Episode 174 - Jason X: LIVE!

[Cam Bert 8145]

I think the computer system that regenerates body parts just made an educated guess based of the body matter. The hockey mask is essentially a part of Jason at this point, so that figured in the regeneration, hence the armor.

While your theory is sound the giant blast he takes to the head basically destroys the entire mask which begs the question how did the bugs know he was wearing a mask? There is a little left but if these things can figure out from a tiny scrap that he was wearing some 400 year old form of protection, why didn't they rebuild that instead of uploading him?

[Cam Bert 8145]

 

So this has never been my favorite horror franchise, but I've seen each one so many times I have a soft spot for them.* I’ve honestly always felt that you're supposed to sympathize with Jason. Unlike serial murdered and possible molester Freddy, or super messed up cult kid Michael Myers, Jason was just a happy, developmentally challenged boy who went swimming at the summer camp his mother worked at and drowned because the teens who were supposed to be watching him were too busy necking to notice. Now, his mother going HAM and killing the first group of teens/twentysomethings to come back to the camp to reopen it was definitely not okay. And how his mother’s death caused his unrested soul to enter the body of a fully-grown undead man will always be a mystery, but he was kind of protecting that lake from further needless child death. He always went after the teens and adults, who with very few exceptions were lousy people. I think in the sixth installment there’s a big to do over him possibly hurting the children at the camp, but other than scaring them I don’t remember him hurting any.** And he was pretty lukewarm to Tommy in the fourth movie, it was only when Tommy aged up that he became an issue. And Child Jason pops up numerous times to help the Final Teens and be at odds with Adult Hell Vessel Jason. I think in his own weird way Jason was making sure no child ever died again on Crystal Lake, and in his mind adults and teens would always be a threat.

 

*Not for this one though, it totally looks and sounds like a budget CW show and I was happy to hear Paul agree.

**I could be wrong; it’s been a while since I’ve seen that one.

It's been awhile since I watched them all as well, but you're right. From what I recall after being resurrected at the start of VII his body was buried elsewhere and he's making his way back to Camp Crystal Lake which has been renamed and reopened. So at the end when he shows up at camp there are kids there and they are scared but he is clearly going after the camp counselors.

 

Now if I remember correctly everybody thought he drowned but he survived and started living in the woods as a hermit. Then as an adult he witnesses his mother being murdered and then we get the Jason we know. The whole kid at jumping out of the water is revealed in the beginning of Part 2 to be in her head. Basically his MO really is protect the area around the lake from teenagers and to some extent adults. Who can blame him though? I mean he was picked on by them, nearly drowned by them and he didn't know his mom was murdering them so to him they also murdered his mom. Who can blame him for acting out?

[Cameron H. 23786]

You know what’s an insane profession to choose if your goal in life is to be a “rich sonuvabitch?” College professor.

 

Also, when Doig runs down the absurd list of ways that they’ve tried to execute Jason, the professor gives her, quite possibly, the most ridiculous response I've ever heard. Since nothing could kill him, she tells him that they decided to put him into cryostasis, to which he casually responds “seems sensible.” Really, bro? You don’t have, like, any questions you might want to ask? Like maybe, “Holy Crap, that’s insane! Why couldn’t he be killed” or even a “What IS Jason?”

[RyanSz 3140]

It's been awhile since I watched them all as well, but you're right. From what I recall after being resurrected at the start of VII his body was buried elsewhere and he's making his way back to Camp Crystal Lake which has been renamed and reopened. So at the end when he shows up at camp there are kids there and they are scared but he is clearly going after the camp counselors.

 

Now if I remember correctly everybody thought he drowned but he survived and started living in the woods as a hermit. Then as an adult he witnesses his mother being murdered and then we get the Jason we know. The whole kid at jumping out of the water is revealed in the beginning of Part 2 to be in her head. Basically his MO really is protect the area around the lake from teenagers and to some extent adults. Who can blame him though? I mean he was picked on by them, nearly drowned by them and he didn't know his mom was murdering them so to him they also murdered his mom. Who can blame him for acting out?

Jason is meant to be more sympathetic than the other killers in various franchises, solely for starting as a handicapped kid who was thought killed via negligence. He was pushed into the lake but bullies while the two counselors were meant to be watching him were off having sex, causing Pamela Voorhees to snap. He someone survived and because he was a model camper, as shown in the reboot, he thrived in the wilderness with the survival skills he learned at camp, only to see his mother decapitated. He then takes up her cause of seeing the park stay closed so that nothing like what happened to him happens to another child.

