Never Hike Alone

Wow! I have seen a few "fan films" and they can often be fun but amateurish. This flick manages to set the bar very high for any fan films that may follow. If you're a fan of the franchise then you will love this well-made addition. It might not be perfect but it has more heart than a lot of horror movies coming out of Hollywood and deserves accolades. For Jason's sake....give this man a feature film!!

Not that you'd know by the cover but Never Hike Alone is a Friday 13th fan film, in fact it's hard to believe since the whole thing looks so darn professional.

It tells the story of a guy making a video for his social media site, he's travelling through the forest and comes across the remnants of an all too familiar camp. Before he knows it he's being pursued by everyones favorite hockey mask wearing psychopath.

Now again let's be clear this doesn't look like a fan film and if you didn't know better could almost be confused with being an actual entry into the franchise.

Standing at around the 50 minute mark with fantastic production quality and including the return of Tommy Jarvis (Played by franchise alumni Thom Mathews) this is very impressive.

As much as I like Jason I've tended to find the Friday 13th series quite underwhelming. For the most part I've never thought they were bad, just not as monumental as most believe themselves. This however is very respectable and I'd love to see the creators get their hands on funds to make a feature movie (Even if it is about Jason).

The cast do a solid job, it's well scored and I'd consider it essential viewing for fans of the franchise.

The Good:

Looks and sounds considerably too good to be a "Fan film"

The Bad:

Jason was far too small

Weak ending

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Recording yourself breaking the law and then uploading it onto your social media page for the world to see makes perfect sense

We need more chokeslams through tables in the movies

Very surprised at how good this fan film is!!! This is well wrote, shot, edited, directed & acted!!! I have seen some other fan films & this is the only one that is a top notch film!!! Me personally, I think this is better than the franchise movies from part 7 on!! Anyone out there wanting to do their own fan film, watch this one first & see how to do it!! I say this because I watched Return To Crystal Lake before I watched this movie & the first was nothing but a joke!! It's like they just threw together some people and filled in the blanks with those people while filming Return!! That is a very poorly done film!!! Again guys, very well done on Never Hike Alone!!!

While the official Friday the 13th movie set for release today was cancelled this is a worthy replacement.

This is the best looking Friday the 13th fan film I've ever seen with some simply stunning outdoor cinematography and extremely well- made sets for a tiny budget fan film.

Having the movie be about one person trying to survive against Jason gives the movie a different feel to the original movies. The one on one survival aspect is what makes the movie worth watching as it isn't just a cheaply made Friday the 13th rip-off like most other Friday fan films it's something entirely different; there's more suspense and a focus on survival instead of sex and partying, a welcome change.

The special effects are great; there's a scene where Jason bleeds through the holes in his mask that made me jump forward in my seat, I can't believe they never did that in any of the 11 Friday movies with the mask.

The few kills were fairly lacklustre, save for one kill that takes place in a dream, but this isn't a body count film and I didn't expect there to be any kills at all. The action is really focused on the fight scenes with Jason which were done better than most of the official movies.

A few things that irked me: Jason's mask was totally white, no red triangles, but I assume this was done for legal reasons as I've seen the mask look different elsewhere before (eg. GTA 5 White hockey mask was updated to no longer look like Jason's mask). Jason's footsteps are very loud to the point where it gets annoying, plus a few other sound effects were pretty annoying; why would an axe make a *shiiinnng* sound when being pulled out of dirt?

Overall a fantastic movie that I would rank higher than some of the official Friday the 13th movies, plus it has a wonderful surprise for Friday fans at the end of the movie that leaves the story open for a potential sequel. This film is a must-see for any Friday the 13th fan.

Going into this knowing it was a fan made story and shortened I was sure what to expect but it delivered on a fun way of rediscovering the camp. There were plenty of throwback moments and details that made the wandering around the camp suspenseful and the movie does a great job building until Jason arrives.

The lead actor does a good job making you feel the emotion and keeping the tension up. Once Jason is there we get all the things we love about Friday the 13th movies. The interaction and battle between Jason and the lead were good and kept you in the moment.

The ending falls a little short for me and almost feels out of place compared to the explore and survive that the first 45 minutes did a wonderful job storytelling. There is a cool throwback in the final minutes that fans will love but unfortunately I think it actually takes away from how good the first 45 had been.

If your fan of Friday the 13th movies definitely check this one out and remember if you find yourself at Camp Blood "Run!"