Nearly 40 years ago, film crews arrived in Baldwin County, Ala., to shoot a film. They kept the name under wraps until it hit theaters in 1988. That’s when people discovered one of the movies from the “Friday the 13th” franchise was partially filmed at Byrnes Lake in Stockton.
Only a few locals knew it was the seventh installment of the profitable “Friday the 13th” franchise. So as another Friday the 13th approaches this week here is some little-known trivia from the filming “Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood:”
1. It marked Kane Hodder’s debut as Jason.
Kane Hodder is the only actor to portray the crazed, hockey-mask-wearing killer Jason Voorhees more than one time. The stuntman-turned-actor played Jason four times and the first was in “The New Blood.”
2. A fake title helped keep locals in the dark.
Only a few locals were allowed to visit the set, and even they weren’t aware the crew was filming a “Friday the 13th” sequel until later, according to a 2015 post on AL.com. The crew kept the subject secret by referring to the movie as “Birthday Bash.”
3. It includes the longest fire stunt on record at the time.
Long before he played Jason, Kane Hodder worked as a stuntman who specialized in being set on fire – while in a specially made suit, of course. In 1989, Hodder was quoted in The Cavalier, the student newspaper for the University of Virginia, saying he set a record when he was on fire for 44 seconds in Part VII…