Movie Review: ‘Never Hike Alone’ is the Ultimate Fan Made Horror Film
Greetings, my fellow nerdlings. Being as it is around the time of Halloween, I decided to dive into some old classics. One of them being Friday the 13th. My following of the series led me to join the social media group ‘Club Voorhees’ as well as ‘Deborah Voorhees Shear Horror’ Group. Both groups were highly recommending the fan made horror film, Never Hike Alone, which is a fan made parody based off of characters and settings from the original series – Friday the 13th.
Let me tell you, this film is absolutely fantastic and probably one of the best fan made horror films that I have ever seen. For multiple reasons.
Never Hike Alone follows the story of Drew Leighty (Kyle McLeod), a young backcountry hiker who discovers the long lost remains of Camp Crystal Lake. There his survivor skills are put to the test, when he discovers the deep dark secret that lies within.
What makes this story especially unique is that it not only is shot from a third person perspective, but also from a point of view in which Drew films himself on his camcorder for all of his hiking enthusiast bloggers.
The films main focus is the game of hunt and the hunted, a stalking showdown between Drew and Jason. Drew is a character that I immediately found myself getting attached to within five minutes of him being on screen. He’s tough as nails, has a sense of adventure, and is extremely charismatic. He’s the character that you find yourself wanting to survive.
As the movie persists, the suspense is ever lingering. There was not a point or time during this movie when I was NOT on the edge of my seat. The direction by Director Vincent DiSanti was absolutely perfect. Speaking of DiSanti, he was actually the character of Jason Voorhees in the film – with stunts performed by Bryan Forrest.
This thriller is 55-minutes long, which may seem a bit odd off the tongue. However, that is just enough time to hold our interest, keep on the up with the suspense and get the story of the Legend of Jason Voorhees across.
What I think tops this film over the top, is how loyal and dedicated Vincent DiSanti is to the Friday the 13th franchise. A lot of people may say ‘anyone can throw on a hockey mask and be given direction’. Sure, anyone could do that. However, not very many people could dedicate themselves to capturing the story behind the character and selling it as unique.
What I also loved about this film, is that it was so different. It was not your typical Friday movie featuring a group of counselors who go to a camp in the woods to binge on drugs, sex and alcohol. It is just one hiking extremist, out for an adventure. I think that’s what really drew me in. It was just so different and so unique. There hasn’t ever been a fan film quite like it… and I love it.
Bottom line – Be sure to add Never Hike Alone to your Halloween ‘must watch’ list. This isn’t your everyday fan film, it’s actually scary and extremely well put together. I cannot rave enough about this film.
As an avid horror fan, and an extreme Friday the 13th fan, I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is looking for a suspenseful thriller with a twist of horror and an occasional dab of humor.
Also, I don’t want to ruin anything… but for those of you who are loyalists to the franchise, be on the lookout for an incredibly surprising twist and cameo at the end!
Original. Brilliant. THRILLING!
You can check out the film below, right on YouTube!
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Julia recently published her first novel, titled; Anomic. She is currently co-authoring a novel called ‘Snow Falls’. She has a B.A in Communications with concentrations in Professional Writing and Public Relations. She is also in the United States Army Reserves as a Military Police Officer, and is currently in the process of going back to school for her Masters Degree in Business. When she isn’t writing, she is co-owner of a film production studio called ‘Valentine Productions LLC’ and she frequently spends her weekends acting in films, or being a stuntwoman.
