by KYLE LAUGH
When you talk horror to fans of the genre, no matter how much time they've spent watching films, how much time they've spent researching or how long they've been fans for, they all have one thing in common, that being the simple fact that they know the name and look of Jason Voorhees.
Although a crazed psychopath, Jason is dearly loved by fans all across the world and this love of the undead momma's boy has sparked years of inspiration for many forms of artists from painting, songwriting, filmmaking and beyond.
This unspoken love has inspired one Vincente DiSanti to come up with a fan film which follows a travel vlogger named Kyle who stumbles upon the remains of an old campground which he discovers to be Camp Crystal Lake, which is the supposed home of a serial killer named Jason Voorhees as per an old wives tale he was told as a child.
As mentioned, the film was written directed and stars Vincente DiSanti as Jason Voorhees. It also stars Drew Leighty as Kyle McLeod, Katie Schwartz and Robert Dubois both as paramedics. There is an additional actor whom I will keep to myself as it may run one of the best portions of the film.
Never Hike Alone was created thanks to fan contributions via a Kickstarter campaign which had been looking for $13,000.00 from backers. The campaign was a massive success with the crew gaining upwards of $19,000.00. Once completed, Womp Stomp Films released the film for all to see, at no cost, via their YouTube page (link is full film or watch below).
Since originally hearing about it, I was excited but felt like a fan funded film may fall short of my expectations but gladly, I was pleasantly surprised with what I had witnessed on screen.The film is very well made, high quality, great lighting, perfect sound and sound effects on top of simple but effective practical effects.
The story is simple and is able to explain to a newcomer of the franchise what is happening and why thanks to Kyle's exploration of the abandoned campground and his slight knowledge of its history.Kyle's survival skills are truly pushed to their limits when facing Jason in more than one occasion and is displayed in full to viewers when he is forced to perform first aid in himself in what could be described as in a bit of a gruesome fashion.
The acting from all fronts, not that there were many to go through, were excellent from start to finish. The history a Jason and his story was covered briefly but enough so to give everybody most of the key elements of the Friday the 13th canon in order to understand exactly what is going on and why.
The best part however had to be the ending in which elements from the original film were used on top of a twist that I personally didn't see coming but absolutely went crazy over!
In all, I suggest everyone check this out. Again, it's free for you to watch, you don't need to know the history of the franchise to be able to follow the storyline and it's damn enjoyable
8.5 out of 10.
Watch the Trailer and FULL FILM Below!
FULL FILM BELOW
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