DID YOU KNOW?
1. Part 7 was originally intended to be 'Freddy Vs. Jason', but when Paramount (who at that time owned the rights to 'Friday The 13th') and New Line (who holds the rights to 'A Nightmare On Elm Street') couldn't agree behind the scenes, the script was rewritten to pit Jason up against Tina instead.
2. Walt Gorney, who played Crazy Ralph in 'Friday The 13th' Parts 1 and 2, is the opening narrator at the beginning of the film.
3. Much of the film's score (credited to Harry Manfredini and Fred Mollin) is recycled music from previous 'Friday The 13th' films. Manfredini was given credit for the use of his music, and Fred Mollin composed the rest of the score.
4. John Carl Buechler was so impressed with Kane Hodder when he ate live worms on the set of 'Prison' (1988), that he pushed for Paramount to let him cast Hodder in the role of Jason. If it had not been for Buechler's persistence, the role of Jason Voorhees would have been reprised by C.J. Graham.
5. Original writer Daryl Haney was sacked after his agent contacted executive producer Frank Mancuso Jr. and told him that Haney would not do any more work on the project unless he received a large pay increase (even though Haney had never told his agent to do any such thing). The screenplay was completed by a second, unknown writer, who was credited as Manuel Fidello.
6. Iain Paterson played Russ's dead body in the distant shot of him lying on the shore.
7. Kane Hodder did all his own Jason stunts in this film, including falling through the stairway, and having the porch roof fall on his head.
8. Director John Carl Buechler made a cameo at the end of the film as the firefighter who picks up Jason's broken mask.
9. Kane Hodder said he had difficulty with the scene where he kills the camper in the sleeping bag the dummy inside was heavier than he thought it would be. The scene required a number of retakes because he kept swinging as hard as he could but no matter how hard he swung the sleeping back he couldn't get it to look right. By the final take, he was so fed up with the situation that after he dropped the bag, he kicked it angrily. This is the shot that appears in the final film. In retrospect, Hodder said that was one of his favorite kills and he later recreates it in 'Jason X' (2002).
10. There were several different stuntwomen who played Sandra during her drowning scene; two for the underwater shots, and one for her corpse being pulled onto the shore by Jason.
11. A dummy of Dr. Crews was filmed being torn to pieces by the tree-trimming saw, even detailing all the guts flying out of the body. It was cut to avoid an X rating.
12. The vision that Tina has of her mother being killed was actually supposed to be a vision of Jason holding her mother's head, but it wasn't allowed.
13. It seems as though there is an uncut version of the film that Kane Hodder has in his possession that features a scene where a fisherman hooks a bass, and ends up reeling Jason in.
14. In the beginning of the movie where you see the recap, you see Jason's headstone explode. That part was actually filmed for the trailer of Part 6 but used there instead.
15. According to director John Carl Buechler, the negatives for all cut footage are forever lost. "Ours was one of the single fastest movies ever made," he says. "I had signed my deal to make the movie in January, and it was in the theaters on May 13th." Because of the rush to get the film in theaters, the usual careful cataloging and storing was presumably rushed as well, and thus the footage may no longer exist as studios occasionally destroy unclaimed footage rather than sort it out. The deluxe edition DVD does contain some of the footage courtesy of a low-quality VHS cut of Buechler’s workprint, but even that is incomplete. “It was actually an assembly that I made prior to doing additional photography, so even if it were restored and you found that negative, it still wouldn’t be the whole movie.”
16. Director John Carl Buechler has publicly fumed many times over the years about the number of edits required by the MPAA to avoid an X-rating. The film had to be submitted nine times to the Motion Picture Association of America before being granted an R-rating, and it stands as arguably the most heavily censored entry in the 'Friday The 13th' series.
17. There are said to be only one or two original, uncut copies of the film anywhere in the world. The whereabouts are unknown, although Kane Hodder has stated that he has a copy.
18. Actress Susan Blu had a really bad head cold during the filming of her death scene.
19. Jason's mask in this film was cast from the same mold as the original mask from Part 3, but modified slightly. In addition to the damage seen in the mask (the axe cut and propeller damage), the edges of the mask have been trimmed to make it smaller, allowing more of Kane Hodder's head to be seen around the mask.
20. When Jason falls through the stairs, only a certain amount of the steps were meant to give way. When Jason falls through, Kane's head narrowly misses one of the actual steps.
21. Marta Kober, who played Sandra in Part 2, was offered a role in the movie and ended up getting the job, but was later replaced when she eventually told the producers about being in Part 2.
22. During filming, the dressing room for Kane Hodder was a quarter mile away from the set, down a dirt road. One night, after filming ended at 2 a.m., Kane decided to walk through the woods to take a shortcut to his dressing room. Still in costume, someone approached him and asked if he was with the movie. He didn't reply, because he thought it was a pretty stupid question to ask. The man asked again, and Kane took a little lunge for the guy and grunted. The guy took off, tripping and running away. The next day director John Carl Buechler told Kane that the local sheriff was supposed to stop by, but he never showed.
23. Director John Carl Buechler stated that he clashed with associate producer Barbara Sachs continuously over many ideas that he had for the film. This included showing Jason unmasked for a quite a bit of the movie. She vetoed the idea, but ended up going behind her back and filming it anyway. He also stated that the final sequence of Tina's father coming out of the water was to be more elaborate and feature full prosthetics and a life size dummy. That sequence was completely over ruled and he ended up filming what he considers an inferior version of it.
24. Actress Kerry Noonan (Paula from Part 6) auditioned for the role of Tina in a filmed titled 'Birthday Bash'. But during the auditions, she asked the producers, "Hey, is this 'Friday The 13th'? I was already in one of these!" She was right. 'Birthday Bash' was the fake-working title for 'Friday The 13th, Part VII: The New Blood' (1988) and 'Ethan' was the pseudonym given to Jason in the scripts in order to protect the films from press during pre-production. Another working title used was 'Jason's Destroyer'.
25. Director John Carl Buechler said that his blueprint for the character of Tina came directly from the movie 'Carrie' (1976). He also said his inspiration for the film as a whole came from the movie 'Hands Of The Ripper' (1971).
26. Over time, this film became known as the "gay" 'Friday The 13th' film because a number of the principle cast were homosexual. The producers insist this was not planned.
27. Robin's death scene was originally a machete through the stomach, but it was later re-shot at the site of the Jarvis House in Topanga Canyon in California, where much of the filming of Part 4 took place. Her stunt double that goes flying out the window was actually a man. In addition, they also shot a deleted scene of Maddy smoking weed at that location.
28. There was a constant conflict between director John Carl Buechler and producer Barbara Sachs. Originally, John Shepherd (John Otrin)'s look at the end was to appear as zombified as Jason was. Barbara simply hated that, and would not allow it to stay. A compromise was reached, and the finished product was John coming back looking normal to save Tina.
29. All original negatives, including the cut footage, were destroyed by Paramount on September 17, 1992. It was ordered by executive Michael Hickey in a note to Jane Buffington that read: "OK to junk the trims and out on this feature". My, what a treasure has been lost, folks. I hope I never meet Michael Hickey, but I am sure a million others, including director John Carl Buechler, feel the same as I do.
Know any assorted facts that we don't have here? E-mail them to us at: lairofhorror@yahoo.com and you will get credit for them.
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