Happy Friday the 13th! It's been a while since I've done a video review, but considering what today is, I can't let it go by without doing SOMETHING Friday the 13th related. So let's check out another fan film because apparently, a lawsuit is more deadly than drowning, being dragged to Hell, and fighting a dream demon. Thankfully there are always a lot to choose from, but today let's about...
Rose Blood (2021)
Watch the video review here:
Let's recap first. The lawsuit shut down anything Friday the 13th related way back in 2016. It finally ended with the original movie's writer, Victor Miller rightfully winning. But the problem we're running into now is both sides have to agree on who gets what money for new films. Now that it's played out in court, I think spite is a major motivation for one party and it will be a long time before we see Jason on the big screen again. With the very bad Nightmare on Elm Street remake and annoyingly bad Halloween Kills, the future is not rosy for my favorite movie villains.
Anyways, Rose Blood is a continuation of part VII: The New Blood with Lar Park Lincoln reprising her role as the telekinetic heroine Tina. This one starts with Tina being berated by Dr. Crews, played by the same actor from the original. We all saw him die horribly, well, thanks to the MPAA we sort of saw him die, but he's talking to her in the same doctor-y way from the first movie. I liked it, it was a neat touch showing how much Tina was haunted by her past and the specter of Jason hanging over her head. Dr. Crews was such a slimy secondary antagonist, I liked that they got him to come back with the same actor because they're able to pick up right where they left off.
Then the movie jumps back in the past set 13 months after the events of part VII. Tina is at the Crystal Lake Research Facility, where Jason would eventually be frozen in Jason X. One thing to note, the series timeline is insane. Part VII was made in 1988 but it takes place in 2001. So it's kind of weird seeing 80's references and technology everywhere despite this movie taking place in at least 2002.
In this research facility they're trying to use Tina and eventually a young girl named Rose with stronger powers to harness them. They're also trying to get Tina to free Jason so they can figure out how he regenerates, or something, it's kind of flimsy but it doesn't matter.
I liked how the movie bridged some gaps and found ways to connect the series. One way they do that is to bring in a young Creighton Duke, the cowboy bounty hunter from Jason Goes to Hell. I liked the idea and that it explains a weird plot hole in Hell, but it kind of fell flat. The actor did his best but he's no Steven Williams.
As for the movie itself, it looks really good. The production values are pretty high for a fan film. Also I can't say enough about the score. They managed to get Harry Manfredini to compose it, and it's wonderful. There's a haunting piece that plays on occasion that's a mix of the Child Play theme with the eery tune from Suspiria. I can't say enough good things about the score.
Here's the thing about fan films, and it was my favorite part of this movie. You have the freedom to do literally whatever you want, so why not have fun with it? During the finale there is a real wonderful scene that gets built up through the entire thing and it's just awesome when you get the payoff. When they're educating the characters about Rose's power you can see reactions and the aftermath of her bloodbaths. When they finally reveal it, I had a huge smile on my face and I could my adrenaline rising. I'm not going to spoil it, but I was blown away with what they did. And it actually makes me really excited for what they do next. There is soooo much they can do and it sounds awesome.
With that said, I have some complaints. By far the biggest one, were the ads. Good God, those ads. I'm not joking, literally every three to five minutes I'd get the same ad about CRM software and have to wait five seconds before I could close it. It was infuriating because anytime you'd be getting invested in the very dialogue-heavy movie everything would drop no matter if it was in the middle of the action. I almost stopped watching, I was so frustrated because it doesn't stop until more than hour in.
Another problem and it's a pretty big one, Jason doesn't show up until an hour into the movie. There's a lot of filler they could have dropped to make it tighter and get to the Jason stuff but it seems like they were intent on getting to 90 minutes. The problem with that is, Jason shows up and there's only about 20 minutes of movie left. So during that time it's just a free for all where Jason just happens upon people and kills them. There's virtually no stalking he's just wandering around slicing people up.
If I could sum it up, it's a fan film and it never takes itself too seriously so there's a lot of fun to be had. Still there's a lot of filler and pointless scenes and conversations where they introduce you to characters that have little-to-no effect on the actual plot. But still, I liked it. It's on the upper echelon of fan films that I've seen in both quality and entertainment. If you're a fan, I'd say it's worth a watch. It's free on Youtube, just be prepared to want to scream at whoever was in charge of ad placement.
7.5 Dr Chainsaws!
Watch on YouTube:
Peter Anthony Productions 2.88K subscribers Rose Blood is a continuation of Friday The 13th Part VII. Lar Park Lincoln, Terry Kiser and Kevin Spirtas reprise their roles as Tina, Dr. Crews and Nick. Jason Voorhees is played by The Immortal Jason Brooks. The story takes place in 2 timelines as we follow Tina Shepard after the events of part VII all the way to modern day 2021. Can Tina finally beat Jason once and for all or will the unstoppable monster exact his revenge on the toughest Final Girl he ever faced.
Music in this video
modern-daySong: Dark Halloween
Artist: _Blacksmith_
Licensed to YouTube by: HAAWK for a 3rd Party (on behalf of _Blacksmith_ Productions); HAAWK Publishing
Song: Cinematic Drama
Artist: _Blacksmith_
Licensed to YouTube by: HAAWK for a 3rd Party (on behalf of _Blacksmith_ Productions); HAAWK Publishing