Jason Lives at 40: Director Tom McLoughlin and star Thom Mathews reflect upon the Friday the 13th sequel’s enduring popularity and legacy
- Brian Fanelli
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
Prior to Scream’s massive box office success in 1996, Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives had a self-awareness and slight meta commentary that Scream’s writer, Kevin Williamson, would later credit as a key influence. The movie also introduced the first iteration of zombie Jason, played by C.J. Graham, and it was the last installment to showcase Final Boy Tommy Jarvis, played by Thom Mathews. The character was first introduced as a kid in Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter and played then by Corey Feldman.
At Jason Lives in Hell, an anniversary event sponsored by Horror / 365 and held at the Waldorf Estate of Fear, we interviewed McLoughlin and Mathews about the sequel’s enduring popularity, the influence of the Universal Monsters on the movie’s aesthetic, and what they remember most about shooting the film.
This interview was edited slightly for clarity.
The Horror Lounge: Looking back 40 years, what do you remember most about the filming process and the movie as a whole?
Tom McLoughlin: It’s like one big dream. For one, we all bonded so quickly. Now, 40 years later, we’re all still friends. We text each other weekly. We do conventions, see each other, and hang out. That doesn’t usually happen with movies. We managed to keep it together. I never expected this. I thought it would play one weekend and the next weekend, it would drop off and then play a few drive-ins. There wasn’t the DVD and VHS world quite yet. It was still in its infancy.
It just keeps going. That’s probably the most amazing thing of this whole process. The rest of it was that they gave me permission to make the movie I wanted to make. It didn’t seem like that would happen. Usually, someone steps in. I was very, very lucky. Most of these things now are made by committee. You don’t know who will win the arguments.
The Horror Lounge: Thom, from your perspective, how it does it feel to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Jason Lives?
Thom Mathews: Unbelievable. You can’t predict these things. The length that it has and the franchise is amazing, including the game that came out of it. I thought it was genius that they made a game. The kids who play the game probably shouldn’t see the movie just yet, but they could play the video game and become fans. It was a genius idea from the franchise to do that.
The Horror Lounge: Can you address the influence of the Universal Monsters on Jason Lives? It creates such a different tone than other slasher movies.
Tom McLoughlin: The Universal Monsters were what I grew up watching. I wasn’t supposed to. My mother told me to turn off the TV. I collected Famous Monsters magazine. I always had to buy two because my mother would always find one and tear it up. [Laughs]. We were the offbeat, strange kids that did this. When you go to these conventions, it’s where all of these geeks come with tattoos from my movie and other people’s movies. We’re a club and a whole culture.
With Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, and Wolf Man, I identified with them. It wasn’t like I wanted to be a filmmaker. I wanted to be them. That love continued on. When the job came along, I wanted Frankenstein’s influence, which, of course, is the lightning bolt. I put Karloff’s Market there. I gave away where I was getting the stuff from. If you took the color out [of Jason’s Lives], it looks like an old Universal horror movie with the contrasting photography. It definitely falls into the old monster category.
The other thing I did is that we have two people with agendas. Tommy wanted to burn Jason’s body. He has a strong agenda going through the movie, while Jason is going to get this kid, and anyone who he comes across is going to get it. That’s what he is. He’s a killing machine, and now he’s unstoppable. Traditionally, that’s what the best monsters are. You can’t stop it. It’s evil. It’s driven, and it’s a force.
Those elements, I think, have really helped its longevity. You can go back and watch it because it feels like a journey.
The Horror Lounge: Thom, you're the third actor to play Tommy following Corey Feldman and John Shepherd. What was it like to step into a role that was already established? You bring so much weight to the character.
Thom Mathews: When I got cast for the part, I did my research and watched parts 1-5, with particular interest in 4 and 5. I was replicating and continuing a character that had already been stablished. I was looking for something that John and Corey did that I could use to carry on the character. There wasn’t anything that stood out, like a physical mannerism. I did my own thing and talked to Tom a lot. I always consider myself a character actor, so that was the coolest part. I just played it straight. I listened to the story and what Tom wanted.
The Horror Lounge: Jason Lives also has a self-referential element. This was well before Scream. Can you comment on that aspect, Tom? Was it intentional in the script?
Tom McLoughlin: I didn’t want to just make a slasher movie. I didn’t want to make a movie about killing women. Also, since it was the sixth one, what else could I do? The James Bond intro is the first example of me waving my flag, saying we’re going to have fun. If you read those old Famous Monsters magazines, there was always a sense of humor. I wanted to have that element. There was nothing I was imitating. When we talk horror, we have fun with it.
I really had egg on my face years later. I was offered the script for Scream and turned it down. I thought I had already done that and didn’t want to copy myself. When I didn’t read any other good scripts, I went back to my agent and asked if the script was still available. My agent told me Wes Craven grabbed it. It became Scream and Scream is still going. It wasn’t the best creative career decision of my life, but when I met Kevin Williamson years later for a show he was doing, he told me Jason Lives had so much of an influence on Scream. You just never know. I also turned down CSI. Every so often, you make these choices and you think they’re right at the time, but in the long run, you never know.
