Although he’s been variously portrayed as a supernatural being, the early appearances of Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th franchise positioned him as a more human threat. Fans of the series may have wondered how Jason always seemed to stay ahead of his victims in Camp Crystal Lake, even without the mystical powers he’s sometimes endowed with. According to ScreenRant, though, the 2009 reboot of Friday the 13th provides one answer that explains how the killer might realistically be able to track his targets.
The explanation effectively boils down to the woods-dwelling Jason in the reboot being a highly skilled survivalist who’s rigged up a series of tunnels and traps around Crystal Lake. During the course of the movie, we gradually learn that Jason is able to move around, vanish and reappear through a network of tunnels and secret entrances, something that he also uses to hold a hostage. In this context, he’s a more cunning killer than the lumbering slasher he’s often been portrayed as, and one who arguably just wants to protect his territory.
Sure, it’s not the most groundbreaking insight into the Friday the 13th universe, but it does provide some logic in a franchise that often makes up its rules as it goes along. To this end, Jason has been transformed from a sack-wearing hermit to an invincible killer, demonic slug and cyborg, depending on what the script called for in any given installment. And although it has its flaws, the 2009 reboot does at least provide the tunnels and other characteristics to bring Jason back into some semblance of reality.
We’re hoping that the long-running legal issues over the Friday the 13th franchise can be resolved this year, despite a number of false starts. After all, if we do get a new installment to the series, it’ll be intriguing to see if the producers try to resurrect the practical elements of the reboot, or go back to more supernatural areas. Given the designs we recently saw from an abandoned movie and television series, a number of different looks were tested for Jason, with some more human than others. With 11 years having passed since the last Friday the 13th film though, we’re certainly keen to see the killer brought to life for a new era.