Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (Enhanced Edition)

by Peter M. Bracke

  BRIAN WADE:

  In terms of makeup effects, one of the biggest scenes we did in the film was when Jason gets resurrected. We did Jason in two "waves" for that. Many of the shots are a Jason dummy, with a fake Jason head, that had to be stabbed by Tommy with the spear. That Jason head was designed by Chris Swift, just for the record. And in the film I think you see it fairly clearly and it's actually more drawn, or gaunt, than CJ actually appeared in the makeup, which is fine for that point in the story 'cause he hasn't been brought back to life yet—he's still "dead." I think it works in context of the fantasy of the film.

  Then, when Jason first opens his eye after being struck by the lightning bolt, it's an extreme close-up where the eye fills the whole screen. That was a Jason prosthetic that was actually applied to Chris Swift, who was an "eye double" for CJ. And Tom McLoughlin wanted maggots to be all over Jason. Se we had to get a guy in there who was a maggot wrangler! And I remember specifically having to be the one to put the maggots on the eye. Everybody else was like, "Ewww!", but I thought, well, here's poor Chris who has to have maggots all over him, and he was fine with it, so who am I to complain? Although getting the maggots to stay in place was a nightmare—it's kind of hard to talk to a maggot and give them direction. We had to use Vaseline on the makeup to give it little gooey spots that the maggots could sink into a little bit, but some of them still freed themselves and fell off and squirmed around. Though in the end, it only made the scene a little grosser, and that much more effective.

  Storyboard gallery: camper kills.

  TOM MCLOUGHLIN:

  My beginning the movie with Jason already unmasked was really only a function of the device that, because Tommy brought the hockey mask with him, he could toss it in the grave and be done with it. And, of course, Jason logically wouldn't be buried with his mask on, so this is what gave us an opportunity to get the friggin' thing back on him. Every Friday movie has that moment where you got a chance to see his face, and this was ours.

  GABE BARTALOS, Special Effects Makeup Assistant:

  Friday the 13th Part VI came at a great time for me. I had begun my makeup effects career in New York but recently moved to Los Angeles because I knew that was where the action was. And interestingly enough, it was the first Friday the 13th that completely blew my mind—the film itself was genuinely well made, and Tom Savini's effects just blew the doors wide open. I was only out in L.A. for, I think, less than a year when Martin Becker, the owner of Reel EFX, reached out to put together a makeup team together. I was out of my mind with excitement—to know that I was now going to be a part of a Part VI of one of the series that actually got me started and interested in makeup effects. To add my name to that legacy was a real treat.

  One of my main jobs on Jason Lives was making the mask for Jason. The iconic hockey mask! And at first, you think, "Oh, it's just a hockey mask." But it's not. There are a lot of considerations that go into it, which I quickly found out. Underneath the mask were the prosthetics of the Jason makeup application that had been sculpted by Brian Wade. So we took in that depth between the eyes, the nose and the mouth, as markers for where the mask should sit. Then the mask itself was made out of a very heavy type of plastic that we did as a VacuForm. I created what's called a buck—a high-temperature cement form—then placed it under the VacuForm, and "Voomf!", the machine sucks this thick plastic around it. Then I ground out the edges and sanded it, drilled out the holes in the face area and the eye holes, and we also added a slash in the forehead from Part 3, from when the ax hits him. Finally, we would attach a series of straps to the mask, and again line it up over the reproduction of the Jason head. For the finishing touches, we did the cosmetics—painting it on the front, painting it on the back, and adding the distinctive angular red markings. It was great fun to do.

  VINCENT GUASTAFERRO:

  The daytime cemetary chase was one of the first day scenes we filmed. But because we were shooting that at an actual real local cemetery, which was historically preserved, we weren't allowed to leap over the graves. That's why you'll notice we're running around the perimeters of the graves. Tom had to block the whole scene out to look like it was a game of Pac-Man. But that's another example of what a great director Tom is—he took a limitation and turned it into something interesting.

