**This post contains spoilers**
The Story- Harold (Chris Carlson), the caretaker, welcomes Eve (Ally Ioannides), her fiancé, Kyle (Toussaint Morrison), Troy (Tim James White), and Dana (Natassia Wakey) to a secluded cabin in the woods. But the group’s planned peaceful getaway is violently interrupted, when Jason Voorhees (Schuyler White) appears….
My Thoughts- Writer/director Mike P. Nelson squarely puts the spotlight on Ally Ioannides’ Eve. Eve starts out as someone, who’s shy and a little bit insecure, because she’s not quite sure why Kyle chose her.
Of course, Eve has to go through her phase of being the frazzled victim after Jason’s first attack. Towards the end, Eve makes a big transition to being a fierce and resilient fighter. She completely snaps, but there’s no screaming, or over the top hysterics from Eve. No, it’s more of a silent and strangely focused form of rage from her. Some good facial expressions and a solid performance from Ally Ioannides, and when the credits start rolling, you’ll understand why Eve is a “force of nature.”
Jason Voorhees is back! Honestly, I didn’t have a big problem with the look, Jason’s wardrobe, or the mask. Jason showed up, brutally murdered a lot of people, and he terrorized a group of friends, who just wanted to have some fun? Sweet Revenge easily checks off the important boxes for one of Jason Voorhees’ killing sprees.
Schuyler White? Just going by White’s movements and his demeanor as Jason, you can see he put a good amount of effort into staying true to the character. White does his best to capture the fine details for Jason. There’s no denying that, and you really can’t compare him to the likes of a Kane Hodder, or Ted White (my personal favorite pick for the best version of Jason Voorhees). It’s a short film, and Jason makes his first appearance at a little bit past nine minutes for a movie that goes slightly over fifteen minutes. No short glimpses, or physical teases before the scene, where he grabs Eve. That’s it.
Eve kills Dana before a teased one on one showdown with Jason! Sweet Revenge ends with a bloody and chaotic finale. Eve catches Kyle kissing Dana, so Eve gets her revenge by killing Dana, when they’re trying to escape Jason together. Eve, jamming the knife through Dana’s skull, while she’s speeding down the road, is a gnarly scene.
On the surface, you could say Eve killing Dana was a bit random, but not entirely. Dana bailed on Eve TWICE during Jason’s rampage inside the cabin. On top of that, Eve saved Dana from Jason, and Dana would’ve left her at the cabin, if she had the keys to the car! Yeah, you can understand why Eve was pissed. And there’s a brief shot of a Camp Crystal Lake sign, when Dana is driving. Good timing for the official reveal for Crystal Lake, one of the final pieces of the story that ties Jason’s lore together after the massacre.
There’s more spotlight on Eve during the finale. The spaced-out and catatonic look on Ally Ioannides face is perfect. You’re witnessing a woman, who’s been through hell. Betrayal, violence, murder, and the sight of mangled corpses. Eve endured a lot, and she was still ready to fight Jason alone, with a smile, and the dried-up blood on her face was a nice touch. Sweet Revenge ends with a cliffhanger before the fight between Eve and Jason starts, and you have to wonder if Eve will somehow return, or at least play a role in the new Jason Universe.
And let’s not forget, Sweet Revenge is sponsored by Angry Orchard Hard Cider! I expected the product placement throughout Sweet Revenge to be shameless to a point, where it’s impossible to ignore, but it’s really not that bad. Sure, you can clearly see the Angry Orchard branded bottles in more than one scene, but I did get a good laugh out of one scene, where Eve finds a corpse with a freshly picked apple stuffed into the victim’s mouth.
What’s important for me is, Sweet Revenge simply helps reintroduce Jason Voorhees. You’re reminded of how dangerous Jason is, a brutal force to be reckoned with. Hopefully, Sweet Revenge is the first sample sized serving for a potentially bright future, because Jason Voorhees is too big of a name in the world horror movies to just sit on the sidelines.
I would’ve preferred to see Jason’s return on the big screen. But the Friday The 13th remake was released in 2009. Sixteen years is way too long. Voorhees is more than worthy of a spot on anyone’s Mount Rushmore for horror icons/villains, so I’m just glad they finally gave us SOMETHING new.
Sweet Revenge sort of spirals out of control towards the end. One bonkers series of events after another, there’s a handful of ridiculous moments (Jason stabs Eve through her chest with a machete….and Eve miraculously pulls it out without bleeding to death), and it’s painfully easy to predict the sole survivor, or the final girl.
Still, it’s a harmless slasher short. A good amount of bloody violence, nasty gore, and the not so subtle foreshadowing (you know something bad is going to happen, when the motor for the fishing boat makes an appearance) sets up two gruesome kills. Chris Carlson’s Harold is a creepy old pervert, but his character also works as the harbinger of doom here. And there’s a good callback to the original Friday The 13th film, when Jason snatches Eve out of the canoe.
I’m not a huge fan of the modern trend, where almost everything needs to be some kind of shared universe, but I’m looking forward to the Crystal Lake series. For the first time in years, it looks like we’re actually seeing progress for Jason Voorhees. A short film, the Crystal Lake series, a new video game, and hopefully a full length feature film in the near the future? This is how it’s supposed to be done. Do a big rollout, and go all out for the kind resurrection that’ll drive Tommy Jarvis crazy!
Rating- 5/10
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