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Donde Esta el Pescado? How is Nemesis Like Joe Dirt?
5 years ago
There is no gift more precious or rare in this world than true love. Treasure those who share it with you.
Simple answer: El lago and Tyler Mane.
Now *claps* with that being said, let's use that to segue us into the real entree of the dinner here- Jason Voorhees!
Those folkes who've known me here for a tick know I love love. I LOVE seeing some happy and some cuddles and joy. ❤💛💚💙💜 However, if you've known me just a bit longer you will also know that I am an old-school afficianado of horror movies. *squees* Yup. I loves me some good ol' horror films. From the amazing style of the German impressionist "Cabinet of Dr Caligari" through the golden-era classics of the Universal monsters to the iconic comic-book characters of the 80's slashers up to the grungy and grimy modern affairs, struggling for identity amidst a sea of remakes, sometimes I wanna see some scares.
Now *smirks and rubs her chin* Jason. Jason Voorhees. The dead man. The killer of Crystal Lake. His hockey-masked visage has sliced a path through nearly four decades of horny teenagers and random victims in a series of films of varying quality and tone. He's been a moral fable about responsibility, a modern-day ghost story and a symbol of the fear of inevitable death. His antics have earned the character a place in the psyche of American culture.
He's also been played by quite a few fellows. With a role so physically demanding, most actors have not taken well to it. The most well-known of these who have is easily Kane Hodder, stuntman extraordinaire. Taking on the role for a solid four-movie streak, Hodder did a great job of making Jason a very aggressive and intimidating figure, giving the slasher an intense presense. Even when standing still, Hodder's Jason is a shark, a ball of anger on the hunt. Hodder was hungry to play the icon a 5th time in his long-awaited match-up with fellow 80's icon, Freddy Krueger. Many fans were excited to see him in the part. However, the film's director wanted an actor who was larger and more visually intimidating viewed against Freddy's O.G. Robert Englund and Hodder was passed over for fellow stunt-actor Ken Kirzinger.
At 6'5", Kirzinger did cut a profile against Englund's 5'10" frame. Still- Many were extremely disappointed in this decision, myself among them.
This brings me to Tyler Mane. Another actor, stuntman and pro-wrestler, Mane is a Mountain of a man, at 6'8" and almost 300lbs. He has had several high-profile roles, from the ferocious Sabretooth in X-men and X2, to the iconic killer Michael Myers in Rob Zombies reboots of Halloween and the monstrous Nemesis in Resident Evil 2. With such a physique and a body of work experience proving his mettle, Mane would seem a natural fit for the role.
Or would he?
Personally- I'd say no. Though Mane is an excellent actor for specific roles, I don't feel that he's the right fit for Jason. Jason's power works best in it's inexplicable mystery. He is an unstoppable force which we, the audience, can't understand- the embodiment of death, inevitability. We can run, hide, even fight back, but in the end, we can only give the monster pause for a time. Jason isn't frightening because he's bigger than us visually. Jason's terror comes through in his actions. No matter how hard we hit him, no matter how big we are, fast we run, what technology we use- weapons to fight his assault- Jason is seemingly beyond us. Making him "scary because he's big" seems unworthy to me, a juvenile popcorn-crunch mentality which misses the point of the character and fails to understand the difference between "imposing" and truly "terrifying". In sexual terms, a curvy child posing in rubber and black stockings versus the truly sensual power of an experienced adult with just the right smile...
So, if you should have a take on it, lets hear it. Would Mr Mane work as the masked man of the woods? Or would you have another take on the icon? As a director, who would you use and why?
Either way, love yourselves and love one another. No Gods. No Masters. Ave Lucifer.
Now *claps* with that being said, let's use that to segue us into the real entree of the dinner here- Jason Voorhees!
Those folkes who've known me here for a tick know I love love. I LOVE seeing some happy and some cuddles and joy. ❤💛💚💙💜 However, if you've known me just a bit longer you will also know that I am an old-school afficianado of horror movies. *squees* Yup. I loves me some good ol' horror films. From the amazing style of the German impressionist "Cabinet of Dr Caligari" through the golden-era classics of the Universal monsters to the iconic comic-book characters of the 80's slashers up to the grungy and grimy modern affairs, struggling for identity amidst a sea of remakes, sometimes I wanna see some scares.
