Earlier in the summer we told you about Jason Universe, the brand new, multimedia initiative dedicated to hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees. We later told you a short film, Sweet Revenge, would be out soon, from writer-director Mike P. Nelson, helmer of the upcoming Silent Night, Deadly Night remake. Well now that short film is here. If you’ve craved wanton, gory murder of hormonal young people near a lake, this is the short for you. It’s basically an entire Friday the 13th movie in 15 minutes.
The short is extremely NSFW in the gore department so the video is age-restricted on YouTube. That means we can’t embed it because it wouldn’t play. So here’s the link to it. Enjoy! Jason Universe: Sweet Revenge.
Into the Badlands and V/H/S/99 star Ally Ioannides plays Eve, a young woman with a seemingly loving fiancé off on a trip to ye olde Camp Crystal Lake with her friends. Naturally, very early on, they meet a weirdo local (Chris Carlson) who seems to know more than he’s letting on. Very soon, the world’s best goalie Jason Voorhees (Schuyler White) appears and begins tearing people limb from limb.
What sets this version of events apart (a little bit) is where the title comes in. While running from Jason, Eve learns her fiancé Kyle (Toussaint Morrison) is busy cheating on her with her friend Dana (Natassia Wakey). First of all, as a Kyle, I’m tired of us always getting a bad rap in movies like this. I like to think I’m not a creep. Secondly, this revelation gives Eve the opportunity to enact her own brand of vengeance and seemingly get away with it.
As the first official Jason Voorhees movie since 2009’s Friday the 13th remake, I don’t think this does anything more than remind people Jason exists. Only just last year, In a Violent Nature did something at least somewhat interesting with the idea of a supernaturally unkillable killer. We also have our pick of clever slasher movie riffs. At any rate, it’s enjoyable enough and hopefully portends to a proper return down the road.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.