Friday the 13th: Jason's Revenge

Friday the 13th: Jason's Revenge is an 2023 American slasher comedy film directed and produced by Sam Raimi and based on the Friday the 13th franchise created by Victor Miller and Sean S. Cunnigham. The film was written by Tom McLoughlin (writer and director of Jason Lives) and stars Lar Park Lincoln, Jared Padalecki, Thom Mathews, Finn Wolfhard, and Kane Hodder back as Jason Voorhees after Jason X. Lincoln, Padalecki, and Mathews all reprise their roles from Part 7, the reboot, and Part 6, respectively. The film follows Jason Voorhees as he still haunts the town of Forest Green. Together, Tina Shepherd, Tommy Jarvis, and Clay Miller, who've faced Jason in the past, tries to stop him once and for all. Meanwhile, the film also focuses on Richard Everett and Bobby Tempton are reflecting on the past when they pushed Jason into the lake back in 1957.

During the Friday the 13th lawsuit between Miller and Cunnigham, McLoughlin wrote a script under the working title Jason Never Dies, as an direct sequel to Part 6. McLoughlin showed the script to Miller and Miller greenlit the script. Miller is the executive producer for the film. Sam Raimi was announced to direct in November 2021 and filming began between November 2022 to February 2023. Many surviving characters from the previous films was announced to be starring, including Tommy Jarvis from Parts 4, 5, and 6. Despite the 2009 Friday the 13th film being a re-imagining, Clay Miller appears in this film. This is also the first Friday the 13th film to be released since the 2009 film. Many elements from the previous film are mentioned, such as how Jason died in Part 4, how he killed Alice Hardy in Part 2, and when Pamela Voorhees is still in Jason's head. The film also has comedy like Part 6.

Jason's Revenge was released on May 30, 2023 and received positive reviews, a rare thing for the Friday the 13th series considering its infamous negative reception. It grossed $81.4 million at the box-office against a budget of $50 million, making it the second highest grossing film in the franchise.

Synopsis
Tina Shepherd, Tommy Jarvis, and Clay Miller were all encounters of Jason Voorhees. After hearing about several murders in town (most notably in the forest), all three of them think that it is Jason who is causing the murders. The two people who pushed Jason into a lake in 1957 are still thinking about the choices they made when they pushed Jason and the consequences that started after Camp Crystal Lake such as the fires, murders, etc. Meanwhile, a new college student is accused of killing someone and must enlist help from the trio to prove his innocence.

Plot
In 2017, an 16 year old named James Krotter and his gang of bullies are shown bullying an boy in high school. James kicks the boy in the head. The principal spots this and sends him to detention where the principal calls his parents. The principal exits the room. James, who is mad about this, uses the chair to break the window and sneak out all the way into the forest. While he's walking in the forest, he meets Jason Voorhees who James punches in the stomach, thinking that its an costume someone made to fool with him. Jason grabs him by his arms and crushes his head. Jason puts James' body into a large bag and buries him in a forest, where Jason lives in a shack.

An year later, an now 60 year old Tommy Jarvis reads an newspaper about the one year anniversary of James' disappearance in the forest. He thinks that Jason had something to do with it. Tommy reports it to the police and describes Jason as an "tall 6-foot man wearing a hockey mask who will kill everyone who gets in his way." Tina Shepherd, an officer at the station with telekinesis remembers Jason as the man who she encountered 17 years ago in Crystal Lake. The police excuse Jarvis thinking he's crazy and Tommy exits the station. Tommy than meets Clay Miller, someone who heard Jason's story and encountered him. Clay believes Tommy's story about Jason and the both of them want to warn everyone about Jason. Meanwhile in a college dorm, a 21 year old boy named Jake Grenter has a celebration for his first day at college. Jake befriends a couple of troublemakers and finds out they're preparing a party in the forest next week.

Robert Everett and Bobby Tempton have been best friends ever since they met at Camp Crystal Lake in summer of 1957. One thing they'll always remember is when they pushed Jason Voorhees into the lake which had him drowned. Both Robert and Bobby feel bad for drowning Jason and are willing to turn theirselves in. The principal of the highschool goes near the forest at night to smoke on a cigarette. Jason smells the cigarette all the way from his shack and follows the smell to find the principal. Jason finds a machete in the dumpster and chops the principal's head off. Jason throws his head in the dumpster and leaves. The principal's head is later found by a pair of dumpster divers, as well as his body. The discovery is reported on the news and Tommy sees it on his TV. Tommy runs upstairs when he takes pills and goes to bed, having a nightmare about Jason, not getting him off his mind. Tommy is not able to sleep for the entire night.

