"A psychological thriller": Crystal Lake creator shares details about the upcoming Friday the 13th spin-off series

Crystal Lake brings something different to horror TV. A24 and Peacock announced the series back in 2022, helmed by Brad Caleb Kane. He recently discussed what fans can expect from the upcoming Friday the 13th prequel series. Kane worked on HBO's It: Welcome to Derry before this project. He understands how tricky it is to revisit classic horror films. His take on Crystal Lake delves into the psychological side, rather than relying on cheap scares everywhere.

Linda Cardellini plays Jason's mother, Pamela Voorhees. Cardellini has already garnered three Emmy nominations. So what's Kane's vision here? He calls it a paranoid thriller. Think 1970s cinema vibes. There's blood and creative kills for sure, but those things support the characters and story first. This isn't your typical slasher show at all. It might change how people think about Friday the 13th altogether.

A Different kind of horror

Kane sees Crystal Lake as more than just another slasher show. He told Entertainment Weekly it's really a psychological thriller at heart:

"In many ways, it's a psychological thriller. It's a paranoid '70s thriller. It has all of the DNA of a slasher without quite being a slasher. There are rivers of blood in the show. There are very, I think, ingenious kill sequences and deaths and murders, but it's all done in service of character and theme and place and time."

Kane looked at what spawned the original Friday the 13th back in the day, which was directed by Sean S. Cunningham in 1980.

It emerged during a peculiar period in American history. People didn't trust institutions anymore. The 1970s saw women fighting for their rights. Consciousness was shifting across the country. Kane wants to play with all those ideas in the show.

Callum Vinson plays young Jason. The original Friday the 13th had Pamela killing counselors at Camp Crystal Lake years ago. Her son Jason drowned there years before. She blamed the counselors for not watching him. The sequel changed things up, though. Turns out Jason didn't really drown after all. He came back as the leading killer.

What makes this version different from Crystal Lake?

The cast looks solid. William Catlett plays Levon Brooks. Devin Kessler is Briana Brooks. Cameron Scoggins morphs into Dorf, and Gwendolyn Sundstrom plays Grace.

Plot details? They're keeping those locked down tight. Filming kicked off in New Jersey in June 2025 and included elements in West Milford. They went back to Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in Blairstown. That's the same camp from the 1980 film.

High expectations from Cardellini in Crystal Lake

Kane can't stop praising Cardellini's work. He thinks people will be shocked. He used the word "inconceivably brilliant" to describe it.

Betsy Palmer originally played Pamela Voorhees in 1980. That Friday the 13th set the standard.

This is A24's first big IP project. Victor Miller, who wrote the original film, is on board as an executive producer. Marc Toberoff and Robert Barsamian will serve as producers. Bryan Fuller was supposed to run the show but left in May 2024. Kane stepped in that August.

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How will 1970s culture shape everything? Can they really balance the psychological stuff with what horror fans want? Kane's got a clear plan here. He wants to dig into where the tragedy started. Social commentary matters to him. Cultural context matters too. The paranoid thriller angle gives them room to ground it. Less supernatural, more human drama. Peacock plans to drop the series in 2026. Fans waiting for it should expect something beyond the usual horror formula. They're mixing historical context with the scares everyone knows and loves from the franchise.

Crystal Lake appears to be a bold take on Friday the 13th lore, built around characters and their compelling stories.

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