 

As for the story of Kane Hodder and the kid, I can almost guarantee you that him charging 20 bucks was him being incredibly nice to the kid. In many instances at these conventions the biggest names are always paid in advance, so any money they are charging for autographs or photos are price set by the company who hired them in order to recoup their cost and make some profit hopefully. And at a horror convention, Hodder would be THE top-tier name, so he would cost probably 75-100 for a photo/autograph combo. When I met Robert Englund at one of these I think I paid 85 for a combo with him, so for the kid to get a photo with the most famous actor to play Jason Voorhees at 20 dollars was definitely a nice guy thing on Hodder's part.

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

Jason is meant to be more sympathetic than the other killers in various franchises, solely for starting as a handicapped kid who was thought killed via negligence. He was pushed into the lake but bullies while the two counselors were meant to be watching him were off having sex, causing Pamela Voorhees to snap. He someone survived and because he was a model camper, as shown in the reboot, he thrived in the wilderness with the survival skills he learned at camp, only to see his mother decapitated. He then takes up her cause of seeing the park stay closed so that nothing like what happened to him happens to another child.

 

As for the story of Kane Hodder and the kid, I can almost guarantee you that him charging 20 bucks was him being incredibly nice to the kid. In many instances at these conventions the biggest names are always paid in advance, so any money they are charging for autographs or photos are price set by the company who hired them in order to recoup their cost and make some profit hopefully. And at a horror convention, Hodder would be THE top-tier name, so he would cost probably 75-100 for a photo/autograph combo. When I met Robert Englund at one of these I think I paid 85 for a combo with him, so for the kid to get a photo with the most famous actor to play Jason Voorhees at 20 dollars was definitely a nice guy thing on Hodder's part.

 

Or he could have said, “Great costume young child! You look adorable. How’s your day going?” and maybe waived the fee or covered it himself....

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

It's possible that in this movie, every character apart from Alexa Doig were actually really realistic sex cyborgs/robots that have revolted, killed off humanity and continued civilization, just made it a whole lot sexier. Would explain why they're so horny and wear such little clothes, all part of their programming.

Any theories on why the ants rebuilt him like that? And it raises some questions about whether they were not only able to rebuild the brain, but also the memories. Or does Jason just have a murdery brain? Nature vs Nurture.

As for the ants, I just didn’t understand why all the future people weren’t upgraded like that. What makes Jason so special that he gets to be a cyborg?

Could it be that the nanobugs rebuilt him as a cyborg because, as dickhoff suggested, everyone in the future has already been replaced by sexbots, and therefore rebuilt Jason out of metal because the machine was calibrated to rebuild sexbots?

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

 

 

Could it be that the nanobugs rebuilt him as a cyborg because, as dickhoff suggested, everyone in the future has already been replaced by sexbots, and therefore rebuilt Jason out of metal because the machine was calibrated to rebuild sexbots?

 

This makes sense to me.

[jimkiler 84]

I'm pretty sure the sleeping bag kill in this movie is a reference to Friday the 13th Part VII, where he kills a girl by bashing her against a tree while she's in a sleeping bag.

 

The sleeping bag kill was my favorite part. I love sleeping bags. More people should have premarital sex or be killed in them.

 

From IMDB:

 

Too bad HDTGM did not realize this was a funny scene that poked fun of the whole Friday the 13th franchise and was the kind of joke that i would expect in a good movie like Scream. Without the context of watching the prior movies where Jason preyed upon horny teenagers this scene was lost on our favorite podcast hosts. It really is the only good thing in a bad movie and if the writer never watched any prior movies i highly doubt he would have been the one to write that scene in the script.

[Cam Bert 8145]

The ship they are on, Grendel, is described by the professor as a "catamaran type transport vessel" but I ask you this what are they transporting? Are they just transporting people? There are a half dozen or so soldiers, a half dozen or so students, one professor, one engineer and one pilot. Seems small for such a large ship. Also why are the soldiers even there? They didn't go down on the planet with them for protection, so are they just hitching a ride? Is space piracy a thing they need to protect against? Also why does a transport vessel have numerous medical labs and armories?

[Cameron H. 23786]

It seems insane to me, that in the future, humanity will have the ingenuity and wherewithal to develop a self-sustaining space station like Solaris, yet not have a single contingency plan in place to protect itself from “deadly spaceship collisions.” Honestly, if a spaceship the size of Grendel is getting too close, and doesn't show any signs of slowing down, they should be well within their rights to blow that shit right out of the space-sky.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I'd note that the new eps are never ad-free (as promised) but that doesn't really bother me.