In the night, Jake is finishing celebrating his first day at college. Before he goes to bed, he calls his parents and brushes his teeth, than going to bed. William, one of the troublemakers sneaks into Jake's room and wakes him up to go into the troublemakers' secret bunker, which they've been hiding all school year. They party there, eat pizza, drink cola, and watch comedic TV shows. They even watch a movie. A documentary about Camp Crystal Lake and all of its disasters, inclduing the day when Jason drowned. Meanwhile, a cop from the station is out looking for crime when he sees Jason carrying an severed arm. The cop follows Jason all the way to his shack where Jason smashes a hammer into his stomach. Tina Shepherd, in her house, thinks that something is wrong. She wakes up her husband Harold but soon goes back to sleep, thinking it was her imagination. Tina and Harold have an 6 year old daughter who is always bullied in school because of her birthmark. The couple are looking forward to transferring her to a private school.

The next morning, Tommy goes for a Saturday jog but bumps into Jake, who is bringing a bag of cupcakes into his dorm room. He explains to Tommy that half of his school will have a party in the forest. Tommy, shocked by this, tells Jake to stay out of the forest, considering all its murders and disappearances. Jake tells Tommy that he learned karate and knows how to defend himself and tells Tommy to stay out of his way. Tommy contacts Tina and tells her to meet him at his house and tells him the address. Tina comes to Tommy's house and Tommy explains his first encounter with Jason. Tommy tells Tina about the party in the forest with a couple of college students and he believes that Jason is in the forest. Tommy also contacts Clay Miller and the trio try to stop people from going in the forest. Two of James' former friends, Jack and Ted are taking a bike ride together in the woods where they hear a sound in the forest. Almost out of the forest, Jack goes to investigate it while Ted agrees to meet him back in town. Jack goes to investigate it and its Jason who jumps out of a tree and crushes him.

Jason takes Jack's body to his shack and hides it in a closet with other bodies while Jason's mother talks to him on his head. Jason hears music from his shack, which is revealed to be in the party. The students at the school have a party in the forest. Jake arrives and brings the cupcakes he promised. Everyone eats the cupcakes, not saving a single one for him. Jake isn’t sad about it and is challenged to eat a whole bag of Takis by his friends, which he does. Meanwhile, Tommy, Tina, and Clay arrive at the party to warn everybody about Jason. One person roasts them, and everybody laughs. They continue the party. Tommy, Tina, and Clay hear a sound in the forest only to see a machete with blood laying on the ground. Tommy panicks, run all the way to town, and brings this evidence to the police station. The police thinks that Tommy is crazy and they send him to an mental institute. Tommy tries to convince the police that Jason is the one who owned the machete, but they still dont believe him.

Robert and Bobby hear this conversation in the station and think about turning theirselves in for killing Jason. Tina, who watches Jason kill a smoker in the woods and realizes Tommy is telling the truth, Tina hatches a plan to break Tommy out of the mental insitution with the help of Clay. In school (or college), during lunchtime, William tells Jake about Stacy DuBrois and Lindane Jones, two of the most popular (and bratty) girls in the school. While getting food, Jake bumps into Stacy and Lindane. Both of them get mad and Stacy tells Jake that his clothes are messy. Mad about this, Jake "accidentally" spills his choclate milk all over Stacy's Gucci sweater. Stacy and Lindane get angry and throw a pizza slice at him. This starts a food fight in the cafeteria. The principal, Doug Sanchez, reports Jake, Stacy, and Lindane to the principal's office. Jason watches this mess through the window. Jake gets a 2 hour detention and returns to his dorm where it is nighttime.

When Jake is sleeping, he gets an knock on his door and gets an envelope on his floor. Jake reads the envelope with it saying "Meet me near forest tonight. Sneak out", though the letter is not signed. Meanwhile, Tina and Clay still hatch a plan to bust Tommy out of the mental institute, where he's been there for an day right now. Jake sneaks out of the school using his window and travels to the parking lot outside near the forest where he sees Lindane with a knife. Lindane forces Jake to follow him to Stacy's car her dad bought her an year ago. Lindane goes to get an rope while Stacy watches Jake. Stacy forces Jake to get in her car bur Jason shows up and grabs Stacy by the head. Jason opens up the car trunk and slams it onto Stacy's head six times before throwing her body on the ground. Jason leaves Jake unharmed and walks back to the forest. Lindane returns and finds Stacy's body on the ground. She jumps to conclusions that Jake is the one who killed her.

