Adam Wingard spent the vast majority of his career working in the realm of low budget horror before being handed the reins of MonsterVerse crossover Godzilla vs. Kong, so it’s not surprising to discover that he peppered the epic creature feature with references to a genre he clearly holds dear.
However, it does come out of the blue to find out that there’s a Jason X Easter Egg, if only because the futuristic Friday the 13th sequel is hardly regarded as one of the franchise’s high points. The sci-fi slasher flopped at the box office after earning less than $17 million back in 2002 and is one of the lowest-rated entries in the series on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics and audiences scoring it at 19% and 25% respectively. That being said, Wingard is clearly a fan, and in a new interview he revealed the Jason X tribute that he managed to sneak into his $200 million blockbuster.
“The big reference that I haven’t seen anyone pick up on is when Kong folds up and kills Nozuki (aka Warbat) that was inspired by the holo-deck murder scene in Jason X when Jason picks up the camper in their sleeping bag and smashes them around.”
Fans keep discovering the various winks and nods that the filmmaker managed to hide in plain sight throughout Godzilla vs. Kong, including the giant ape popping his shoulder back into place like Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon 2, as well as the ruler of Skull Island jumping away from an explosion in a shot that’s framed almost identically to John McClane launching himself off the Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard.
With a Face/Off sequel at the scripting stage and a live-action/CGI ThunderCats hybrid in early development, Wingard is clearly a man for all genres, but it remains to be seen how many diehard horror fans instantly picked up on Godzilla vs. Kong homaging the way Jason Voorhees swung around his holographic victims in Jason X.
Published: Apr 23, 2021 07:27 am