Jason X | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jim Isaac |
Written by | Todd Farmer |
Based on | Characters by Victor Miller |
Produced by | Noel J. Cunningham |
Starring | Kane Hodder |
Cinematography | Derick Underschultz |
Edited by | David Handman |
Music by | Harry Manfredini |
Production company | |
Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | United States [1] |
Language | English |
Budget | $11–14 million [2] [3] |
Box office | $17.1 million [2] |
Jason X is a 2001 American science fiction slasher film directed by Jim Isaac and written by Todd Farmer. It is the tenth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise. It stars Lexa Doig, Lisa Ryder, Chuck Campbell, and Kane Hodder in his fourth and final appearance as Jason Voorhees. In the film, Jason is cryogenically frozen for 445 years and awakens on a spaceship in 2455 after being found by a group of students who he kills one by one.
While the previous films show Jason as a human serial killer or undead monster, this film depicts him as a superhuman who is transformed by future technology into a cyborg. This cyborg incarnation has been called Jason X in tie-in media but is also often referred to as Uber Jason (a nickname the art design team and production crew used, and which appeared in later comic books Jason X Special and Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X). [4] [5] [6] When conceiving the film, Todd Farmer came up with the idea of sending Jason into space, suggesting to the studio that it was the only direction left for the series. [7] [8]
Jason X was theatrically released in the United States on April 26, 2002. The film received negative reviews and underperformed at the box-office, grossing only $17.1 million on a budget of $11–14 million. [9]
In 2008, mass murderer Jason Voorhees is captured by the United States government and held at the Crystal Lake Research Facility. By 2010, after numerous failed attempts to kill Jason, government scientist Rowan LaFontaine, head of the facility, suggests putting him in cryogenic stasis. Dr. Wimmer and Sergeant Marcus arrive with soldiers, hoping to further research Jason's ability to heal from lethal wounds, as they believe it involves rapid cellular regeneration that can be replicated. Jason breaks free of his restraints and murders the soldiers and Dr. Wimmer. Rowan lures him into a cryogenic pod, but he ruptures the pod with his machete, stabbing her in the abdomen. Cryogenic fluid spills into the sealed room, freezing them both.
In the year 2455, Earth is too polluted to support life and humans have moved to a new planet, Earth II. On a field trip to Earth I, Professor Brandon Lowe, his android companion KM-14, intern Adrienne Thomas, and students Tsunaron, Janessa, Azrael, Kinsa, Waylander, and Stoney explore the abandoned Crystal Lake Research Facility, finding the frozen Jason and Rowan. They bring them aboard their spaceship, the Grendel, and revive Rowan while leaving Jason in the morgue, believing he is dead.
Adrienne is ordered to dissect Jason's body but Rowan warns them of the danger, revealing Jason's nature and superhuman abilities. Lowe, who is in serious debt, calls his financial backer Dieter Perez on the nearby space station Solaris. Perez recognizes Jason's name and notes his body could interest a collector. While Stoney and Kinsa have sex, Jason awakens and attacks Adrienne, freezing her face with liquid nitrogen before smashing her head to pieces on a counter. Jason takes a machete-shaped surgical tool and kills Stoney in front of Kinsa. Sergeant Brodski leads a group of soldiers to attack Jason. Jason interrupts a projected holographic game, breaking Azrael's back and bashing crewman Dallas's skull in. He tries to attack engineer Crutch, but Brodski and his soldiers arrive. After Brodski splits up his team, Jason kills them one by one.
Lowe orders pilot Lou to dock at Solaris. Jason kills Lou and the ship crashes through Solaris, destroying it. Jason breaks into the lab, reclaims his machete and decapitates Lowe. With the Grendel crippled, the survivors head for a shuttle while Tsunaron upgrades KM-14. After crew member Crutch is electrocuted by Jason, Kinsa attempts to escape on her own, but forgets to release the shuttle's fuel lines, causing it to crash into the ship and explode, thus incinerating Kinsa. Tsunaron reappears with an upgraded KM-14 who wields weapons and combat skills to stand a better chance against Jason. After having his right arm, left leg, right ribs, and part of his head blasted off by KM-14, Jason's body is knocked into a nanite-equipped medical station. The survivors send a distress call, then set explosive charges to separate the ship's undamaged pontoon from the main section.
