Stevieboy666
A hiker takes his camcorder to a nature reserve & embarks on a long hike but soon stumbles across Camp Crystal Lake from Friday the 13th. It may be all dilapidated but he's not alone....
This is a fan movie which could well spell trouble but in this case we get some rather excellent production values. There's much impressive camera work, making great use of the beautiful countryside, it's well acted, packs some suspense and the make -up is of a high quality. It even stars Thom Matthews reprising his role as Tommy Jarvis. The only downside for me was that for most of the film there are only two characters, the hiker and Jason, and even at only 54 minutes long it did feel like an over stretched chase sequence. But that's just a minor quibble.
As a fan I'd love to see some new Friday movies but until then this will do nicely. Well done!
Platypuschow
Not that you'd know by the cover but Never Hike Alone is a Friday 13th fan film, in fact it's hard to believe since the whole thing looks so darn professional.It tells the story of a guy making a video for his social media site, he's travelling through the forest and comes across the remnants of an all too familiar camp. Before he knows it he's being pursued by everyones favorite hockey mask wearing psychopath.Now again let's be clear this doesn't look like a fan film and if you didn't know better could almost be confused with being an actual entry into the franchise. Standing at around the 50 minute mark with fantastic production quality and including the return of Tommy Jarvis (Played by franchise alumni
Thom Mathews) this is very impressive.As much as I like Jason I've tended to find the Friday 13th series quite underwhelming. For the most part I've never thought they were bad, just not as monumental as most believe themselves. This however is very respectable and I'd love to see the creators get their hands on funds to make a feature movie (Even if it is about Jason).The cast do a solid job, it's well scored and I'd consider it essential viewing for fans of the franchise.The Good:Looks and sounds considerably too good to be a "Fan film"The Bad:Jason was far too smallWeak endingThings I Learnt From This Movie:Recording yourself breaking the law and then uploading it onto your social media page for the world to see makes perfect senseWe need more chokeslams through tables in the movies
jasonisageek
We can all agree that most horror franchises lose a fair amount of steam at some point. Michael, Leatherface, Pinhead and Freddy all suffered from too many bad sequels, and Jason is no exception. Honestly, the last great Friday the 13th film was Part 6: Jason Lives.....31 years ago. Sure, people tend to love some of the others that followed for various reasons, but most certainly not because they're great horror films. Enter writer/director/actor Vincente DiSanti, who spearheaded a Kickstarter campaign in 2016 to fund an originally estimated short 22 minute fan-film. With an enticing teaser trailer and fantastic incentives, it's no surprise that they surpassed their goals, which might explain why it turned into a 55 minute film rather than the original 22. Anyway, here we are in October of 2017, with the film brilliantly being released for FREE all over the world on.....wait for it......Friday the 13th! Amazing. Let's dig in.An avid back country hiker and vlogger, Kyle McLeod, is out hiking on a solo trip when he stumbles upon a deserted camp. He soon discovers that this camp has a brutal history and worse yet, he might not be alone.Never Hike Alone is hands-down one of the best Friday the 13th films ever made. DiSanti and his crew took all of the fundamental elements that made the franchise so great in the first place and puts a fresh spin on it by incorporating the found footage narrative. But wait! Before you roll your eyes, hear me out. I personally can't stand found footage films. I find them lazy. But the way DiSanti incorporates it into Never Hike Alone works brilliantly. It's only a small tool, and thankfully, most of the film is shot traditionally. Even so, the found footage angle is still done surprisingly well, in that it's not shaky- cam nonsense, which was entirely refreshing. And that's another thing I found surprising here. The film itself is visually impressive. In fact, if you were to judge it purely on the camera-work alone, it's a better looking film than any of the last 6 in the franchise, including Freddy VS Jason. But that's just me. On a technical level, it delivers the goods in every single department; from the sound editing, the score, the effects, the stunts and most importantly, the editing. It's a trim 55 minutes that never overstays it's welcome, and utilizes every second to help push the film further along at a brisk pace.On a narrative front, the film packs a punch. While the first half does a good job of setting things up in a timely manner, it's really the second half that delivers the slasher goods, and boy you're in for a treat. Every creative and technical decision DiSanti and his crew make bring the film to life in such a startlingly frightening way, that it makes you wonder why filmmakers today can't make films like this anymore. He doesn't bring anything new to the table, other than the found footage angle, but uses the typical slasher tropes to full effect, and in some instances, enhancing certain elements for a much more visceral experience. I don't want to give too much away before you've actually seen it, but needless to say, Vincente DiSanti did his homework. For example, every single time Jason (DiSanti) took a step, it sounded like a giant dinosaur was walking the Earth. You felt every single step. And that brings me to DiSanti's portrayal of Jason. He does a phenomenal job. The guy is big, and he takes on the role with gusto. I'd have to say it's probably one of my favorite Jason's after C.J. Graham in Part 6: Jason Lives. The makeup department also needs to be commended. I loved Jason's "look" in this. Traditional, yet cleaner. Again, it's more in tune with his look in Part 6 than say his zombie-look in Part 7 and 8.If you've been missing a good traditional slasher, then Never Hike Alone will surely fill that sweet spot. The film was filled with nonstop surprises for me. It's so good in fact that you'll want more. You'll wish they were able to stretch it out for an extra half hour, but trust me when I say that it's a strong 55 minutes and just as long as it needs to be. And wait till you see the surprise at the end. I couldn't believe it. Such a.....awe hell. I'll just let you experience it for yourself. Just a great bombshell in an already great experience. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good this little crowd-sourced film is compared to big budget studio films in general. Only, it's not just good.....it's GREAT!!For more cult cinema please visit www.robotGEEKSCultCinema.com