  JOSEPH T. GARRITY:

  Cemeteries are very touchy and very sensitive areas, especially in small towns. They certainly wanted to know what we were doing, and it was hard because what we planned to do in the cemetery was not comfortable for the people who could grant us permission—we had wind, special effects, trees getting hit by lightning, people running around digging graves, and violence, basically. Cemeteries are place of respect. Eventually, we were allowed to shoot for one day, during daylight hours and only in select areas, for the scene where Tommy Jarvis leads the police to the cemetery to show them Jason's grave.

  DAVID KAGEN:

  It was more of a TV schedule. You did three or four takes and then you'd move on. But, hey, I did a Roger Corman film where it's one take and then you print and move on to the next setup. This was not that bad. So I didn't feel that kind of pressure. Tom did. Tom would start shooting and he really focused on the details and there would be constant pressure to move it along. Such as getting the shot of the American Express card floating down exactly right. I knew Tom wasn't happy about that and there was a certain level of tension.

  TOM MCLOUGHLIN:

  One of the great things about horror movies is that their audiences are very, very verbal. I thought it would be fun to set up scenes and situations in Jason Lives that allowed the audience to literally provide the punchline. Probably the one most notable was when Nancy's character gets killed. Her hand drops, and an American Express card floats away. And I held on that shot because I was sure that, without fail, someone in the crowd would yell out, "Don't leave home with out it!" And sure enough, it worked. That moment always gets a great reaction.

  This page Filming the extended cat-and-mouse murder of Paula was a highpoint for actress Kerry Noonan. "I just love my death scene," she says. "Although, I was a little disappointed that I didn't have the experience of working with elaborate makeup or having a body cast made. Because I just get pureed into like 30 buckets of stage blood, all offscreen. I remember asking Tom McLoughlin, 'Hey, since you never see my dead body, can I come back as 'Bride of Jason' in the next sequel?'"

  DON BEHRNS:

  You want the director to get all the chances he needs to make it right, but you have to stay responsible. Tom and I had a couple of big fights—mostly over him moving too slowly and reshooting stuff over and over, like the shot of the American Express card floating in the water. Directors will tend to do that. Sometimes you just have to let them take the extra time and hope they make it up on the next shot. It's a tough lesson to learn. Who are you working for—the producers? The director? And who's going to benefit you the most when the film is over? I'm not sure I ever learned that lesson.

  VINCENT GUASTAFERRO:

  We had to report to work one day to film a scene called "Pieces of Roy," when I find a severed leg and arm and say the famous line, "I'll order up some body bags." Well, instead, on the first take I accidently said a brand name, "I'll order up some Hefty bags." And Don Behrns rushed right over and told us we couldn't say that, because we didn't have clearance.

  JOSEPH T. GARRITY:

  We made Jason Lives in the days when product placement in movies was not commonplace like it is today. American Express wouldn't give us permission. So we had to change the look of the card—if you pay real close attention, it's not quite right. But I can understand their reservations. How many credit card companies do you know who want their product associated with mass murder?

  VINCENT GUASTAFERRO:

  When Nancy got killed, she was supposed to have a well-fit breathing apparatus so she could be underwater without being in jeopardy. But in the interest of time, they ended up doing the shot with her just holding her breath instead
. I remember Tom getting pretty upset that they were asking him to get it done in such a way that would jeopardize an actress. And then on top of that, I'm sure he had trouble separating himself from the fact that it was his wife they were screwing with.

  TOM MCLOUGHLIN:

  We didn't have money for stunt doubles. CJ also almost nailed Nancy in the scene when he puts the spear through the window. He was supposed to aim at a certain place, and she was just supposed to fall and get out of the way. Oops.

  NANCY MCLOUGHLIN:

  I usually don't question Tom as a director. I just go with it—which is probably why he likes working with me. I think Tom's feeling then was—though I don't think he feels this way now—that real weapons make for real fear. So he says, "We're using a real spear, just move quick!" And I'm like, "Okay!" But the spear slid instead of breaking through the glass, and it was like this close to my head. I'm an idiot.

