so. This may be just the thing to carry you through until we finally see another (official) Friday the 13th film materialize.
