Friday the 13th Shares Universe With Evil Dead

Friday the 13th has enjoyed a crossover with Freddy Kruger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, but the slasher property has long been prepped for a tie in to The Evil Dead. Those diehard fans who study the horror franchises might be aware of this fact already, but many were non the wiser until filmmaker Adam Marcus spoke to Horror Geek Life this week.

Having helmed the 1993 installment Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Marcus wanted to delve into the antagonist Jason Voorhees and find out how he transitioned from a frightened young boy to an unstoppable killing machine that always comes back to life. Plenty of fan theories have circulated surrounding these supernatural powers, but now Marcus has categorically clarified why the slasher re-emerges time and time again.

Deal With The Devil as Mother's Sins Keep Jason Alive

Jason Goes to Hell

Thought to be the final Friday the 13th until the character was rebooted, Marcus used a scene in the 1993 film to answer the unresolved mystery. It would involve something called the Necronomicon, a.k.a. The Book of the Dead.

"(I) wanted to create a mythology for Jason in this movie, because it had driven me nuts as a viewer. She (Pamela Voorhees) makes a deal with the devil by reading from the Necronomicon to bring back her son. This is why Jason isn't Jason. He's Jason plus The Evil Dead, and now I can believe that he can go from a little boy that lives in a lake, to a full grown man in a couple of months, to Zombie Jason, to never being able to kill this guy. That, to me, is way more interesting as a mashup, and (Sam) Raimi loved it!"

Sami Raimi would write the script for The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II before writing and acting as an executive producer for an episode of Ash vs Evil Dead. While that affirmation was a positive, there was no way that the studio could merge the properties.

"It's not like I could tell New Line my plan to include The Evil Dead, because they don't own The Evil Dead. So it had to be an Easter egg, and I did focus on it...there's a whole scene that includes the book, and I hoped people would get it and could figure out that's what I'm up to. So yes, in my opinion, Jason Voorhees is a Deadite. He's one of The Evil Dead. It absolutely is canon."

Ash Will Keep Clear of Freddy vs. Jason Beef

Freddy vs Jason vs Ash

Bruce Campbell reaffirmed that stance Marcus in 2016, with The Evil Dead star pulling the plug on a crossover concept.

"I'll be honest with you. I'm not real interested in crossovers," he admitted. "One of the main reasons why Ash vs. Jason vs. Freddy did not come to pass is because we couldn't control any other character other than Ash. That felt like a creatively bankrupt way to go. Not to mention, you're splitting the proceeds three ways with partners you might not want."

Source: Horror Geek Life, MovieWeb

113 Shares

Comments