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AlthoughFriday the 13thsequelJason Xwas not the first time a slasher villain evince up in distance , the maligned dealership out poignantly underlines why interstellar slasher sequels are never well - have . In recent years , Jason Xhas undergone something of a vital revivification and has gather a cult stick with thanks to theFriday the 13thsequel ’s unique stage setting and zany characters . Articles praising the movie have also show to its cockamamie good sense of humor , memorable deaths , and meta - jokes as some ofJason X ’s redeem features in modern-day civilization .
However , even clause arguing thatJason Xis in secret themost underratedFriday the 13thmoviemake certain to stress that the space - solidification continuation is in no path scary . This is a strange yet necessary clarification since theFriday the 13thseries has always been a slasher franchise , first and foremost . However , like other space - set slasher continuation , Jason Xconceded early on that the motion picture would never be genuinely scary and suspenseful — and there ’s a reason for that .
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Like the earlierLeprechaun in SpaceandHellraiser : Bloodlinebefore it , Jason Xfailed to scare viewers and fell level for many critics because the sequel did n’t even assay to create much in the way of genuine fear . The cause behind this creative choice is that the sci - fi horror esthetic of slashers define in space needs cue harks back to moving picture likeAlien , theunderrated Ryan Reynolds horrorLife , orPitch Black . As a issue , a ceremonious masked killer is not as scary as the ideate horrors of distance . The nonstarter of 2007’sSunshineis a further testament to this phenomenon , which could also excuse whyPandorum(which initially seems to be a monster movie but later turns out to be a grampus - in - blank space repulsion ) flopped at the box position in 2009 .
WhileLeprechaun ’s villain andHellraiser ’s Pinhead are not identical to the inevitable tide of murder that is Jason Voorhees , they both scat into the same problem as Jason X ’s interpretation of theFriday the 13thfranchisemenace . Namely , the Leprechaun , Jason , and Pinhead were all scarier on Earth than they were in infinite , with each of these slasher villain blanch in comparing to the existential dread that the vast surface area of space engenders .
In direct contrast , on Earth , Jason had Camp Crystal Lake to himself , the Leprechaun could make for mayhem anywhere from a remote farm to the intimate - city , and Pinhead was capable to seem anywhere that a fiber was foolish enough to spread out the Lament Configuration . On Earth , all of these slasher villains are clearly the gruesome stars of their story , whereas once they show up in space , any stock slasher sequel struggle to take advantage of this new setting without involving cosmic - plate horrors - return these villains comparatively weak . In this way , bringing space into the otherwisehighly successfulFriday the 13thfranchisewas always pass to outshine a villain who is basically still only a man ( albeit a supernaturally inviolable one ) , result inJason Xbeing a critical bust upon release .
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