The medical station nanites rebuild Jason, who becomes a cyborg. With his new strength, Jason easily defeats KM-14 by punching her head off. As Tsunaron recovers her still-functioning head, Jason is stopped by Waylander, who sacrifices himself by setting off the charges while the others escape. Jason survives and punches a hole through the hull, causing Janessa to die in the vacuum. A power failure with the docking door forces Brodski to go outside in an EVA suit to fix it.
To distract Jason, a holographic simulation of Camp Crystal Lake is created with two virtual teenage girls. After killing them, Jason realizes the deception just as the door is fixed. Still in his EVA suit, Brodski confronts Jason so the rest can escape. As they leave, the pontoon explodes, propelling Jason at high speed towards the survivors; Brodski intercepts Jason's space flight and maneuvers them both toward Earth II's atmosphere, where they are both incinerated on atmospheric entry. Tsunaron, Rowan, and KM-14 escape as Tsunaron assures KM-14 she will have a new body.
On Earth II, a pair of teenagers are by a lake when they see what they believe is a falling star. The teenagers go to investigate as Jason's charred mask sinks to the bottom of the lake.
Development of Jason X began in the late 1990s while Freddy vs. Jason was still in development hell. With Freddy vs. Jason not moving forward, Jim Isaac and Sean S. Cunningham decided that they wanted another Friday the 13th film made to retain audience interest in the character. The film was conceived by Todd Farmer, who plays "Dallas" in the film. Farmer considered putting Jason in a variety of new settings before settling on and pitching a space slasher concept modeled on Alien . [7] [10] David Cronenberg rewrote his character's dialogue in the script. [10]
The movie was filmed from March 6 to May 2000 in Toronto. [11]
The film score was composed and performed by Harry Manfredini. It was released by Varèse Sarabande on May 14, 2002. [12]
Jason X premiered in November 15, 2001 in Spain, [13] [14] and was released on April 26, 2002, in the United States. [15] A theatrical trailer was released on November 9, 2001, the same day that the film premiered in Spain. [16] [17]
The film was released on VHS and DVD on October 8, 2002. [18] It was released on Blu-ray in 2013, along with the other films in the Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection set. [19]
The film made $13.1 million in the U.S. and $3.8 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $16.9 million. [2]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes Jason X has an approval rating of 20% based on 108 reviews, and an average rating of 3.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Jason goes to the future, but the story is still stuck in the past." [20] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 25 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale. [22]
Roger Ebert gave the film 0.5 stars out of 4, quoting one of the film's lines: "This sucks on so many levels." [23]
The film was better received in the United Kingdom, gaining positive reviews from the country's two major film magazines, Total Film [24] and Empire . [25] Empire's review by Kim Newman in particular praised Jason X as "Wittily scripted, smartly directed and well-played by an unfamiliar cast, this is a real treat for all those who have suffered through the story so far."
The film has seen a retrospective growth in popularity, particularly among younger fans of the series. [26] [27] Praise has been directed at the film's ability to poke fun at itself and the film series as a whole, as well as inventive death scenes; Adrienne's death in particular (head frozen in liquid nitrogen and shattered) is often singled out as a highlight, and was even tested on an episode of MythBusters in 2009. [28]
In 2005, Avatar Press published the comic book Jason X Special as a direct sequel to the movie, written by Brian Pulido, with art by Sebastian Fumara and coloring by Mark Sweeney. The comic reveals that a scientist named Kristen intercepted the Grendel's communications and became interested in uncovering the secret of Jason's regenerative abilities so she could save her lover Neil as well as the human race. To trick the Grendel survivors into bringing Jason to her, she faked the rescue transmission and hacked into their system, using their own holographic technology to convince them they were escaping to Earth II. This resulted in the deaths of all aboard the Grendel. Aboard her ship, Kristen then attempts to study Jason X. Jason’s new cyborg abilities allow him to take control of Kristen's technology. When she attempts to pass on his regenerative abilities to Neil, the nanotechnology in Jason’s blood corrupts Neil and he stabs her. Kristen's ship then comes across a spaceship called Fun Club. After docking, Jason boards the Fun Club and begins killing the crew, ending the story.