  Of course, they could have just floated a fake body in the mud—but they wanted it to feel real. That's always been Tom's excuse. So my whole body was submerged and I'm literally viced into this puddle. Then the regulator stops working—they didn't test it for mud, or more accurately, Georgia clay. And the clay is going down my throat. Then it gets later and later, and they decided to get rid of the regulator. So here I am, it's like 18 degrees below zero with the wind chill factor, I'm viced in with no regulator, just trying to relax my body so I can hold my breath longer. And then I hear people talking about lunch. I'm just thinking that everybody is going to go eat and leave me down there for dead. It was a very tense moment.

  Afterward, when I washed off, I had to go to the camp showers, which weren't heated or enclosed. It was ice cold with nothing to stop the wind from coming in, at three in the morning. So the costumer stayed with me, but the crew kept walking by and there was mud all over my face. That was the most unpleasant moment of the entire experience for me. But Frank Capra once said, "Keep working." I love having that actor's attitude that you take a big role or a small role. To be honest, Jason Lives is not a movie I take too much else from. But I did grow, and learned that it's about acting and friendships. That you have a responsibility not to whine. And I love screaming.

  DARCY DEMOSS:

  I had so much fun. I'm just this little tiny person, and I think I have the longest fight scene with Jason out of anybody on the movie. Usually, Jason just walks up to his victim and you're dead, but I had to fight with him in this tiny little closet of an RV. And it seemed like it took forever to film—we just fought and fought and fought. I ended up with battle bruises and war wounds the next day.

  CJ GRAHAM:

  Darcy, Darcy, Darcy. When we did that scene inside of a bathroom, I physically lifted her clear off the floor, because she's so small and I'm so big. And she actually trusted me a hundred percent, to take her face physically and forcefully, and throw her towards into the camera lens—there actually was a real camera right there and her face was only inches from it. She was kicking the hell out of me and the walls, trying to make that scene look as good as she could. She did a great job.

  Kerry Noonan's photo album #3. Top right: Young Georgian actress Courtney Vickery was cast in Jason Lives as lead camper Nancy. The adorable, then 8 year-old is seen here with her parents on the set. Bottom right: (left to right) production designer Joseph T. Garrity, director Tom McLoughlin, director of photography Jon Kranhouse and stunt coordinator Michael Nomad.

  KERRY NOONAN:

  I just love my death scene. I love the fake-out at the door. It was very easy to shoot at first because all I had to do was walk away from the film set into the woods, and the woods were really creepy. It's the dead of night and it's cold, so it was very easy to scare myself. Then they had this huge wind fan that was running outside the door, and the leaves kept blowing into my contacts. Plus I tend to sweat a lot, which is not a good trait for an actor. And these huge arc lights were outside directed into the cabin, so it was freezing outside and absolutely boiling inside. But I loved it. Although, I was a little disappointed that I didn't have the experience of working with elaborate makeup or having a body cast made. Because I just get pureed into like 30 buckets of stage blood, all offscreen. I remember asking Tom McLoughlin after we shot it, "Hey, since you never see my dead body, can I come back as 'Bride of Jason' in the next sequel?"

  The only thing that made me mad about that scene is that everyone teases me about my character being so stupid. They say, "The phone lines are cut! The machete is gone! Why are you wandering around by yourself?" But at the beginning of the scene I take the phone in my lap and you don't see what I'm doing because the shot is rather tight. Tom told me to dial and act like I realize there wasn't a dial tone and then put the phone down. So that's what I did, but the sound is only that I'm still dialing—they never put the sound of the line being dead in there. That didn't make sense for me, because it made it seem like Paula never figured out the lines were cut. So I thought my character looked kind of dumb.

  And this will sound stupid, but actually the hardest technical thing for me to do in the entire film was the scene where Renee Jones and I decide to eat popcorn. After we shot the first part of it, I thought to myself, "Why did I start this scene eating popcorn, because now, for continuity, I'll have to match my munching in all the other shots?" I spent the whole rest of the scene trying to remember when I popped the popcorn into my mouth, and how much I had eaten. And I was obsessed with whether my mouth was going to look full on camera.

