Friday the 13th slasher icon Jason Voorhees gets a shout-out in Kevin Smith’s The 4:30 Movie

There are some minor SPOILERS ahead if you don’t want anything about writer/director Kevin Smith’s new film The 4:30 Movie given away before you see it… but for those of you who would like to weigh whether not these are the sort of spoilers you feel you should avoid, I will say that this only concerns one exchange of dialogue and some of the special thanks seen in the end credits. Now, to get to the point: The 4:30 Movie is in theatres as of today, and since its release date also happens to be a Friday the 13th, I thought it was worth pointing out and celebrating the fact that Jason Voorhees, the iconic star of the Friday the 13th franchise, gets a shout-out in the movie!

Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age comedy that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.

Austin Zajur (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), Nicholas Cirillo (Outer Banks), and Reed Northrup (High Maintenance) play sixteen year old friends Brian David, Burny, and Belly, with Siena Agudong (Resident Evil) as the dream girl, Melody Barnegat. Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Sam Richardson (Veep), Genesis Rodriguez (Tusk), Justin Long (Barbarian), Jason Lee (Almost Famous), Rachel Dratch (I Love My Dad), Kate Micucci (The Big Bang Theory), Adam Pally (Sonic the Hedgehog), Harley Quinn Smith (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood), Jason Biggs (American Pie), and Method Man (Garden State) are also in the cast.

The 4:30 Movie was filmed at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey, a theatre Smith now co-owns and used to hang out in every weekend when he was a teenager. Liz Destro, Josh Bachove, and Jordan Monsanto produced, with Bill Bromiley, Shanan Becker, and Jonathan Saba executive producing.

Since the movie follows a trio of movie-obsessed teens living in the ’80s, it’s not too surprising that they end up talking about slasher movies at one point – and since the viewing of slasher movies, especially Friday the 13th movies, takes up a large chunk of my life, this dialogue exchange happens to be one of my favorite parts of The 4:30 Movie. After Burny says he’s a horror movie expert and a slasher fan, Brian David asks him, “Who wins in a fight between Jason, Freddy, Leatherface, and Michael Myers?” Burny answers, “My man Jason Voorhees.” Which is a great answer, because my man Jason would also be my pick – and it’s nice to see the slasher icon get such respect in a movie that has been released on a Friday the 13th. But Brian David says the correct answer is, “The audience. We all win.” Which, if such a movie were to be made, would be true.

During the end credits scroll, Smith gives a special thanks to a long list of people, characters, and pastimes that gave him a happy childhood – and included on that list is Jason Voorhees, along with his fellow slasher Michael Myers.

As mentioned, The 4:30 Movie is in theatres now. JoBlo’s own Alex Maidy and I both rank it highly as one of the best movies Smith has ever made. You can read Alex’s review HERE.

Will you be watching The 4:30 Movie, and are you glad to hear that Jason Voorhees gets a nod in the movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.