With news that the lawsuit between original Friday the 13th writer Victor Miller and director/producer Sean S. Cunningham over rights to Friday the 13th is making progress, fans are once again beginning to get excited at the prospect of seeing another entry in the beloved, iconic slasher franchise.
Throughout the years, there have been many stories set on the blood-drenched shores of Camp Crystal Lake. In a series with as many entries as Friday the 13th, with more supplementary, expanded media and tie-ins than can be counted, one thing remains a constant throughout them all - the oftentimes confusing, nonsensical aspects of the world in which they inhabit.
10 The Location Of The Camp Keeps Changing
Originally shot in Blairstown, New Jersey and nearby Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, Friday the 13th cemented the franchise's ties to the Garden State from the very beginning. The actual location of the lake, and the camp itself, has often moved around the state, and seemingly the nation, depending on the film.
With each sequel shot in an entirely different location in almost every film, including spots in Connecticut, California, and Georgia, the references to New Jersey thinned out over time, giving the lake and the campgrounds that surround it a strange, eerie sense of displacement.
9 Why Do People Keep Coming Back?
The time between the prologue murders and contemporary killings in the original film, as well as the passage of time from Part 2 to The Final Chapter, means that the victims in these particular films can be forgiven for setting foot in Crystal Lake. The same cannot be said for subsequent entries.
Any person with sense would stay as far away as possible from Crystal Lake and its surrounding areas once word got around that there had been not just one, but two maniacs out there. The fact that there had been rumors, whispers, and urban legends for years just goes to show that sometimes it's best to heed to warnings of the local town kook and steer clear of any place nicknamed Camp Blood.
8 Why Have There Not Been Any Preventative Measures?
For such a small area - Camp Crystal Lake must have one of the highest murder rates per capita of the entire East Coast. From barbecued backpackers, calamity-stricken councilors, butchered bikers, and murdered morgue workers - the Crystal Lake Police must have their hands full.
It seems rather absurd that in film after film, the local law enforcement seems not only inept at stopping visitors from running afoul of the Voorhees menace but outright belligerent in their handling of the situation. Surely with a little foresight, and some proper police, or even military, presence within the area - this could all be stopped from happening all over again, and again, and again...
7 What Happens To All The Final Girls?
Friday the 13th has a long list of iconic Final Girls - most of which are, presumably, still alive in-universe. With so many survivors of Jason's massacres out there and able to corroborate one another stories, it seems odd that the world would continue to ignore their warnings.
Perhaps, however, with the sheer amount survivors of Crystal Lake, the general populace within the world of Friday the 13th doesn't seem to mind the risks involved with vacationing there anymore. After all, if Jason has been stopped every single time he strikes, maybe people have started to think of him as more of a nuisance than an outright menace.
6 Who Keeps Trying To Reopen The Place?
After countless bloody murders on your land, endless massacres and camp shutdowns with attempted reopening's that follow the same endless, grisly cycle of despair - it might be time to try your luck someplace else. Somebody out there in the Friday the 13th universe owns the Crystal Lake land that the surrounding camp and holiday homes rest on - and they should start shutting things down for good.
Things haven't traditionally worked out too well for the property on Crystal Lake, and they don't ever seem to be getting much better. With all the danger of death that comes with a visit to the site, maybe the prices to rent and buy there are just too good to pass up.
5 How Did The Jarvis Family Survive For So Long?
If Part 2, Part III, and The Final Chapter are all set over a few connected days, it begs the question of what Jason was doing before Part 2 if he was already the adult, crazed killer that we see him as.
With Chris Higgins declaring in Part III that she was attacked by Jason in the woods of Crystal Lake two years before the events of the film, it is safe to deduce that he has been at large for a while. How, then, is it possible that the Jarvis family has survived living on the grounds of Crystal Lake for so long without ever coming across Jason? Even if audiences are to assume that their house is only a vacation home, they would likely have been terrorized by Voorhees at least once during the time of his known activity.
4 How Does Crystal Lake Connect To The Ocean?
How the ship depicted in Part VIII can leave Crystal Lake, traverse the seven seas, and end up in New York is truly anybody's guess. Throughout the series, no matter where the films have been shot, Crystal Lake was never, ever depicted as having an entrance to the ocean - let alone housing a dock big enough to hold a boat of that size.
The bizarre geographical inconsistencies don't end there, however. If audiences are to continue with the idea that Crystal Lake is based in New Jersey - then why does it take so long for the boat to arrive there, and why didn't the passengers take a much easier, quicker route to get there in the first place?
3 How Can Toxic Waste De-Age Someone?
While the muck that runs below any city as large as New York can't be good for anybody's health, audiences had to stretch their suspension of disbelief at the climax of Part VIII when Jason Voorhees is defeated and degenerated back into a child after being doused with "toxic waste".
In a twist that feels like it would fit more comfortably in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than Friday the 13th; fans of the series were left baffled at what they just witnessed. With the next installment, The Final Friday, completely ignoring this plot point and returning Jason to his adult age and size, maybe there is something to the theory that Jason has mystical age-defying powers after all.
2 How Did Jason Survive For So Long?
A question that is posed not just once during the franchise, but multiple times. In the first film, it is said that Jason "drowned" at the age of 11 in 1957 - the movie's prologue is set in 1978, and the contemporary events are set in 1979. This would make Jason at least 33 years old during the proceeds of the first 4 entries.
How, then, could an 11-year-old child survive alone in the woods, not just for one year - but for 22? Sure, audiences see his little shack in Part II - but who taught him how to survive, to hunt for food, or even how to build such a structure? Jason may become an invincible, zombie-like tornado of destruction in later entries - but for the first 4, he was still merely human.
1 Where Was Jason During The First Film?
If Jason is an adult during the first film, then where is he, and why has he never tried to contact his mother? - she only lives in the adjacent town; a place that we are shown Jason has no problems visiting multiple times.
Sure, there is a fan theory that he is out there lurking, watching, and helping his mother without her knowledge throughout the first film - but if that is the case, then why? With everything that audiences learn about Jason throughout the series, it is almost inconceivable to believe that he wouldn't have tried to return to his beloved mother at some point earlier.