Back in 1988, with the release of Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, I started my own personal countdown. A number that for me was more important than Roger Maris's 61 Home Runs and more important to me that the Lakers 69 win record. What I was counting down to was "Friday the 13th Part 13"! Now THAT was something to look forward to. The event would be ground-breaking. Jason hitting lucky number 13 was as good as it gets in my eyes. So far in an 8 year span, we had 7 "Friday the 13th" Movies. I figured that at that rate, we would probably hit Part 13 by the time I was in High School!
The next summer, we were given Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Only five more to go! The next summer came, and no Jason. That's Ok, I thought. There were two years between parts 3 and 4 and two years between parts 6 and 7. But then 1991 came, and still no Jason. Jason has never gone consecutive summers with out a release. What was going on? Was he truly dead?
A couple of years later, when I started to give up hope, I heard that Jason would be coming back in 1993! I was completely, utterly stoked until I heard the name of the next film; "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday." That's OK, I thought. We've all seen how long "The Final Chapter" lasted. They wouldn't really kill Jason, would they? After being denied a ticket because I was only 13 years old trying to see a Rated-R movie, I begged a random guy who was there with his girlfriend to watch the movie to buy tickets for my friend and me. So I was in luck. We got into the movie with no problem. I wasn't disappointed with the movie, but it hurt a little to see Jason's mask be pulled down beneath the dirt.
It would be closer to a decade before we heard any rumblings about further Jason escapades. Jason vs Freddy (as it was always referred to) was nothing but an endless series of rumors until about 2001, when it was said that the now titled "Freddy vs Jason" was about to be put into production. Not only that, but we would be given another entry the following year, Jason X! That would put us up to 11 and with only two more to go, my childhood dreams could become a reality. With a healthy box office return, Freddy and Jason would most certainly be back for more.
Several years went by and there was no new news about the next Jason romp. Then it happened. I went to my favorite horror movie news site, and read the tragic news; "Friday the 13th" was being remade!!! NO WAY! We were almost there! We only needed two more to hit the legendary " Friday the 13th Part 13"! Couldn't they do two more before they remade it?!?! To be that close was completely heartbreaking.
So 2009 came and I was there for the midnight showing. (No matter my dismay, I couldn't miss a Jason movie) I examined closely for the key moment that would destroy the original series storyline and stomp on my childhood dreams. And you know what? It never happened! I watched it again and paid closer attention and realized that this reboot does nothing to erase the original storyline from happening. Let me explain.
In the remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" which took place in 1973, Leatherface got his arm chopped off. And the family name changed from Sawyer to Hewitt. That renders TCH 2-4 impossible to coexist with the remake. In the "Halloween" remake, all the family dynamics were changed and the storylines made it impossible to coexist with the original Halloween continuities. But with the "Friday the 13th" remake, nothing was done that erases the originals.
-First of all none of the characters in the remake were from the original series. No Tommy Jarvis, no Steve Christy, no Crazy Ralph and no Shelley. So none of them were erased.
-The year of the flash back set in 1980. They didn't change the date to the late 90's or early 2000's to update the story. They were referring back to 1980, the year of the original "Friday the 13th".
-The crazy lady with the Dog in F13 (2009) referred to Jason when she said that Jason doesn't like anyone going into his woods. It could be argued that she was referring to the killing from the original series.
Now on to Jason. People can argue that Jason was more deteriorated and that he lost his fingers at the end of "Freddy vs Jason." Well going by what was said in "Jason X", Jason has amazing regenerative powers. That is why he was being studied in the lab and not destroyed. With that in mind, Jason had over 5 years to regenerate after the battle with Freddy in 2003.
The only scene that can challenge my theory is the quick flashback of Alice decapitating Mrs. Voorhees. But that could have been more of a symbolic recap compared to it actually happening.
So after explaining my evidence, I personally see "Friday the 13th" the real "Friday the 13th Part 12'! Which means that the next Jason movie will be "Friday the 13th Part 13" and my childhood dream will become a reality!
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