 

Unless something has changed, I believe "ad-free" has only ever applied to the archived episodes. New episodes still have ads for however long they are up before they are put behind the paywall - 6 months or whatever. Being a subscriber helps keep the back catalog available, but Earwolf still needs to generate some ad revenue to keep their operation going. At least, that’s how I understand it.

[Herself 107]

Not related to the movie, but did anyone else catch Zouks on The Good Place this week?

[muttnik 476]

You guys are right, as soon as I read 'survived, lived as a hermit, was bullied' a lot more came flooding back.

[RyanSz 3140]

Or he could have said, “Great costume young child! You look adorable. How’s your day going?” and maybe waived the fee or covered it himself....

He could have, but I've seen the choke hold some of these companies like Wizard Con have on the guests in terms of how business is conducted with these signings, especially the marquee people. They usually have two, if not three, workers with the performer making sure that the money is collected and enforcing any set rules. I got an autograph from Michael Rooker this year at a convention and since he was the big name as Guardians 2 just came out, he had two Wizard Con workers behind the table with him along with two outside the line confirming that everyone had already pre-bought their ticket to get an autograph and that there was nothing else being asked of him while meeting him, like getting a photo with him there, as they had a photo op session with him set up later in the day. Since these people are contracted with these promoters, they usually don't want to rock the boat in fear of losing out on guaranteed paydays.

 

Another explanation is he could have been like Michael Rooker was and been completely hungover and just not wanting to deal with people for an extended period of time.

[Cameron H. 23786]

He could have, but I've seen the choke hold some of these companies like Wizard Con have on the guests in terms of how business is conducted with these signings, especially the marquee people. They usually have two, if not three, workers with the performer making sure that the money is collected and enforcing any set rules. I got an autograph from Michael Rooker this year at a convention and since he was the big name as Guardians 2 just came out, he had two Wizard Con workers behind the table with him along with two outside the line confirming that everyone had already pre-bought their ticket to get an autograph and that there was nothing else being asked of him while meeting him, like getting a photo with him there, as they had a photo op session with him set up later in the day. Since these people are contracted with these promoters, they usually don't want to rock the boat in fear of losing out on guaranteed paydays.

 

Another explanation is he could have been like Michael Rooker was and been completely hungover and just not wanting to deal with people for an extended period of time.

 

I know I mentioned money in my post, but it really isn't about the money. If he has to charge everyone $5 or $1,000 really isn't he point. The point is, this wasn't some 30-year-old fanboy in a hockey mask trying to get a free autograph or otherwise pestering him. It was a toddler. Whatever other rules this convention had, I'm sure he could say, "Cute kid" or, at the very least, "hello."

 

Obviously the character Jason (for whatever reason) meant a lot to this kid. My eldest son is 5 years old and loves Spider-man. If he saw Tom Holland, and Holland was a dismissive asshole to him, he would be fucking crushed. He would have no idea why his hero was demanding money from him. He doesn't understand the business side of running a convention or the behind-the-scenes politics. Nor should anyone expect him to.

 

So, yeah, the guy might have had a contract that forced him to demand money from a three year old; maybe he was having a bad day; or maybe he was hungover - which might not be professional, but within his rights. Either way, though, it sounds like he was being a real dickhead to a kid who just wanted to impress his hero.

 

Bottom line: he might have had his reasons, but whatever they were, they don't excuse him for being a shitheel to a kid barely old enough to speak in full sentences.

[SeaSkunk 212]

It seems insane to me that in the future humanity will have the ingenuity and wherewithal to develop a self-sustaining space station like Solaris, yet not have a single contingency plan in place to protect itself from “deadly spaceship collisions.” Honestly, if a spaceship the size of Grendel is getting too close, and doesn't show any signs of slowing down, they should be well within their rights to blow that shit right out of the space-sky.

 

I wondered about that too. It seems like there would be some sort of auto docking protocol or accident avoidance on the spaceship (like self driving cars are aiming for). Or even having people dock off to the side so that if they miss, they don't careen into the middle of a space station and cause catastrophic failures/explosions.

 

I would argue that the same thing could happen today with a jet liner crashing into an airport or other building. But these people are in, what I assume, is a somewhat moveable space station (with 3 dimensions to take advantage of when maneuvering).

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

I wondered about that too. It seems like there would be some sort of auto docking protocol or accident avoidance on the spaceship (like self driving cars are aiming for). Or even having people dock off to the side so that if they miss, they don't careen into the middle of a space station and cause catastrophic failures/explosions.

