A Misty Moon production.
“I think you’ll find this is going to be quite an experience...”
Written, rehearsed and shot all within the
space of 48 hours, Jason Read’s short and sweet love letter (or rather postcard
given its succinctness) to the original Friday the13th (1980) is both beautifully
played and executed (no pun intended).
With a premise as meta as meta can be, Adrienne King, playing herself - who originally played ‘Alice Hardy’, Camp Crystal Lake’s original final girl in the seminal slasher Friday the13th (1980) – is invited to a quiet village in England to have a waxwork made of her by ‘Dudley’ (David Barry), a famous sculptor residing in a historically quaint cottage. Upon arrival, Dudley informs Adrienne that: “this is the most I’ve ever been paid for a commission”, but when Adrienne asks about the client’s identify, all Dudley reveals is: “Let’s just say he’s a super-fan…”.
Pulling this project together from scratch at such short notice was quite some feat, but it’s a remarkable testament to all involved in the production, most notably writer/director/editor and composer Jason Read, that it delivers with such a deftness of touch and an affectionate nod and a final girl wink to horror fans.
Adrienne King is clearly having fun playing herself (even sporting her original ‘Alice Hardy’ hairstyle) whilst referencing her own visual artistry and of course her most iconic film role as the vanquisher of ‘Pamela Voorhees’: “…I am a bit familiar with beheadings myself”. The inimitable British comedy actor David Barry (who remarkably only became involved 12 hours before the shoot) plays the sculptor ‘Dudley’ (in a nice homage to the sadly missed actor Dudley Sutton) with delicious nervous relish: “Once I get started, it tends to get a bit messy”, and both he and Adrienne are great fun to watch as they interact to Jason Read’s impishly foreshadowing script.
The references to ‘Friday the 13th’ are carefully placed for the fans (and super-fan) and helmer Jason Read is generous in this regard. The soundtrack features a couple of sprinkles of composer Harry Manfredini’s iconic: ‘Ki Ki Ki, Ma Ma Ma' – one accompanying the arrival of a Southern region train into Robertsbridge station! The second can be heard as Dudley hangs up Adrienne’s coat – which just happens to be next to a yellow rain mac bearing a remarkable similarity to the one worn at Camp Crystal Lake. And speaking of which, I think I just might have spotted a glimpse of one of Adrienne’s original paintings depicting Camp Crystal Lake to the far right of the frame in the same shot. Producer and founder of Misty Moon productions, Stuart Morris cameos as the ‘Villager’, (IMDb lists his character as ‘Ralph’ in another wink to the franchise) – although in giving Adrienne directions he stops short of informing her Rose Cottage has a death curse!
As well as the specific Friday the 13th references, the actual cottage interiors offer some fascinating mise-en- scene including striking sculptures of vampiric ‘Mr Barlow’ from the TV series ‘Salem’s Lot’, Lon Chaney from the lost ‘London After Midnight’ and most notably the nightmare-inducing ‘Child Catcher’ from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’.
Premiered for cast and crew in London’s Phoenix Arts Club on 27th January 2025 before hitting the festival circuit, ‘The Commission’ has already garnered awards – in fact it won 10 (!) at The Hollywood Blood Horror Festival. It’s easy to see why, and I’m certain there will be many more in the pipeline as it’s a perfectly gift-wrapped treat for horror fans and Friday the 13th aficionados the world over, and I for one am glad it got commissioned.
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Paul Worts