The next morning, at Tommy's institute, Tina and Clay enter the institute and asks a person if they can redirect them to Tommy. They get to Tommy, who is all wrapped up in straitjackets. Tina and Clay bust Tommy out which starts a car chase. Tina, Clay, and Tommy lose the police and manage to make it back to Tommy's home. At his house, Tommy shows Tina and Clay a news report in 1957 of when Jason Voorhees drowned on YouTube and shows them a newspaper. He even shows them news reports of the Crystal Lake massacres of Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4. Clay goes to the bathroom and during a thunderstorm, he sees Jason through a window. Clay turns around to see Jason gone. Terrified, Clay leaves the bathroom in fear. The next day, Jake is infamous at school. He was accused by Lindane of killing Stacy when Jason did it. Afterschool, Jake goes out for a walk where he meets Tommy again. Hearing Jake's story and how he got accused, Jake describes Stacy's killer as an "tall man who wears an hockey mask". Hearing this, Tommy knows that Jason's the one who did it and Tommy invites Jake to his house with Tina and Clay. Jake wants Tommy, Tina, and Clay's help to prove his innocence for him to stop being infamous. At their house, they meet Robert and Bobby, who tell them that they knew Jason Voorhees and agree to tell them the backstory of Jason. Tommy, Clay, Tina, and Jake excuse them and enter Tommy's house.

Tommy shows them more evidence while Clay tells Jake about what happened in the bathroom last night. Jake sees Jason standing outside the window and screams, gathering the attention of Tommy, Tina, and Clay. Jason bursts through the window and the four of them run out of Tommy's house with Robert and Bobby hiding behind a bush, seeing Jason in a hockey mask. Robert and Bobby than follow Jason and the four. Jake hears a scream from ontop of the school, and sees that its a girl who is about to be attacked by Lindane holding an machete. Jake rushes to the top of the school roof while Tommy, Tina, and Clay follow him with Jason hot on their trail. Jake gets up to the roof with Lindane holding a knife. Lindane chases Jake with the knife down the stairs and into his dorm room. Jake throws several stuff at Lindane but it doesn't stop her as she vows to avenge Stacy. When Stacy is about to stab Jake, Jason crashes through the wall, places Stacy on the wall, and places her into a chokehold. Tommy, Tina, and Clay try to stop Jason but he is too strong. Tommy, Tina, and Clay exit the room and takes Jake with her. Robert and Bobby arrive and calls out Jason's name two times. Jason stops choking the girl and turns around at them.

As Jason stares closely at Robert and Bobby with Lindane laying down on the floor exhausted, both of them take off their disguises. In his mask, Jason's eyes open up widely, remembering them as the people who pushed him into the lake. Robert and Bobby explain theirselves to Jason, while flashbacks occur in 1957. Jason's mother, Pamela Voorhees, had gotten a job at Camp Crystal Lake as a cook by Mr. and Mrs. Christy and took her son Jason with her. Spending most of his time with his mother, Jason was bullied a lot at camp, people never sat with him during lunchtime, and he was most notably bullied for his appearance and look. While being bullied, Jason was chased to the dock by almost every camper there. He was pushed into the dock by Robert and Bobby when they were young, and Jason drowned in the lake, resulting in the camp's closure. Robert and Bobby deeply apologize to Jason for making him turn out this way and pushing him into the dock. They said they were foolish at the time and not well-mannered. Robert and Bobby both make a promise to him to turn theirselves into the police as long as Jason doesn't harm Lindane and Tommy, Tina, Clay, and Jake. Jason takes off his mask (revealing his face), and tearfully hugs both of them and jumps out of Jake's dorm room window, leaving his hockey mask there. Lindane apologizes to Jake and promises to never bully anyone ever again.

The next morning, several police cars and an ambulance arrive to the school with many students and teachers and staff members watching in horror. Robert and Bobby are arrested and are sentenced to two years in jail while Lindane is taken to an hospital due to her injuries. When several cops search the outside of the school, they do not find Jason's body. It is revealed that Jason is alive when he walks back in the forest to his shack. Jake thanks Tommy, Tina, and Clay for helping him prove his innocence and saving Lindane. All four of them hug each other and all of the students apologize for accusing Jake of killing Stacy.

In a post-credits scene, Jake visits Lindane at the hospital.

Cast

 * Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees
 * Gavin McHugh as Young Jason
 * Thom Mathews as Tommy Jarvis
 * Lar Park Lincoln as Tina Shepherd
 * Finn Wolfhard as Jake Ridington
 * Jared Padalecki as Clay Miller
 * Josie Totah as Lindane Jones
 * Megan Charpentier as Stacy DuBrois
 * Robert Downey Jr. as Robert Everett
 * Jackson Robert Scott as Young Robert
 * Billy Campbell as Bobby Tempton
 * Logan Allen as William
 * Alexander Garfin, Neel Sethi, Gavin Lewis as Troublemakers
 * Ty Simpkins and Max Charles as Dumpster Divers
 * Jason Marsden as Smoker
 * Wyatt Olef as James Krotter
 * Annie Potts as Pamela Voorhees (voice and flashbacks)
 * B.D. Wong as Doctor
 * Micah Revelli as Victim of James