My last Zones of Evil/FDM title, which is sad only because this series of works have become comfort viewing for me. The obvious comparisons here are to the Happy Halloween series, which ultimately turned into an extended meditation on loss and the passage of time, both as a horror fan and creator. This is more straightforward, comprised largely of nighttime exteriors leading to chase and kill scenes and lit by headlights and hardware lamps. That isn’t to say that Jason’s Curse is lacking atmosphere; where the Happy Halloween films perfectly capture the crisp, autumnal mood of that season, this feature is planted firmly in the chilly isolation of wooded areas. Fitting firmly in the FDM mold at the time of production, there are a lot of inventive camera angles, inspired nighttime photography, and plenty of footage of Bryan driving. As the cover art would suggest, this is based on Eric Morse’s tie-in novel, and also continues an earlier FDM short (which has footage inserted throughout). Fortin plays Rick, who, alongside his friend David (Brian Less), confronts Jason’s past killing spree that landed his sister in an asylum. A lot of time is spent in Fortin’s house (standing in for a cabin) as he discusses the plot details and his character’s history, while a series of bloody kills occur outside. These are moments that would be interminable elsewhere but are imbued with quiet charm in Bryan’s world, embodying the same impulse that makes the HH series the peak of cable access programming. Despite the fact that there are rarely more than two people onscreen at one time, Fortin manages to transcend the sophomoric fan film heap, even in this project with his highest body count and most startling real-world violence.It's also worth noting that Rick hides a pistol in a bowl of Skittles at one point, and Fortin manages to wait until the final 10 minutes to play Alice Cooper’s “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)”.
