Spoiler alarm: This story contains spoilers from “Sweet Revenge”, who are now streaming on YouTube.
“Sweet Revenge” could be the biggest short film of the year.
It brings Jason Voorhees back, the Slasher icon in the bloody heart of the franchise “Friday the 13th”. The murderer has been in an officially licensed film since 2009 more Michael Bay, which was produced by Michael Bay. Under the leadership of Horror Inc. and Jason Universe, the hockey masked Miller is again in the remarked remake “wrong night, a deadly night” regero set for this winter.
Nelson answered burning questions to bring Jason back from the dead, including the way the short film could go into a feature, how it was able to creatively integrate the sponsor Angry Orchard and what a new Jason actor brought into the project.
How did your participation in this project come about?
Judson Scott and Ryan Tourk at Atomic Monster and Blumhouse threw my name in the mix when Sheri Conn at Horror, Inc. searched for options for directors for the project. I was on the phone and we started talking and they said: “We are looking for an attitude. Do you have any ideas?” I thought: “absolutely”. I was just doing another film at the time, but I had to try. You can't reject Jason!
The idea was pretty quick. I love these films. How can I keep the mood, especially the first four, what my favorites are? How can I bring this feeling when you watch these films for the first time? I wanted to do this again: keep mythology, keep where Jason comes from everyone. I didn't want to restart anything, but what if we imagine a new character that may give us a little insight into the way of Jason could Was? I wrote the script and we have put together the thing in pre -production, shot it in seven days, the contribution was 3 1/2 weeks and it comes out now.
The Angry Orchard Integration plays in the film in an unexpected way. How could you do that?
It was not the decisive factor for everything, but one of the things I tried was: “How can I integrate a wink and an allusion to the fact that this is an angry orchard and that you were great support for the project? How can we do it without the usual: a group of young people drink angry orchard, is drunk and kills it?” Since the main character Eva is, meet this guy and of course he has an apple garden. She takes a bite of the apple, which begins. Later you have the apple slicer in the face.
For me it was less about pushing the product open, and more about the feeling of being there and an angry orchard is the essence instead of being the core, the thing right in the middle of the frame. I think Jason was the front from both sides. Jason was what we wanted to point out that we bring and represent the best possible way. Then introduce a new character and see how it works and how people react.
You are a tribute to the first film “Friday, the 13th”, in a scene in which Jason jumps out of the water, and you have some subtle nods for the other films with wardrobe, score, etc. How did you determine the border between homage and new ideas?
The first was that I wanted to make sure it was modern. I didn't want to make a period of time because I felt that I didn't want to call it a simple way out, but that could have been very easy: “Yes, we make a time. We put it again in the 80s and will do Jason again.” For me it was more about some of the wardrobe, which is inspired by some other characters in the first film: Annie's shoes, the striped shirt with the denim for Dana, is inspired, which is inspired by some of the other characters. It is only the visual overall tone and the color and the lighting and the way we placed the camera, which tried to create the feeling of the old school.
Also the music that I have to call Matt Compton and Michelangelo Rodriguez to give the film such a great soundtrack and try to grasp the mood that these films had. It was important that it felt his own, but also nodded this original and said: “That's why we are here.” For me, these first four films created a complete feeling of films in the 80s. So if I could get something in this route in this mood, we could get started.
How did you choose Schuyler White as New Jason?
I think to start fresh – especially with a new idea like this – only made sense. I had already worked with Skyler on “Wrong Turn” and “V/H/S/85”, and we had such a great relationship. He is a world-famous stunt performer and coordinator with 16 world records for Body Burns. And since he was such a fan of the original franchise and knew what he could do physically and he 6'5 ”is the perfect size. He was not a 7-footed big, huge Jason, bodybuilder Jason. You could see that there was a real man for him who was an important part of our Jason.
He would coordinate and really help with our actors, some of whom were also stunt actors. That was also very helpful. But he was able to push the borders in a safe way so that he played Jason and a stunt person and coordinator with other stunt people who were actually actors. So we didn't have to switch off much. To be honest, he was the whole package.
Did you think about what a version of this film would look like in length?
I have an idea of where I would love the story to follow it. It is not really my hands, whether it brings horror Inc. and Jason Universe or not. But if I was given the opportunity … Holy crap, age. I would grab it immediately. One of the funny things I often play with is that we have seen Jason on this revenge price for so long. What does it look like when he meets someone like him? Not Freddy Krueger, no girl with mental forces, but like someone like him who came back. What does that look like and what kind of shenanigans and what kind of history unfolds between the two?
I think you keep the entire mythology intact and move the story especially for Jason. They present a new character, but then Jason meets someone who is different. The story can go beyond killing teenagers. Our character in central history has undergone a transformation and now it has to deal with it. Not only that, she has to deal with this other thing, this guy, this incredible strength, this Jason. The story is limitless.
In the film, the kills felt very retro Jason as if they were using the engine out of the boat. But the gore felt more “violent” with modern slashers. How did you find the desired Gore level to hit the right tone?
They bring a good point with something like “violent nature”, because I think they have to match something at that time. They have to show them that they do business, and this is a film that they know that he means business. But what was also important to me was that you can look back on these old films and, yes, there was blood, but they didn't always show everything or they would be cut away quickly. Even if the boat engine kills kill, we see a first cut and then suddenly we cut that someone likes screaming, and then we are over the shoulder where it is out of focus. We don't immediately see it in graphic details. You see the real thing that grind your face, but the face is gone. It is only this soup, basically just enough to feed this gore dog.
These films did that so well. It was a balance. It was ensured that we bring in the good modern gore for genre fans and at the same time got the taste of these original films and could find out when it was necessary to really show the graphic details.
With regard to the title, it is only “sweet revenge” – no “Jason” or “Friday, the 13th”. Was that intentionally at your end?
To be honest, it was what I called the script and that is what we recorded. It should be something that can not only live alone, but also in the universe of “Friday, the 13th” can live.
Did you even deal with the Prequel series “Crystal Lake”?
No, I don't. To be honest, the most I saw was on the comic-Con when they gave a little look at a glance. I saw as much as everyone else.
Look at “Sweet Revenge” below.