OMAR AZIMI

After the release of Halloween in 1978, many producers and studios sought to capture that same success with slasher films. One such example is Friday the 13th (1980). The film follows Mrs. Voorhees as she murders camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake, avenging her young son Jason, who drowned at the same lake nearly two decades earlier. The film spawned ten sequels, in addition to a crossover film with Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) and a 2009 remake. In 2018, a script titled 13 Fanboy was written by Deborah Voorhees (Friday the 13th: Part V) and Joel Paul Reisig.

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The film is about an obsessed fan who stalks his favorite actors from the Friday the 13th franchise. 13 Fanboy began production in locations in New Mexico and Los Angeles, CA, and many fans took part in its production. Funds were raised through investors as well as through Indiegogo. The film was released in select theaters, digitally, and on DVD in October 2021 and starred many franchise favorites (playing fictionalized versions of themselves) and horror veteran actress Dee Wallace (Cujo, The Howling, Rob Zombie's Halloween, etc.) Although 13 Fanboy featured many Friday the 13th alumni, it does not have any direct connection to the Jason Voorhees mythology. Still, it manages to pay homage to the franchise in a number of creative ways.

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Practical Effects Vs. CGI Effects

The Friday the 13th series is well known for its use of practical effects versus CGI technology. This is thanks in no small part to special effects master Tom Savini, who would also return in Part IV to provide more realistic effects for the franchise.

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When 13 Fanboy began production, Voorhees vowed that the film would use no CGI and use only practical effects, similar to the way it was used for the series' past films in the '80s. Norah Hewitt, who signed on as the special effects artist, was recommended for the project by Savini himself, having been one of his students. In addition, Hewitt won the ninth season of Faceoff, which pits the best practical and special effects artists against each other.

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The Killer

In the original Friday the 13th, the killer was revealed to be Pamela Voorhees, the mother of Jason Voorhees, who had drowned at Camp Crystal Lake in 1957. Flashing forward to the present day in 1980, Mrs. Voorhees murders the camp counselors as revenge for her son's death, claiming the previous counselors hadn't paid any attention. Friday the 13th: Part 2 reveals that adult Jason, who is now avenging his mother's death, has kept his mother's decapitated head as a shrine alongside his victims.

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The killer in 13 Fanboy explains that as a child, he was locked away in his parents' basement. The only entertainment and company he had were the complete Halloween and Friday the 13th boxsets he would watch repeatedly. He would also write to the celebrities who never responded to him. As a result, the killer used this as his motive to begin his obsessive killing spree.

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The Final Girl(s)

The Friday the 13th series has seen many final girls throughout the films. All are portrayed as strong women who are eventually forced to fight back against and kill Mrs. Voorhees or Jason. The final girls in the original series have included: Adrienne King (Part I), Amy Steel (Part II), Dana Kimmell (Part III), Kimberly Beck (Part IV), Melanie Kinnaman (Part V), Jennifer Cooke (Part VI), Lar Park Lincoln (Part VII), Jensen Daggett (Part VIII), and Kari Keegan (Part IX).

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13 Fanboy begins with Deborah and her granddaughter Kelsie as Deborah realizes they're being stalked in the woods. The killer charges and murders Deborah as Kelsie witnesses it happen. Years later, an adult Kelsie (Hayley Reece Greenbauer), and her friend Dee Wallace (serving as an honorary grandmother) are still dealing with Deborah's death. After a series of murders leaves several Friday the 13th celebrities dead, Kelsie and Dee are forced to defend themselves against the killer and become final girls.

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Killer Trivia Questions

When Tracie Savage is captured from her UCLA classroom, the killer ties her to a chair and introduces a trivia game in which there are ten questions related to the franchise.

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If Tracie can get seven questions correct, the killer will allow her to live; if not, she will die. Questions asked included Friday the 13ths Part II, V, VIII, and IX.

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Friday the 13th Alumni

13 Fanboy reunited many of the franchise's alumni, who play fictionalized versions of themselves. Whether onscreen or referenced, alumni in the film included: Kane Hodder (Parts VII, VIII, IX, and X), Savage (Part III), C.J. Graham (Part VI), Judie Aronson (Part IV), Ron Sloan (Part V), Carol Locatell (Part V), Tiffany Helm (Part V), Lincoln (Part VII), Jennifer Banko (Part VII), and Voorhees (Part V),

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Corey Feldman (Part IV and a cameo in Part V) rounded out the cast as Mike Merryman, a creepy film producer. Although not a franchise alum, Wallace is a horror legend in her own right and joined the cast in a lead role. Further, many cast members played a significant role in the film's production by serving as producers. Many franchise fans also got the chance to play small parts in the movie and play a substantial part in its production, and credit the cast for being so welcoming and generous with their time in getting to know everyone.

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"Death Is An Art"

Throughout the Friday the 13th films, Jason Voorhees and his mother have been known for their killing methods and the elaborate way they stage their victims' bodies. For example, in the 1980 original, Mrs. Voorhees murders Bill (Harry Crosby) and pins him to a door with arrows, leaving a horrified Alice (King) to discover his body. In another example, in Friday the 13th: Part VI, Jason boards an RV and murders Nikki (Darcy DeMoss) by shoving her face into the bathroom wall and plunging a hunting knife into Cort's (Tom Fridley) head, which causes the RV to flip over and crash. Jason emerges from the RV unscathed.

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13 Fanboy continues this tradition in several of its death scenes and explains that "death is an art." Just as Jason staged his victims' bodies throughout the series, the killer in this movie does just the same. As Jennifer and Kane battle against the killer, the killer utters this line in one scene. A bit of trivia...in a dramatic scene between Kane and Jennifer, the story that Kane tells about his father is genuine.

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The Musical Score

Composer Harry Manfredini is responsible for much of the franchise's score. In the original film, Manfredini chose to have the scoring play only when the killer was present; and have the score cut out right before a scare to make it more effective for the audience. Inspired by some of Palmer's dialogue, Manfredini created the now infamous sound, "Ki ki ki, ma ma ma," based on her dialogue, "Kill her mommy."

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In 13 Fanboy, composer Tamer Ciray sought to capture that same spirit as composed by Manfredini. Much of the music in the film is structured not to overpower the story and is only used to build anticipation.

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Conventions

Like many other horror films, stars of the franchise can frequently be seen at various conventions. Some popular conventions include Texas Frightmare, Monster-Mania, Monsterpalooza, and smaller, more locally-based conventions.

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The convention scene is honored and featured in 13 Fanboy. A scene in the film features many of the Friday 13th stars, as well as Wallace, in a convention setting as they greet fans and sign autographs, which also features cameos by many of the series' supporters and fans. In one particular sequence, a fan revealed to be Vincente DiSanti, is seen carrying a machete, a callback to Jason Voorhees' iconic weapon.

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Tracie Savage And The Blue Bikini

In 1982, Tracie Savage starred in Friday the 13th: Part III as Debbie, a pregnant young woman traveling to Higgins Haven for the weekend with her friends Chris (Dana Kimmell), her boyfriend Andy (Jeffrey Rogers), Shelly (Larry Zerner), Vera (Catherine Parks), as well as Chuck (David Katims) and Chili (Rachel Howard). Chris references being attacked a few years ago by a deformed man, which prompted her to leave her home at Higgins Haven. Debbie famously wore a blue bikini and quickly became a fan favorite.

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In 13 Fanboy, when Tracie, wearing a blue outfit, is finished teaching, she opens her drawers in her classroom only to find a blue bikini placed within as a reference to Debbie in Part III.