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Ken Kirzinger As Jason Voorhees: An Analysis

2/21/2021

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To this day, Friday the 13th fans are pissed that Kane Hodder was replaced by Ken Kirzinger. But was Ken a bad choice?
Aside from the iconic hockey mask and machete, what do you think about when you hear the name Jason Voorhees? He’s obviously a monster who slashes almost anything in his path, but how does he move in your mind? Is he a slow, lumbering zombie capable of stealth and swift attacks? Despite his evil, are his eyes sad and sympathetic? Or perhaps he’s an angry, hulking monster that smashes everything and will not stop coming after you? Are his eyes full of rage?

Well, the first description describes the Jason Voorhees portrayed by Ken Kirzinger, the colossal Canadian giant who played Jason in Jason v. Freddy. The second description of Jason fits the style of Kane Hodder, who played Jason in four films and most recently in the Friday the 13th video game.  


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Kane Hodder is under the makeup here (Friday The 13th: The New Blood) His vengeful portrayal of Jason Voorhees was so successful that he wound up playing the character in four consecutive films.
To this day, Friday the 13th fans are upset that Kane Hodder was not invited back to play Jason in Freddy v. Jason. Director Ronny Yu wanted to go in a different direction. He wanted a “new Jason.” But, despite being a fan of Kane Hodder, I had to objectively ask myself, “Was this a bad thing?”

Before Kane Hodder wore the hockey mask, each actor that played Jason portrayed him a bit differently, although the overall style was the same. CJ Graham (Friday The 13th, Jason Lives) was the first to make noticeable changes. At the beginning of the film, Jason’s maggot infested corpse was struck by lightning and became more of a supernatural being. This Jason could not be hurt, had superhuman strength, and could seemingly teleport. Stealth was probably his greatest weapon in the film, as his victims could almost never see him coming.

The director for the next film (Friday The 13th, The New Blood) was friends with Kane Hodder and hired him to wear the mask for the next film. Kane’s version of Jason was a new animal altogether. Each movement and kill was done with an insane rage and power we’d never seen from the monster before. In addition, Kane developed his own vocabulary of movement for the character. This Jason would intimidate victims sometimes by just standing there, doing idle breaths. He would also move his head and the rest of his body would follow its lead in sync. Kane’s Jason was a hit with audiences and he wound up playing the characters for four consecutive films.

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Jason spooked the HELL out of Arsenio Hall by appearing on his late night talk show. Kane Hodder donned the costume to promote "Jason Takes Manhattan."
In Hodder’s portrayals, Jason spared no one. (However, Kane Hodder revealed in an interview that Jason would never hurt kids, as he was once a child victim himself). Kane was brilliant in the role, as he was able to communicate his anger, confusion, fear and other emotions using only his body and never his face.

Unfortunately, Kane developed a reputation for being difficult to work with behind the camera. There are stories that he would sometimes hold up production by arguing with the producers about what Jason would or would not do. 

Freddy v. Jason Director Ronny Yu wanted nothing to do with this. So he instead hired a lumbering stuntman from Canada named Ken Kirzinger. Ken was much more cooperative and just happy to have the part. With Ken wearing the hockey mask, Ronny would not have to worry about being intimidated by Kane Hodder. 

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Ken Kirzinger's 6'5 height only increased his intimidating presence.
Ronny had his own vision of Jason Voorhees. He wanted a slow, zombie monster in the vein of Frankenstein. This is why Jason suddenly went from being an angry hulking monster in the previous films to being a slow and silent killer in Freddy v. Jason. 

In Ronny’s movie, Jason is actually the lesser of two evils. Freddy is the evil mastermind. Jason is no saint obviously, but the movie shows him being bullied by his peers as a child. We also see Freddy manipulate his fear of water and love for his vengeful mother. Ronny wanted Jason to have “sensitive eyes.” Because of these vulnerabilities, Jason almost comes across as an anti-hero.

Kirzinger did not copy any of Hodder's signature Jason movements. Well, except for one. Like Hodder, Kirzinger's Jason would tilt his head to the side like a puppy whenever he was puzzled by something. It's almost adorable.
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Many say that Ken was basically sized up and given the part, which is true. But when you watch Freddy v. Jason, his size difference with Robert Englund makes a hell of a contrast. He towers over Freddy and everyone else in the movie. This heightens his intimidation factor.

When I finally sat down recently to watch the movie for the first time in years, it clicked. “I got it. I see Ronny’s vision.”

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If Kane Hodder had clashed with Freddy, the two would have been nearly the same height, and Jason's fierce rage would not have put him in position to be a sympathetic anti-hero.
On an interesting side note, this was not Ken Kirzinger's first time replacing Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees. Kirzinger previously played Jason in a few brief scenes in Jason Takes Manhattan. Jason suddenly appears much leaner and taller during these scenes.

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Amusingly, Kirzinger played the owner of a NY diner in that movie who was flung into the wall by Jason.
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Kane Hodder, in the meantime, has been playing a lesser known horror creature - Victor Crawley in the Hatchet film series. Victor is a powerful and tragic figure like Jason, but a behaves more like a wild beast than a demon. 
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Kane Hodder as Victor Crawley in the Hatchet film series.
Kane Hodder will always be Jason Voorhees. However, Ken Kirzinger did his job well and his Jason was the perfect fit for what Ronny Yu set out to do. Kane’s raging Jason would have perhaps been a bigger threat to Freddy, but Kirzinger’s Jason came across as a misunderstood monster - the guy you almost felt bad for and wanted to beat Freddy. That is what Ronny was going for, and it worked.

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Ken Kirzinger was chosen to play Jason Voorhees because of his height and "sensitive eyes."
Kane Hodder is my favorite Jason Voorhees. But Ken Kirzinger did not do a bad job, (he's actually my second favorite) and I think it's unfair that people put him down just because his name isn't Kane Hodder.

What do you think?
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Who KILLED Joel Larson? The Suspects.....

2/15/2021

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The Main Cast
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Maggie Taylor (Protagonist) Insecure, timid, anxious and depressed. Desperate to save her job by solving the Joel Larson murder case and locate her missing daughter. Her life is complicated by her impatient boss Commissioner Mickey, her overbearing mother Rachel, a vengeful ex-boyfriend and a terrorist group out to kill her. Although she has enough problems, her bipolar diagnosis makes things harder.

Joel Larson   (D
euteragonist)   The 24 year-old mentally disabled man whose life and death are the focal point of the story. Joel was highly intelligent but had the maturity of a ten year-old child. He suffered from constipation,  autism, pathological laughter, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. He had a long history of racism, violence and both physical and sexual assault, but was on his way to redemption when he was murdered. However, a lot of his bad behavior was the result of his mental disorders and bad parenting.

Jacob Taylor:  Maggie’s friendly and concerned husband. He tries to keep her laughing and is always in her corner. Although he is a goofball, he is mentally tougher than Maggie. He is her backbone.

Commissioner Leonard Mickey: Maggie's gruff boss, and the most popular police officer in the city. So popular, in fact, that he is running for governor and en route to an easy victory. 


Lamont Jackson: Lamont is a famous journalist who is also the disgruntled ex-boyfriend of Maggie. He still resents her for breaking his heart years ago, and is actively out for revenge.

Dr. Theodore Chung: Joel's friendly psychologist. He also treats Maggie. 

Mallory Taylor: Maggie's recently adopted daughter. She suddenly disappears from school one day.

The Jaspers: A group of terrorists who confirm that Maggie is their next target.



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The Suspects
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Aaron Henson: A pedophile who lives across the street from Joel.

Kinky Christa: A sex worker who rejects Joel.

Jackie Larson: Joel's older brother. Joel attacked his wife and caused her to miscarry. As a result, Jackie has never forgiven Joel.

Kelly Patterson: An evangelist caretaker Joel attempted to rape.

Crazy Dan: A homeless alcoholic veteran who was near the crime scene.

​Mark Tupola: An effeminate caretaker beaten up badly by Joel.

Tiana Jones: A former colleague of Joel's. Joel fondled her at McDonald's and she threatened to kill him.

Amaya Turner: One of Joel's caretakers. Joel broke her windshield and knocked her out with his fist.

Mae Sanderson: A smug and jaded elderly caretaker who openly despises Joel.

Randy Venson: An innocent caretaker Joel frames to get arrested by the police.

Damon Richards: Maggie's new assistant. He's shy, introverted and secretive. 

Sarah Vaughn: The 21 year-old jogger who discovered Joel's body.


Author's Notes
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What's good? Thanks for reading. There are actually more characters and suspects than these people, but these characters are perhaps the most important. Here is a write-up of the full plot. 
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Purchase Who Killed Joel Larson? Here!

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A college student's review of "Who KILLED Joel Larson?"

2/10/2021

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Last week I came across this random email from a woman in Brazil. She said she was in college and well, I'll let you read what she wrote. Nothing kinky though, if that's what you were expecting...

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Who could say "no" to that? Not this guy! Ha! I replied thanking her for taking the time to read the novel and enjoying it enough to write a book report on it. That was quite the honor! She sent me the review and has yet to receive a grade on it. (She said she should have her grade in a few days). I asked her if I could share her essay on the book on my website to further promote the novel. She was excited by the idea! She even submitted a picture to go along with her essay. There are a few minor spoilers here, but she doesn't reveal the big reveals and surprises. So without delay, here is Vienna Oliveira's book report on my new novel, Who KILLED Joel Larson?

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Vienna Oliveira
What is it like to be inside the mind of a person struggling with intense mental turmoil? Imagine how it would affect your relationships and career? We get to experience this by witnessing two years in the life of a police detective named Maggie Taylor in the refreshing crime thriller, “Who Killed Joel Larson?” written by an award-winning journalist named A..J. Dugger III in Memphis, TN.

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This book is very different from typical murder mysteries. There are several storylines weaving in and around the main plot. In addition to solving the murder case, Maggie is confronted with other problems including a demanding boss, bipolar disorder, infertility, the disappearance of her adopted child, public humiliation, among other things.

The book takes place in a small fictional Tennessee town called Horono during the years 2020-22. However, there are many italicized flashbacks throughout the book. Since Joel Larson is discovered dead at the start of the book, these flashbacks are how we get to know Joel and witness his interactions with other people throughout his life and leading up to his sudden death. 

​The characters are presented realistically. Maggie Taylor is struggling with manic depression. Her self confidence is non-existent. She is a lean tomboy who wears her hair in a fishtail braid every day. Because of her mood disorder, she is failing at her job and her impatient boss Commissioner Mickey gives her one last case to solve. If Maggie does not solve Joel Larson’s murder in a timely matter, she will be fired. 



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Maggie’s support system is her husband, Jacob. He is Maggie’s foil, as he is very self confident and rather silly all the time. Commissioner Mickey begins as an antagonist boss to Maggie but the two bond over the course of the novel, developing a father-daughter type of bond. Other major characters include Maggie’s adopted pre-teen daughter Mallory, the town’s favored psychologist Dr. Theodore Chung, and of course Joel Larson himself, who is the focal point of most of the flashbacks. 

The supporting cast consists of Maggie’s overbearing parents, Joel Larson’s family, and the former colleagues, classmates and caretakers for Joel, most of whom have legit reasons to want him dead. One of the suspects is Aaron Henson, a pedophile who lives across the street from Joel. Others include Kelly Patterson, (the pretty blond evangelist who Joel attempted to rape) Tiana Jones, (a woman Joel fondled at McDonalds) Maggie's secretive new assistant Damon Richards, and a host of others including Joel’s own brother Jackie, who once held Joel at gunpoint after Joel attacked his pregnant wife and made her miscarry.

There are a LOT of suspects. I only named a few. 


Joel Larson’s murder may be the main plot but there are many other problems confronting Maggie. She is infertile, so she and her husband Jacob adopted two children. Maggie and her daughter Mallory do not bond right away. Just as they start to get comfortable with each other, Mallory disappears.

