How Did Jason Get His Hockey Mask in Friday the 13th?

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  • Jason Wears a Burlap Sack in Friday the 13th Part 2
  • A Friday the 13th Part III Crew Member Provided Jason’s Hockey Mask

As a die-hard horror fan who has seen more slasher movies than I can count, I must say that the evolution of Jason Voorhees’ iconic look is a fascinating journey. From the burlap sack in Friday the 13th Part 2 to the infamous hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part III, each design reflects not only the creative minds behind the films but also the shifting tastes and expectations of horror audiences.

In the making and production of the 1980 horror film “Friday the 13th”, neither the cast nor the crew, under the guidance of director and producer Sean S. Cunningham, anticipated that it would become a blockbuster hit, let alone spawn a long-running series centered around Jason Voorhees, who they initially believed to be deceased. Contrary to popular belief, the main antagonist in “Friday the 13th” was not Jason himself, but his vengeful, grieving mother, Pamela Voorhees (also known as Mrs. Voorhees), a mentally unstable figure seeking revenge for the presumed 1957 drowning death of her son which she attributed to negligent camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. The makers of “Friday the 13th” saw Jason more as a victim than a villain.

After the movie unexpectedly became a massive success at the box office in 1980, and a follow-up was clearly on the horizon due to Mrs. Voorhees’ grisly end in “Friday the 13th,” it was clear that the only viable choice was to include Jason in the sequel, “Friday the 13th Part 2.” The plot of this installment assumes that Jason survived his drowning and grew up to be a distorted individual, seeking vengeance for his mother’s death by slaughtering anyone who dares enter his territory.

One of the major hurdles in making Jason the symbol of the Friday the 13th series was designing a terrifying appearance for him. It wasn’t until the second sequel, Friday the 13th Part III, that Jason’s chilling image truly took shape with the introduction of his iconic hockey mask. This instantly transformed Jason into a horror figure beloved by pop culture.

Jason Voorhees Was Supposed to Be Dead in Friday the 13th

It’s widely agreed that a significant factor behind the success of the original “Friday the 13th” movie and subsequent series was the renowned special effects artist, Tom Savini. Not only did he design gory effects for the film, such as the memorable arrow scene featuring Kevin Bacon, but moreover, he breathed life into the character of Jason Voorhees through one of the most iconic jump-scare scenes in horror movie history.

In Victor Miller’s initial script for Friday the 13th, Jason was depicted as an average-looking boy who had met his end by drowning. However, Tom Savini transformed him into a grotesque figure, particularly in the chilling lake scene where Alice, the sole survivor of Camp Crystal Lake’s massacre, paddles a canoe on Crystal Lake. As she floats peacefully, a decomposed Jason suddenly emerges from the water and drags Alice beneath the surface.

Savini drew ideas for the scene from the terrifying jump-scare moment in the 1976 supernatural horror film “Carrie,” specifically where Sue Snell, within a dream, lays flowers on Carrie’s charred house ruins, only for Carrie’s bloody arm to burst through the debris and grab Sue. This causes Sue to scream upon waking up in her bedroom. Similarly, Alice experiences a similar startling moment, waking up in a hospital room after what appears to be a nightmare.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ve always pondered over Alice’s final words, “Then he’s still out there.” Yet, what intrigues me is that the chilling scene at the lake was never meant to be a literal reality by the filmmakers, Sean S. Cunningham and Miller. Instead, they conceived it as a dream sequence, ruling out any possibility of Jason actually surviving. The character of Jason, for them, was merely a tool, a catalyst that stirred up the motivation within his mother to seek vengeance and claim the lives of the unfortunate camp counselors, all in the name of her son.

Jason Wears a Burlap Sack in Friday the 13th Part 2

In the movie “Friday the 13th Part 2”, set five years after the events of the first film, the adult Jason Voorhees adopts a rugged, blue-collar appearance. He wears black work boots, denim overalls in blue jeans, and a red plaid button shirt. Additionally, he dons a burlap sack mask with a single eye-hole, and his deformed features – including decayed yellow teeth and stringy, reddish-brown hair – add to this rustic aesthetic.

The filming for “Friday the 13th Part 2” started in October 1980, nearly simultaneously with the cinema release of the critically acclaimed biographical drama “The Elephant Man”. This latter movie is inspired by the true tale of Joseph Merrick, who is known as John Merrick in the film. Suffering from a rare genetic disorder, Merrick’s facial features were unusually deformed, leading him to cover his head with a burlap sack when in public.

In 1981, when “Friday the 13th Part 2” was unveiled, audiences and critics scoffed and chuckled at Jason’s burlap-sack appearance, rather than feeling terror. This unsavory response to his costume, which bore a striking resemblance to the killer in the 1976 horror movie “The Town That Dreaded Sundown,” compelled director Steve Miner to abandon the burlap sack and overhaul Jason’s entire appearance for the third installment.

A Friday the 13th Part III Crew Member Provided Jason’s Hockey Mask

The trajectory of the Friday the 13th series and popular culture was significantly altered by the introduction of Friday the 13th Part II, as a prankster character named Shelly adorned a hockey mask and wielded a spear gun in one pivotal scene. Following Shelly’s untimely demise at Jason’s hands, off-screen, the hockey mask and spear gun were claimed by Jason, weapons he later used to claim his first victim, Vera, on screen.

In the movie “Friday the 13th Part III,” the iconic hockey mask initially belonged to Terry Ballard, a set property master. On one occasion, he brought a 1950s Detroit Red Wings hockey mask to the film set, when director Steve Miner and his special effects team were finding it challenging to conceptualize a fresh design for Jason’s mask. Impressed by the hockey mask’s appearance, Miner and his team decided to incorporate it into the movie, embellishing it with punched holes and red arrows to give the mask its unique and recognizable look.

Beyond shaking up the Friday the 13th series and the broader horror genre, the hockey mask significantly transformed Jason Voorhees, turning him into an almost unbeatable slasher, in a franchise that now spans 12 movies and has earned close to $470 million at the box office – quite a feat for a character once believed to have perished as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake. By the way, Friday the 13th Part III is available for streaming on Paramount+.

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2024-11-04 04:09