In 2006, Avatar Press released a licensed two-issue comic book mini-series called Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X, written and illustrated by Mike Wolfer, with Andrew Dalhouse as colorist. Advertised as a fight between Jason and Jason X, the mini-series is a continuation of the comic Jason X Special. While Jason X is aboard the Fun Club, the story returns to the Grendel drifting in space where a malfunctioning medical station attempts to revive the half of Jason's head that KM-14 shot off in the film. Since the nanotechnology cannot revive only 13% of Jason's body mass into a full living being, it collects the remains of other dead bodies aboard the ship and uses them as raw material. As a result, another version of Jason is resurrected, one who resembles the old version. When scavengers board the Grendel, the old Jason attacks them and uses their shuttle to reach the nearest ship (the Fun Club). There, the old Jason finds Jason X and the two fight while also killing everyone they come across. Each killer is revealed to have only part of the mind and memory of the original Jason. The battle ends when Jason X defeats and rips out the brain matter of the old Jason, merging it with his own and restoring his full memories and personality. The ship crashes on Earth II and Jason X leaves the wreckage to explore a nearby forest. [5]
After the 2017 release of Friday the 13th: The Game , it was teased that the cyborg Jason X incarnation would be playable in the game the following year. However, Victor Miller, screenwriter of the original Friday the 13th , exercised his legal creative rights and served a lawsuit regarding residual profits he felt he was owed by the film franchise and tie-in media that resulted from the original movie. As a result, the game halted the release of new characters and features. [29] Although a partial version of Jason X already existed in the game's files and could be activated with a hack, the fully playable version of Jason X was never released for the game. [6]
A variation of the Jason X story with character appeared in the Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle and as playable character in MultiVersus . [30] [31]
Friday the 13th is a 1980 American independent slasher film produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, written by Victor Miller, and starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, and Kevin Bacon. The plot follows a group of teenage camp counselors who are murdered one by one by an unknown killer while they are attempting to reopen an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past.
Jason Voorhees is a character from the Friday the 13th series. He first appeared in Friday the 13th (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-killer Pamela Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S. Cunningham and Tom Savini, Jason was not originally intended to carry the series as the main antagonist. The character has subsequently been represented in various other media, including novels, video games, comic books, and a crossover film with Freddy Krueger.
Kane Warren Hodder is an American actor, stuntman, and author.
Friday the 13th Part 2 is a 1981 American slasher film produced and directed by Steve Miner in his directorial debut, and written by Ron Kurz. It is the sequel to Friday the 13th (1980), and the second installment in the franchise. Adrienne King, Betsy Palmer, and Walt Gorney reprise their respective roles from the first film as Alice Hardy, Pamela Voorhees, and Crazy Ralph. Amy Steel and John Furey also star. Taking place five years after the first film, Part 2 follows a similar premise, with an unknown stalker killing a group of camp counselors at a training camp near Crystal Lake. The film marks the debut of Jason Voorhees as the series' main antagonist.
Pamela Voorhees is a fictional character and the overarching antagonist of the Friday the 13th series of horror films. She was created by Victor Miller, and first appeared in Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th (1980), played by Betsy Palmer. Pamela is the main antagonist of the first film, in which she is known only as Mrs. Voorhees, and remains an antagonistic presence in its sequels, in which she is seen mostly as a severed head or a figment of her son's imagination. In Friday the 13th Part III (1982), the character appears as a reanimated corpse in a hallucination, played by Marilyn Poucher. Paula Shaw played Pamela in the crossover Freddy vs. Jason (2003); according to Palmer in Friday The 13th Reunion, she was asked to reprise her role in the film, but turned it down after reading the script. Nana Visitor played Pamela in the 2009 reboot.
Tommy Jarvis is a fictional character in the Friday the 13th franchise. He first appears in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) as a child interested in special effects who encounters a seemingly unstoppable slasher—Jason Voorhees. In his debut, he is portrayed by Corey Feldman. A teen and adult version of the character is portrayed by John Shepherd and Thom Mathews in the consecutive films Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), respectively.
Friday the 13th Part III is a 1982 American 3D slasher film directed by Steve Miner, produced by Frank Mancuso Jr., and starring Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka, and Richard Brooker. It is the sequel to Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) and the third installment in the Friday the 13th franchise. Set directly after the events of the previous films, the plot follows a teenage girl (Kimmell) and her friends who go on a trip to a house near Crystal Lake where an injured Jason Voorhees (Brooker) has taken refuge until re-emerging for another killing spree. The film marks the first appearance of Jason's signature hockey mask, which has since become a trademark of both the character and the franchise, as well as an icon in American cinema and the horror genre in general.