The Horror Lounge: Thom, what was your favorite scene? The characters are so distinct.
Thom Mathews: That’s all Tom. Could you imagine Paramount coming to you and telling you they want you to direct a Friday the 13th? Jason is in it. There has to be a certain amount of kills and make a story out of it. He came up with characters that you care about. There’s a love interest and romance possibility. You got to know and like the characters. You get invested in the characters, and that’s why people responded so well. It was shot beautifully, and the soundtrack was great. C.J. did a great job. No hard feelings to Kane Hodder, but C.J. is my favorite Jason. [Laughs].
The Horror Lounge: How did Alice Cooper become involved with the soundtrack?
Tom McLoughlin: When you make a movie, before you show it to the producers, you have to put temporary music in there. Of course, we had a ton of Harry Manfredini from the other movies that we could easily stick in there. I’m a rock 'n roll guy. I’ve been doing it since the Beatles and the Stones came out. That’s when I moved away from wanting to be a filmmaker as a kid into that. I put these hard rock and metal songs in there. When the producer saw the cut, he asked if I liked Alice Cooper. When I was 15 or 16, we were friends. All I knew is that he was Vincent and came from Texas. We played on the same stages and hung out at Frank Zappa’s house and talked. I didn’t know until many years later that Alice Cooper was Vincent. There is that strange connection there.
Alice Cooper’s management wanted him to do this, and he loved the Friday movies. He said he’d write a song. I asked if I could have two others in there. I used “Teenage Frankenstein” and “Hard Rock Summer.” With my band, I do “Teenage Frankenstein” and “Man Behind the Mask.” It’s on my bucket list to do the songs on stage with Alice Cooper. We have yet to do that, but I think I’ll have the opportunity soon because he’s coming to Los Angeles for one of the Monsterpalooza shows.
The Horror Lounge: Thom, what was it like working with C.J. as Jason and Jennifer Cooke as Megan? These are the characters that Tommy is really tied to in the movie.
Thom Mathews: Well, C.J. was the monster. We never hung out. If I saw him on the street while we were filming, I wouldn’t know who he was. I never saw him out of wardrobe, and Jennifer was just a sweetheart. We were both young and happy to have a job. She was a very strong character in the movie. It was great to work with her.
The Horror Lounge: Can you talk about how you filmed that ending in the lake and the final sequence and confrontation between Tommy and Jason?
Tom McLoughlin: It was bits and pieces to make it happen. First, we used the real lake for the wide shots and C.J. going into the lake. When Megan [Jennifer Cooke] runs and jumps, she jumps into a pad. We framed it so you don’t see that. Then, we had to go to USC [School of Cinematic Arts] in Los Angeles that had a big, Olympic-sized pool. They put black tarps around the bottom. That’s where the fight happened. In the lake, you’d never see anything. The wide shots worked. We did all of that, and when it got to the point where we had to chop into [Jason’s] head, USC did not want to put blood and gunk into their Olympic pool. Then, I called up my dad. I wouldn’t have done movies if not for him. He was a USC film student. He loved the idea, but I told him it would really mess up his filter. He was out there with his camera, shooting. He was so excited to have a movie in the backyard. That’s where we did the close-ups of the chopping up [of Jason’s head].
The Horror Lounge: If the Friday the 13th powers that be listened to you, Tom, what would you like to do with the franchise and Jason moving forward?
Tom McLoughlin: I wrote a script called Jason Never Dies. It’s 13 years after he’s been put down, under water. He has algae and moss, and he’d look different, but it’s still the same stuff. It takes place on Thanksgiving weekend. Across the lake from Camp Crystal Lake is Camp Christian Lake, which is a retreat for religious groups. I have one nun and sixteen badass Catholic girls. One is a cutter. One sells drugs, and one is a chronic masturbator. They have attitudes, and they’re a badass club. Jason comes in there with an agenda. He’s looking for someone, but we don’t know who. It does harken back to Jason Lives. I can’t sell that thing or give it away because they have all the rights now and they’re taking it in different directions. One day, I’ll find a way to get it made. It also takes place in the snow.
The Horror Lounge: Thom, you’ve come back to the Friday the 13th universe with your roles in the Never Hike Alone fan films. What made you want to return to this universe.
Thom Mathews: I was holding out for Tom McLoughlin to make the 13th movie, bringing back Tommy Jarvis. I was devastated when he wasn’t’ bringing back Tommy Jarvis in any way, shape, or form. The script involved another camp site on the other side of the lake, and it was very female heavy. Because of that and the lawsuit, I got involved in the fan films.
They had already shot the first half of Never Hike Alone. I saw it and it was very topical and current. What they had shot was unbelievable. I came in at the end. We did three with them and brought back Vinny Guastaferro as the sheriff. He was the deputy and survived Jason Lives. We locked him up in the jail. Megannnnnn was his last line. [Laughs]. It was fun seeing him again. He has all white hair now, but he has all of his hair, which is great. It’s the first time he sees Jason and has a big plan to kill him. It was great to see everybody.
The Horror Lounge: Thank you so much for chatting with us!
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