First looks at 'Crystal Lake', the prequel series to 'Friday the 13th'

Happy Friday the 13th!

A24 and the streamer Peacock are celebrating the second Friday the 13th of the year in style, debuting the first official looks a Crystal Lakethe prequel series from the classic Friday the 13th.

This is the first project of the franchise Friday the 13th in sixteen years, since the theatrical release of the 2009 reboot.

The series has Brad Caleb Kane (IT: Welcome to Derry) as showrunner, creator, screenwriter and executive producer, and Linda Cardellini (Dead to Me, The Curse of La Llorona, E.R.) in a leading role as Mrs. Voorhees.

Her character was previously described as, “a mother who gave up her singing career to raise a child with special needs and who suffers a dark turn when she loses her little one.”

The official images do not show any faces, but we can see the bloody knife in Mrs. Vorhees' hand, as well as the lake where many tragedies will occur, and the bodies of some teenagers on the ground.

Take a look at the end of the note.

The series is a “expanded prequel” of the original classic, with the return of the characters Jason Voorhees and his mother, Pamela Voorhees, has a story that will cover the life and times of these two characters.

In addition to Cardellini, the cast includes Callum Vinson (God of War, Chucky, Long Bright River) as little Jason Vorhees in a recurring guest role, William Catlett (Abigail), Devin Kessler (Godfather of Harlem), Cameron Scoggins (Nashville), Gwendolyn Sundstromcon Nick Cordileone (Warrior) como Crazy Ralph, Danielle Kotch (Director’s Cut) as Claudette and Phoenix Parnevik (Bel Air) like Barry, characters from the original film, Nancy Nagrant as Kay Christy, a relative of Steve Christy from the original installment, and Joy Suprano (Fleishman is in Trouble) as Rita.

Crazy Ralph appeared in the first two films. He is a long-time Crystal Lake resident who drunkenly rambles about the curse of Camp Crystal Lake; We met Barry in the 1980 film as a camp counselor at Crystal Lake and the first victim of Pamela (Betsy Palmer in the film). He was characterized by Willie Adams. His girlfriend, Claudette, also a camp counselor, was Pamela's second victim.

And what can we expect about what he's doing with Crystal Lake?, “rivers of blood,” according to statements provided by Kane last December to EW:

“In many ways, it's a psychological thriller. It is a paranoid thriller from the 70s. It has all the DNA of a slasher without being one. There are rivers of blood in the series. There are sequences of murders, deaths and very clever murders, but everything is done at the service of the character, the theme, the place and the time“.

In the first movie Friday the 13th (1980) by Sean S. Cunningham, Pamela was the murderer who terrorized the counselors of a teen camp when they tried to reopen Camp Crystal Lake. Jason drowned at that camp years before, and his mother sought revenge against the counselors who didn't pay attention to him.

The 1981 sequel reinterpreted the story to present a reality in which Jason never drowned. The character became the face of the horror franchise as its masked killer.

With this context, Kane explains how he approached the story for the prequel series:

“I tried to think of Crystal Lake and a Friday the 13th prequel like: 'What era did the first film come from?' It emerged from the time of 70s paranoid thriller. From the time of the distrust in institutions. From the time of women's liberationof the National Women's Organizationfrom the time of awareness in the United States. “I wanted to explore all those themes.”

Regarding Cardellini's interpretation, Kane shared with the outlet:

“It's going to surprise a lot of people. I think He's going to get a lot of attention for this role.. Es incredibly bright. “I can't say much more.”

The series was announced in November 2022. Peacock ordered a full season for the series, with an option for a second season.

The first season, 8 episodesis directed by Michael Lennox (Derry Girls), Celine Held & Logan George (Caddo Lake) y Quyen Tran (The Pitt). Lennox directs the first episode with Maceo Bishop (The Watcher) as director of photography.

Victor Miller –writer of the original film– is another of the executive producers along with Kane, Marc Toberoff, Robert M. Barsamian, Robert P. Barsamian, Stuart Manashil and A24.

First looks: