One of the benefits
of the fan film phenomenon is that it takes transregional Hollywood
franchises and relocates them, creating refreshingly regionalized
re-imaginings. No Man’s Land
transplants the Friday the 13th license
into the
United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the cast attempts to play it off as if
the events depicted are happening in the United States. Hearing
unskilled British actors trying to pull off American accents—most
of which tend toward Deep Southern inflection, for whatever
reason—quickly wears thin. It doesn’t help that they’re
stumbling through their lines all the while. Much of the cast is
thirty or older. While this isn’t exactly convincing given Friday
the13th’s traditionally youth-infused casting, it
creates some interesting interactions. There is, for instance, a
compelling moment when Jason confronts the entire group. Forced to
choose a victim among the scattering campers, he chases after
(spoiler alert) the older woman, who evidently reminds him of his
mother. Many of the kills in No Man’s
Land deserve commendation. The
Crazy Ralph character suffers from a protracted choking which goes on
far longer than his swift suffocation in the canonical Part 2. Other kills have campers
spilling innards and entrails in an admirable excess of detail. The
director also adds some nice innovation to the accustomed rock-smash
kill: In this case, the victim takes the rock to the mouth, making
for a veritable orthodontic holocaust. Apart from these kills, however,
there is little else salvageable in the British version of Friday
the 13th. The directors would have offered far more to the fandom, I contend, had they gone
the route of Jason Takes Buckingham Palace
or Jason vs. Jack the Ripper.
Watch it here.