Friday the 13th: Jason's Revenge

Friday the 13th: Jason's Revenge is an 2023 American slasher comedy film directed 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 him and the consequences that started after Camp Crystal Lake such as the fires, murders, etc.

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.

Richard 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. 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 town, Jack goes to investigate it while Ted agrees to meet him back in town. Ted goes to investigate it and its Jason who jumps out of a tree and crushes him.

Jason takes Ted'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.