Now *smirks and rubs her chin* Jason. Jason Voorhees. The dead man. The killer of Crystal Lake. His hockey-masked visage has sliced a path through nearly four decades of horny teenagers and random victims in a series of films of varying quality and tone. He's been a moral fable about responsibility, a modern-day ghost story and a symbol of the fear of inevitable death. His antics have earned the character a place in the psyche of American culture.
He's also been played by quite a few fellows. With a role so physically demanding, most actors have not taken well to it. The most well-known of these who have is easily Kane Hodder, stuntman extraordinaire. Taking on the role for a solid four-movie streak, Hodder did a great job of making Jason a very aggressive and intimidating figure, giving the slasher an intense presense. Even when standing still, Hodder's Jason is a shark, a ball of anger on the hunt. Hodder was hungry to play the icon a 5th time in his long-awaited match-up with fellow 80's icon, Freddy Krueger. Many fans were excited to see him in the part. However, the film's director wanted an actor who was larger and more visually intimidating viewed against Freddy's O.G. Robert Englund and Hodder was passed over for fellow stunt-actor Ken Kirzinger.
At 6'5", Kirzinger did cut a profile against Englund's 5'10" frame. Still- Many were extremely disappointed in this decision, myself among them.
This brings me to Tyler Mane. Another actor, stuntman and pro-wrestler, Mane is a Mountain of a man, at 6'8" and almost 300lbs. He has had several high-profile roles, from the ferocious Sabretooth in X-men and X2, to the iconic killer Michael Myers in Rob Zombies reboots of Halloween and the monstrous Nemesis in Resident Evil 2. With such a physique and a body of work experience proving his mettle, Mane would seem a natural fit for the role.
Or would he?
Personally- I'd say no. Though Mane is an excellent actor for specific roles, I don't feel that he's the right fit for Jason. Jason's power works best in it's inexplicable mystery. He is an unstoppable force which we, the audience, can't understand- the embodiment of death, inevitability. We can run, hide, even fight back, but in the end, we can only give the monster pause for a time. Jason isn't frightening because he's bigger than us visually. Jason's terror comes through in his actions. No matter how hard we hit him, no matter how big we are, fast we run, what technology we use- weapons to fight his assault- Jason is seemingly beyond us. Making him "scary because he's big" seems unworthy to me, a juvenile popcorn-crunch mentality which misses the point of the character and fails to understand the difference between "imposing" and truly "terrifying". In sexual terms, a curvy child posing in rubber and black stockings versus the truly sensual power of an experienced adult with just the right smile...
So, if you should have a take on it, lets hear it. Would Mr Mane work as the masked man of the woods? Or would you have another take on the icon? As a director, who would you use and why?
Either way, love yourselves and love one another. No Gods. No Masters. Ave Lucifer.
*rests her leafy figure next to the Skunkubus* While I can see the appeal in having Jason being visually more impressive than those he's stalking, BIGGER, as it would appeal more to the kiddies and the popcorn-shoveling average idiot, I'm going to have to side with Hodder on this one. If you have to have something be BIGGER to signify some primal sense of emotional response from you, then you're not all that emotionally mature.
Hodder sold Jason as this seething ball of fury, an unstoppable force that would keep coming no matter what- as you said, DEATH itself is what Jason represents on a thematic level. Film is a visual medium and actors are creative people. To remove him from the picture because Yu wanted someone bigger is Vince McMahon levels of Roadside Carny-house ass and a severe disservice to the character and actors in general.
*spreads her wings over them both* Agreed as well. I think an underrated moment in the admittedly not-so-good Part8 was when they were in the sewer and Jason gets splashed in the face with "toxic waste". The way Hodder shakes his fist and just full-body tenses up- it's like Jason is just seething with fury. His face is actually melting. He's hurting, in agony and his POW meter is skyrocketing. Somebody is going to pay for this shit and pay hard....
Speaking of Vinnie-mac, and the dead man, you know that for a long time I supported the idea of having Mark Calaway play Jason. With so much experience in pro-wrestling he's practically a stuntman already. Shit, some of the bumps he's taken in those Undertaker/Mankind brawls should've earned him(both of those men) some kind of award. His capacity to perform such physically demanding action alone would be great but also- The Fucking Undertaker! He's practically a revenant already(FA's spellcheck doesn't know how to spell revenant btw). It would almost be like getting the best of both worlds, a big, visually imposing figure for all the masses to bray over and the selling the character properly as it deserves.
Though in the end, all things considered, I think I'd still have to go with a more average-height and build actor for the part.