Maggie’s ex-boyfriend is now a famous journalist who is intent on using his resources to destroy her. Knowing her plight, he not only rushes to solve the case before her, but he humiliates her by exposing a fatal car accident from Maggie’s past where she carelessly (but accidentally) killed a five-year African American child named Donovan Mitchell. In the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement, the public is quick to turn on Maggie, who is a Jewish police officer. Her car is vandalized, she is bullied online, and the horror will not stop. The public views her as a racist child murderer.


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Just when you think Maggie has enough problems, more pop up. A defunct group of cop killers known as The Jaspers have reunited. They announce that Maggie and Commissioner Mickey are their next targets. Maggie has a lot to deal with and is fighting a mental illness on top of it. At times she can’t tell if her depression is maximizing her troubles or not.

In the midst of all of this happening to Maggie, we get many entertaining Joel Larson flashbacks. Since Joel's body was discovered during the prologue, these flashbacks are how we get to know him.

During his younger years, he ruins the kindergarten black history play, lifts up a nun’s dress, and finds other original ways to get into trouble.


Joel was sent to a mental hospital after trying to stab his father at age 17. We get a few glimpses of Joel’s time there, as well as his brief stint in a halfway house where he was released after knocking out the program’s director. Because of this, Joel was ordered to live in a house along where caretakers assisted him around the clock. 

Joel suffered from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, frontal lobe autism and pathological laughing.

We get to view Joel through the perspective of others and even get to know Joel’s personal feelings by reading his journal. Joel wants to have a good heart but his diagnosis gets in the way. 

He is capable of doing heroic things, as he saved an old couple from a wolf attack and saved the life of a friend suffering from a seizure.

Still, he was rejected by a sex worker, he has racist outbursts, he has physically attacked a lot of  people (including his dentist), he obsesses over women, he has tried to rape women, etc. Joel’s only friends at the time of his death were his pet turtle and the animals in the forest near his home.

However, not only was Joel on the road to redemption when he was killed, but we also find out the understandable root of his anger later in the novel. By the end of the story, you will definitely feel sorry for him.


PictureDamn, Joel.

Maggie’s problems are eventually solved, but never in the way you’d expect. The author throws in many plot twists that will certainly catch you off guard. The story and characters may appear to go in a certain direction, but eventually the author redirects his readers. The reader is in Maggie’s shoes and she is generally just as surprised at the swerves and twists as we are. Red herrings are everywhere and planted at just the right times to throw you off.

I highly recommend this book. Not only is the story constantly moving forward and keeping you on edge, but the author writes in a straightforward way. Mr. Dugger paints a picture with his words so well that it’s like watching a movie. You can picture everything you read. The characters are well developed and realistic. Unlike other authors, he doesn’t waste time spending entire chapters focusing on character development. We get to know the suspects primarily when they are interrogated by Maggie, or in their interactions with Joel and Maggie. 

One minor character, for example, reluctantly becomes a hitman for a crime boss because it’s the quickest way he can get money to save his dying son. Another minor character was molested at a young age and copes by joining a Satanic cult. These are plots that could be novels of their own. Mr. Dugger has a wide imagination. You may think reading this that some of these subplots sound random, but trust me they are not. Everything adds up and ties into the main plot.

The pacing is well done. The story moves quickly in perpetual motion. Even when the action slows down a bit, it’s never boring and still leads you to the next inevitable shocker. The book's conclusion was quite a surprise and left me wanting more! Fans of this book will definitely desire a sequel.

I finished this entire novel in two days. The cliff hangers and constant plot twists made this one roller coaster ride of an experience. This is the best book I have read in a long time. 

-Vienna Oliveira


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Find out who KILLED Joel Larson by clicking here

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    Award-Winning Journalist A.J. Dugger III

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    A.J. Dugger is an Award-Winning Television and Print & Media Journalist.

    He appears as a crime analyst on the TV-One crime series, For My Man, and is the author of four books: Black Journals,  the horror anthology SoUtHeRn TeRrOr, the mystery crime thriller Who KILLED Joel Larson? and The Dealers: Then and Now, the sensational story of his mother and uncles' career as a funk band.

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