After the very financially successful “Friday The 13th” reboot in 2009 and the release of the franchise video game, series creator Sean Cunningham and original scribe Victor Miller launched a lawsuit against each other that has lasted a decade. Drowning, hanging, and machetes to the head could not kill the iconic hockey masked slasher, but the court system has kept Crystal Lake campers safe for the last ten years. The horror nation has had to settle for some fantastic fan made films such as: Never Hike Alone, Friday The 13th: Vengeance, and Voorhees. Franchise icon Deborah Voorhees (Friday The 13th Part 5: A New Beginning) brings together several of the installments favorite performers along with genre legend Dee Wallace for a twisted tale of fandom gone mad. From our favorite men behind the mask such as CJ Graham and Kane Hodder to series scream queens, Judie Aronson, Tracie Savage, and Lar Park Lincoln, “13 Fanboy” has all the ingredients to feed the starved series massive following.
Witnessing the murder of her famous grandmother Deborah Voorhees has left Kelsie Voorhees traumatized and consistently on guard. Kelsie is an actress, runs her own self-defense classes, and is an accomplished professional fighter. When a fellow actress from the same popular film franchise as her grandmother does not show up for a convention, Kelsie’s worst fears reemerge. Soon after the disappearance, Kelsie begins to get creepy calls, texts, and emails which send her into a psychological free fall. She leans on her grandmother’s best friend and horror icon Dee Wallace for support, but Wallace only compounds Kelsie’s anxiety with her own fan fears. One by one fellow franchise celebrities begin to encounter the ultimate insane super fan who wants to make a real-life Friday film.
“13 Fanboy” is a love letter to not only fans of the Friday films, but to all horror fanatics. The film shows both sides of the love affair between celebrated artist and their fans, that at times take their obsessions too far. What scribes Joel Paul Reisig and Deborah Voorhees do so well is give the audience an inside look at the duplicity of fandom. With the personal connections readily available through social media and conventions, some fans feel celebrities owe them unwarranted attention. On the flip side, the film showcases both the love and fear personified by performers as they attempt to satisfy their base and maintain a steady career as well as juggle jealousy and competition from their fellow colleagues.
The direction of the film is well done with some fantastic overhead pans, spot on shot selection, and great kills to satisfy the gore hounds. It was always going to be a tall task to fit that many series celebrities into a cohesive plot and this is where the film strays off course at times. In one scene a lead suffers a personal tragedy and their next appearance on screen has them giggling and having a good time. Several of these time jumps chop up the film but the main plot keeps trucking towards a fantastic finale. “13 Fanboy” is a fun filled fright film that genre fans will adore. Like most original productions, you can bet other popular series and the artist that brought them to life will quickly imitate this format, the horror nation can only pray that those future films bring the same passion and love for the craft as this film did. Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Miller should watch this film and appreciate not only the support of the fans that brought their art to the stratosphere, but also admire the dedication and passion that the team behind “13 Fanboy” displayed in spades.
Scream Score: 8.2/10