Crystal Lake: Friday the 13th Prequel Overstuffed, Pointless — SkimNews
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- Crystal Lake is an eight-part Peacock streaming series that expands the Friday the 13th franchise by exploring the backstory of killer Pamela Voorhees and her son Jason Voorhees
- Linda Cardellini stars as Pamela Voorhees in a performance the review calls 'at times ferociously compelling,' though creator Brad Caleb Kane's show wavers between prestige drama and 'Syfy channel goofiness'
- The series inflates Pamela from less than 15 minutes of screen time in the original 1980 film into a multi-faceted character spanning ex-nightclub singer, experimented-on Stepford Wife, grieving mother, and avenging angel
- The eight episodes pack in flashbacks, a conspiracy, romance, police corruption, a plucky journalist, a seance, a nefarious life coach, and a shadowy corporation—drawing comparison to 'Bates Motel but for a film without even a shred of the texture of Psycho'
- The Friday the 13th franchise spans 12 entries since 1980 grossing almost $500m globally, with no new installment following the middling 2009 remake until this series, though a new film is reportedly in the works
- Crystal Lake is available now on Peacock in the US, with Stan in Australia airing it 16 October and Now in the UK on 19 October
Why it matters: The Friday the 13th franchise, dormant since its middling 2009 remake despite almost $500m in lifetime global grosses across 12 films, has chosen streaming expansion over another theatrical reboot—and the review argues the eight-part Pamela Voorhees origin story fails to justify either the format switch or the franchise's return, even as rights-holders line up further Leatherface, Ghostface, and Michael Myers revivals.
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