Crystal Lake

The last time machete-wielding villain Jason Voorhees appeared on screens was in Marcus Nispel’s 2009 remake of Friday the 13^th. Before that, he was fighting Freddy Krueger in Freddy vs Jason and slaughtering innocents in space in Jason X. After years of legal battles, the slasher icon returns in the long-awaited series Crystal Lake. Produced by A24, the show acts as a prequel to Sean S Cunningham’s 1980 original, putting a fresh spin on the franchise while serving as a blood-soaked love letter to the genre.

Taking place in the early 1970s, the plot predominantly centres around Pamela Voorhees (Linda Cardellini), who’s left reeling after witnessing her son (Callum Vinson) drown at the eponymous summer camp. The tragic backstory of the Voorhees family has always been a central part of the franchise’s mythology, which showrunner Brad Caleb Kane builds upon in meaningful and heartfelt fashion. By underscoring the loving bond shared between the pair, the show offers a better understanding of what drove Pamela to become the killer in the original film. It’s a more nuanced portrayal of the character, with Cardellini doing an outstanding job of conveying every ounce of her pain and rage.

The biggest new addition for the series is a subplot involving Pamela’s past, which begins when she brutally butchers two men who come looking for her in the first episode before dumping their bodies in the woods. Their remains are discovered by the town’s sheriff (a spectacular William Catlett), kickstarting an investigation that uncovers a shady corporation. While it expands on the Voorhees’s backstory in intriguing ways, the mystery is delivered at a glacial pace and will likely have long-time fans wondering if its inclusion was necessary.

Despite the script’s modern approach to the source material, Crystal Lake brilliantly captures the spirit of classic slashers. Alongside an opening title card that pays direct homage to the first film, the series makes effective use of POV shots and musical stings that evoke that era of cinema. The violence is also satisfyingly over-the-top, with an early scene involving a jaw and a meat tenderiser being particularly nasty.

Crystal Lake is ultimately a story about a mother’s grief. Although its slow-burn pace occasionally weighs down the action, the prequel manages to deliver a tender mother-son tale that establishes a solid foundation for any future sequels.

Andrew Murray

Crystal Lake is released on Sky on 19^th October 2026.

Watch the trailer for Crystal Lake here: