1993's JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY (which wasn't the "final FRIDAY") is a divisive entry in the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise. The ninth film in the series, it brings in a whole lot of mythology that hadn't even been hinted at in the previous eight films, giving iconic slasher Jason Voorhees an extended family and abilities we had never seen him put to use before. As it turns out, Jason can survive being blown to pieces because his spirit can take the form of a monstrous creature called the Hellbaby, which can be passed from person to person. After Jason's body is destroyed at the beginning of JASON GOES TO HELL, his spirit "body hops" its way through the rest of the film, possessing multiple people until it reaches another member of the Voorhees family. Once his spirit enters a Voorhees, Jason is reborn in all his hockey masked glory.
That's the good thing about having other Voorhees around. The downside for Jason is that other Voorhees are the only ones who can really kill him, sending him to Hell by planting a magic dagger in his heart.
JASON GOES TO HELL is nuts, and you either go along for the ride or reject the film's ideas right from the start.
In addition to crafting a new mythology for the franchise, JASON GOES TO HELL is also a movie packed with Easter eggs, from a cameo by Freddy Krueger (his hand, anyway) that set up the FREDDY VS. JASON crossover that would follow ten years later to the crate from CREEPSHOW being kept in the cellar of the Voorhees house.
Also featured is the Necronomicon from the EVIL DEAD films, which director Adam Marcus borrowed from Sam Raimi after he visited the special effects team KNB on the set of ARMY OF DARKNESS. A character in the film even leafs through the Necronomicon after finding it in the Voorhees house.
During a recent interview with HorrorGeekLife, Marcus revealed that he put a spotlight on this prop because he was trying to get across the idea that Jason Voorhees might be a Deadite… Because in Marcus's mind, Jason is a Deadite.
I was populating the film with Easter eggs, and at that time I was on set while writing the script, and spending time with Bob Kurtzman for The Evil Dead part 3 [Army of Darkness]. I had become friendly with Sam Raimi, so much so that he had shot several commercials in LA and I had hung out with him on set. Sam’s an amazing guy, and one of my heroes. So while I was there, I asked Sam if I could borrow the Necronomicon to put into my movie. Sam gave a bewildered “Why?!” and I explained the story. I was trying to create a mythology for Jason in this movie, because it had driven me nuts as a viewer.
I was there for the first Friday the 13th. I was ten years old when Sean Cunningham made that film, I’m best friends with his son Noel since we were six. Sean never expected this to turn into anything. He made a little thriller about a mom who murders a bunch of teenagers because she thinks they represent the teenagers who let her son die. But at the end of the movie – because he wanted to rip off Carrie, since it was a huge success – he thought, wouldn’t it be great if the kid leaps out of the water and grabs the girl? It ended up being the best scare in the movie.
Here’s the thing though, he never thought they were going to make a series of movies about the kid in the lake. Cut to several months later and Alice from the first movie is in her home and this full-size man (who was a boy two months ago) murders her- I know for me I was only twelve when part two came out, and even as a kid myself, I asked “What? Why isn’t it a boy, and how did he live for thirty years in a lake?” So what I told Sam was “I think it’s more fun if I have the Necronomicon in Pamela Voorhees’ house. She makes a deal with the devil by reading from the Necronomicon to bring back her son. This is why Jason isn’t Jason. He’s Jason plus The Evil Dead,” and now I can believe that he can go from a little boy that lives in a lake, to a full grown man in a couple of months, to Zombie Jason, to never being able to kill this guy.
That, to me, is way more interesting as a mash-up, and Raimi loved it! He literally went and picked up the book, put it in a plastic bag and told me to put it in the movie. So only Sam, myself, and Bob Kurtzman ever knew that was my agenda. It’s not like I could tell New Line my plan to include The Evil Dead, because they don’t own The Evil Dead. So it had to be an Easter egg, and I did focus on it… there’s a whole scene that includes the book, and I hoped people would get it and could figure out that’s what I’m up to.
So yes, in my opinion, Jason Voorhees is a Deadite. He’s one of The Evil Dead."
Given the demonic goings-on in JASON GOES TO HELL, it makes sense within that film that Jason could be a Deadite. For the overall franchise, I don't like the idea all that much. I don't need a dark magic explanation for Jason's abilities. I don't really need any explanation beyond the idea of Jason rising from the grave to get revenge for what happened to himself and his mother… But if you do need an explanation, Adam Marcus has provided one for you. Jason is a Deadite. Do you want to believe it or not?
The inclusion of the Necronomicon in JASON GOES TO HELL nearly led to another crossover, a FREDDY VS. JASON sequel that would have added Bruce Campbell into the mix as EVIL DEAD hero Ash. New Line Cinema pursued the idea, but the attempt to make a deal fell apart.