  JIM GILL, Special Effects Makeup Assistant:

  Tom McLoughlin told me he wanted Paula's death to be real bloody. But I got a bit too carried away, and sprayed blood everywhere—there were brains and guts all over. It was like someone literally exploded in the room.

  CHRIS SWIFT, Special Effects Makeup:

  It was at a point in shooting where everybody was getting tired and I wanted to have a little fun, so I went in there and sprayed blood everywhere and threw all kinds of bloody wads around. There were brains and guts all over. The problem was I got carried away and the room was too gross so, in the finished film, the camera really doesn't really focus on the room or linger for very long. The audience missed all kinds of stuff sliding down the walls.

  JON KRAHOUSE:

  I remember as Marty Becker and Chris Swift were prepping that, they were using sprayers, these little pump deals, and spritzing blood all over the place. I would say that Marty, he was very talented at what he did but he wasn't a particularly quiet guy. The more blood they could slosh around the better. He was having such a good time with it, the crew started wondering a bit about his sanity, or at least his sensibility. Then I had to go in the room and get a light meter reading, and stage blood is really slippery. So I slip and fall right on my ass on the floor, and I've got blood and guts all over my clothes. And Marty was just howling with happiness.

  DAVID KAGEN:

  Some of the most fun I had making Part VI was the ending fight I have with Jason. That was all not in the original script—Tom added it. Suddenly, the stunt coordinator comes and tells me we're going to do a whole new extended sequence, because they liked what I was doing and decided my character needed a stronger way to go out. It was a very pleasant surprise to me. We just choreographed it right there, on the set. It's another example of how great Tom was.

  The only disappointment about it for me with the scene is that we did all this work, and there was supposed to be this big special effect at the end, of my back breaking—the pay-off. They had somebody wearing my pants, so his legs were up and I was sort of straddling him, but the way it looked from the camera angle was that it was all me. It was the real deal—all done practically and there was no CGI. It had to be abbreviated as it was too intense for the ratings board. Now, in the finished film, when you're watching it, it almost seems like a bad edit. It's frustrating.

  TOM MCLOUGHLIN:

  My favorite kill in Jason Lives would probably be the back bending of the cop. Which is funny, because its completely bloodles
s. And the first time we showed the uncut version of the effect to an audience, they went crazy. It's funny, but the simple techniques like that, that use old tricks and no CGI and no blood, can have such an effect on an audience. It gets back to that old adage that what you put into an audience's mind is more effective than what is just gross and bloody.

  "Whenever there were times when we needed to rough in an extra murder, we'd all sit around the office and ask, 'How has Jason not killed anybody?'" laughs editor Bruce Green of Jason Lives' body count.

  TOM FRIDLEY:

  My death—the effect was so cool. They put a dime inside my ear, and in which they attached a little drill bit so that it could "snap in" and hold the end of a knife—a big, Rambo-like knife. The way we shot it, I start out dead and my head is to the side of the drivers seat, against the window. Then CJ snaps the knife out of its position, I come back to life, and then he walks backwards to where he came out of the bathroom. So when they ran it forward, it played out as if Jason stabbed me in the head. It's just too bad that as it is now in the movie, you don't realize how violent that scene was. They had to cut it out—now you don't see the knife go in my head. But it was really genius.

  CHRIS SWIFT:

  We worked up what I believe would have been a screen first. We had a retractable knife with retractable blood that goes into the driver's ear. It was shot in one continuous shot, without cuts, and it really worked well. But of course it was termed too graphic by the MPAA and very little of it survived.

  TOM MCLOUGHLIN:

  We spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to get the whole ending of the movie to work, with Tommy fighting Jason in Crystal Lake, the underwater scenes, and all that stuff with chopping up Jason's head with the boat's outboard motor. I knew I had to think of something at the end so there would be at least some sort of "have girl get the monster" moment. I also thought there would have to be some kind of ritual to defeat Jason. I really scratched my brain to come up with something—because there is real logic and then there's movie logic, and all filmmakers try to find a way to make movie logic believable in its own context. So for me, it was a simple way to say, "The only way to stop the monster is to return it to its original resting place. This little kid drowned in Crystal Lake and now you've got to put him back there."