[BREW TO A KILL] JASON X And Space Cake

Next Friday is Friday the 13th but Jeremy is coming at you a week early with a Brew to a Kill to celebrate the sequel that works better with a couple of drinks in ya.

Not only is 2015 the 35th Anniversary of the original Friday the 13th, and the 30th Anniversary of Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, it’s also the 13th Anniversary of Jason X! It is no coincidence, it must be fate. Please enjoy this bonus Friday the 13th Brew to A Kill for the weirdest and silliest entry in the Voorhees saga.

2008 is the year Jason Voorhees’ (Kane Hodder) body count finally comes to an end. Or so the US Government would hope. Held in a maximum security prison in Crystal Lake, But Jason does what he does best and busts out killing everyone, including David Cronenberg!? The team leader, Rowan (Lexia Doig), is able to lure Jason into the cryogenic chamber. But a leak in the unit causes Rowan to be trapped with Jason. 450 years later the Earth in uninhabitable, a group of students discover the bodies. Bring them on board and make the huge mistake of thawing out Jason and Rowan. Professor Lowe (Jonathan Potts) has other plans. With two perfectly preserved specimens, Lowe is only seeing money. Unwisely the students are thawing the corpsicles. All it takes is a little hanky panky from some coeds to revive ol’ Hockey Head. And just like that it’s business as usual. In Space.

Now just hold on. I know I skipped a lot. Hell, the last time we checked in the action was at a halfway house in Pinehurst. Since then Jason was resurrected, drowned, battled a girl with telekinesis (whose name is definitely not Carrie), drowned again, took Manhattan, turned back into a kid by the acid in the New York sewer system, sold to New Line Cinema, killed by SWAT, jumped multiple bodies, reborn, and finally (yeah, sure) sent to Hell. PHEW. That tease at the end of Jason Goes to Hell was so cruel. Freddy Kruger’s glove popping out of the ground and taking that famous hockey mask down to Hell. What did it all mean? But the House That Freddy Built couldn’t get their ducks in a row. Who really knows how many different scripts were pitched for the Battle of the Century. New Line executives thought the difficult part was over, they now owned the rights to both characters. Freddy vs Jason wouldn’t hit the screens until 2003. Producers didn’t want to complicate an eventual grudge match so they sent Jason to the four hundred years into the future.

I’ll admit that Jason X holds a special place in my heart. It was the first in the franchise I was old enough to see in theaters. But I hadn’t watched it all the way through since I saw it that opening weekend in a theater full of nerds. I respect Jason X. Yeah it’s kind of weird, pretty dumb and majorly goofy. And it has no problem with that. Look I don’t think there’s many people, if any, willing to defend the bullshit of Jason Goes to Hell. This series gets a lot of free passes from fans. I don’t hear much bitching how Jason starts on a boat in Crystal Lake and pilots it to a small cruise ship on it’s way to New York City in Jason Takes Manhattan. Sure the nanotechnology is dumb and it doesn’t help that Jason look like Super Shredder. But there’s no denying that the liquid nitrogen death is a franchise highlight. Kane Hodder’s Jason is always fun to watch. And he shines in his last appearance. Give the film’s ending I’m surprised at least a comic spin off never popped up. In a post-Scream world New Line really had no idea what to do with this film. So it was shelved for 18 months. And on the 26th of April it was met with the same enthusiasm as a wet fart.

Space Cake is a double IPA from Clown Shoes Beer in Ipswich, Massachusetts. A double IPA is usually characterized as having a higher ABV and IBU(International Bitterness Unit) than a traditional IPA. Space Cake is made with Mosaic hops which have a citrus taste to them. The beer itself is balanced with quite a bit of malt. It’s hard to tell this has a 9% ABV.

This beer jumped out of me because of the artwork. I wasn’t sure quite what was going on but it looks just as ridiculous as Jason X. That’s just how my brain reacts. How can I relate this to Horror? Clown Shoes has not distribution in the state of Missouri. I drove over to Illinois to snag a bottle. That is one of the nice things about living so close to another state. Discovering beers that may not make it to your state. Space Cake is available in 22oz bombers. Which is great. But I ran out of beer with 30 minutes to go. Not a bad beer to movie ration but not the greatest.

Space is where some franchises go to die but if you still have a sense of humor, Jason X is well worth your time. I’m glad I revisited it. Next time I’ll know to bring more beer.