 

I would argue that the same thing could happen today with a jet liner crashing into an airport or other building. But these people are in, what I assume, is a somewhat moveable space station (with 3 dimensions to take advantage of when maneuvering).

 

The difference between an airport and a space station, though, is that if you survive the initial blast at an airport, you're still on Earth. I think if your very survival depends on a thing not blowing up, a little extra vigilance to prevent it from doing so might be in order.

 

Then again, considering the general horniness of all the characters in this movie, the people of Solaris were probably too busy doing it to even consider their own self-preservation.

[HotSaucerman 2051]

Based on Jason's reaction to Paul reading the synopses of the the previous Friday the 13th films, it makes me wish they would do some bonus episodes where they watch all the Friday the 13th movies and discuss them. Maybe like for Stitcher Premium or something.

[JustinWilliamRettke 12]

Paul --

 

I hope this makes it into Corrections & Omissions

 

Rob's story about Kane Hodder's behavior at the horror convention sounded pretty harsh. I'm guessing that Kane was having an exceptionally bad day. I worked with Kane on a low budget feature and one day he saved my ass --

 

We were filming on location in a sketchy part of Los Angeles. While we were preparing to shoot, I was standing on the sidewalk with other crew members. A crazy, intoxicated person ran his bicycle into me. Then he jumped up and tried to fight me. The rest of the cast and crew ran away, leaving me all alone to deal with this dangerous lunatic. Everyone except for Kane Hodder. I felt him step up right behind me. He had my back. The lunatic kept screaming in my face for a minute, but finally realized that he was not going to win in a physical altercation against myself and Kane. So he left cursing and screaming. I am certain that it would have come to physical violence if Kane had not been there. He didn't know me very well and I was not a high-ranking member of the crew. He saw that I needed help and came to my aid when everyone else had abandoned me.

 

For the rest of the shoot, Kane shared a great sense of humor and amazing stories from a legendary stunt career. I just wanted to share this story to give a little more perspective on Kane Hodder as a person.

 

I love the show. Keep up the great work.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

I don't think anyone mentioned that all the spacecraft in the movie are named after literary monsters. The main ship they're on is called "The Grendel," which is the monster from Beowulf. Incidently, Beowulf kills Grendel by ripping her arms off, which kinda parallels the way the ship is "dismembered" in the way they blow it apart piece by piece:

 

Plus Grendel's mother is as horrific and deadly as her son, just like Jason's.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

The podcast compares the revived Jason to "Bebop or Rocksteady with a little bit of Krang"... I was surprised that in throwing out comparisons to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mutant villains, there's no direct mention of what would seem the most obvious parallel...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzxcnfgpaS0

...a masked, blade-brandishing main antagonist who has apparently been killed off, only to be revived in a bulked-up, stronger and more metal form by excessive application of futuristic technology: Shredder's reincarnation as Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze!

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

Based on Jason's reaction to Paul reading the synopses of the the previous Friday the 13th films, it makes me wish they would do some bonus episodes where they watch all the Friday the 13th movies and discuss them. Maybe like for Stitcher Premium or something.

 

Although they wouldn't have the funniest part of that bit, Jason being caught off guard at the first two Friday the 13th movies not having the hockey-masked killer popular memory has retroactively imprinted on the entire series. Which is well-known for not being well-known as the basis for a famous scene in Scream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1M3w_o7cOc

 

Plus it's deliciously ironic that Gene Siskel deliberately gave away the ending of the original movie in his review, since he broke spoiler etiquette to reveal a plot point that is surprising for completely different reasons than he assumes:

[vnth 0]

Oh no. Farmer, the writer guy who rob joked about quitting, cant find work anymore and is now struggling with homelessness. I don't feel like I can relisten to the ep again now

[Cameron H. 23786]

Oh no. Farmer, the writer guy who rob joked about quitting, cant find work anymore and is now struggling with homelessness. I don't feel like I can relisten to the ep again now

 

I’m not sure what his situation is like now, but according to an article he wrote in 2015 , he’s come through it all right. Of course, as a writer you always want everything you write to be well-received, but when you’re writing the 10th movie of a 20-year-old Horror franchise, you know you’re not exactly writing Shakespeare. If he agreed to write this movie - with all its silly, tongue-in-cheek jokes - I’m sure he would get that. He might even appreciate HDTGM's take on it.

[JonathanVik 37]

Holy crap, they made four novels based off of Jason X. They aren't cheap either. They are at least 50+ on eBay each.