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is a 1989 American slasher film written and directed by Rob Hedden. The eighth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise and a sequel to Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), it stars Jensen Daggett, Scott Reeves, Peter Mark Richman, and Kane Hodder reprising his role as Jason Voorhees from the previous film. Set one year after the events of The New Blood, the film follows Jason as he stalks a group of teenagers on a boat to New York City. It was the final film in the series to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in the United States until 2009, with the subsequent Friday the 13th installments being distributed by New Line Cinema.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday is a 1993 American supernatural slasher film directed by Adam Marcus from a screenplay by Dean Lorey and Jay Huguely, based on a story by Huguely and Marcus. The ninth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise and a sequel to Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), as well as the first installment in the franchise to be released by New Line Cinema, it stars John D. LeMay, Kari Keegan, Erin Gray, Allison Smith, Steven Culp, Steven Williams, and Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees, reprising his role from Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Jason Takes Manhattan. The film follows the ghost of Jason possessing people to continue his killings after his death. To resurrect himself, Jason must possess a member of his bloodline, but he can also be permanently killed by one of his family using a magic dagger.
Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television series, novels, comic books, video games, and tie‑in merchandise. The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who was thought to have drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, as either the killer or the motivation for the killings. The original film was written by Victor Miller, produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, and released by Paramount Pictures. The films have grossed over $468 million at the box-office.
Richard Brooker was a British actor and stuntman, best known for his role in Friday the 13th Part III as Jason Voorhees.
Alice Hardy is a fictional character in the Friday the 13th franchise. Alice first appears in Friday the 13th (1980) as an artist working as a camp counselor. She is portrayed by Adrienne King—who reprises the role in the sequel Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) and the fan film Jason Rising (2021). Alice's creator, Victor Miller, scripted her as a flawed character, envisioning her in an affair. Once production began on the original film, budgetary constraints limited the deeper exposition intended for Alice's character.
Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash is a six-issue comic book limited series that was released in November 2007 and ran until March 2008. It was published by Wildstorm and Dynamite Entertainment. Based on the original Freddy vs. Jason 2 film treatment by Jeff Katz, the story serves as a sequel to Freddy vs. Jason and the Evil Dead trilogy. The comic book series was written by James Kuhoric and illustrated by Jason Craig.
Ari Lehman is an American performing artist, composer, and actor. He is known for playing the child Jason Voorhees in the Paramount horror film Friday the 13th, becoming the first actor to portray the horror film icon. As of 2018, Lehman performs in a punk rock/heavy metal band, First Jason.
Friday the 13th: The Game is a 2017 asymmetrical survival horror game developed by IllFonic and published by Gun Media. It is based on the Friday the 13th franchise. The game was released on May 26, 2017, as a digital release and later released on October 13, 2017, as a physical release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A Nintendo Switch version was released on August 13, 2019.
Ginny Field is a fictional character in the Friday the 13th series. She first appears in Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) as a child psychology student working as a camp counselor assistant trainer, in which she was portrayed by Amy Steel. Writer Ron Kurtz conceptualized the character, while director Steve Miner intended to utilize Ginny to carry further installments as the main protagonist. Ginny has subsequently seen representation in other media such as novels and fan labor.
Jason X: The Experiment is a 2005 British science fiction horror novel written by Pat Cadigan and published by Black Flame. A tie-in to the Friday the 13th series of American horror films, it is the second in a series of five Jason X novels published by Black Flame and acts as a sequel to the 2001 film Jason X and its 2005 novelization, which was also written by Pat Cadigan and published by Black Flame.
Jason X: Death Moon is a 2005 British science fiction horror novel written by Alex S. Johnson and published by Black Flame. A tie-in to the Friday the 13th series of American horror films, it is the fourth in a series of five Jason X novels published by Black Flame and is set in Moon Camp Americana, a reformatory for wayward girls that is attacked by undead cyborg Jason Voorhees.
Jason X: To the Third Power is a 2006 British science fiction horror novel written by Nancy Kilpatrick and published by Black Flame. A tie-in to the Friday the 13th series of American horror films, it is the fifth and final installment in a series of five Jason X novels published by Black Flame and revolves around a group of scientists working in seclusion fighting for their lives against escaped convicts and undead cyborg Jason Voorhees.