Crystal Lake Review Says Peacock Prequel Leans Too Heavily on Pamela Voorhees
Ars Technica says Peacock's Crystal Lake gives Pamela Voorhees a long-awaited backstory but overfocuses on her.
According to Ars Technica, Crystal Lake instead strives to build a drama that is half homage and half uncharted territory while exploring the character. The review includes spoilers of the original Friday the 13th movie but avoids major Crystal Lake spoilers.
In the 1980 original, Pam Voorhees was the villain. Ars Technica notes that she shocked audiences by appearing out of nowhere during a brutal camp counselor killing spree and then confronting the final girl with a Norman Bates-like delivery of the film's chilling tagline, "Kill her, mommy," using the voice of her drowned son Jason.
Although the hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees became the horror icon at the center of the franchise, his mother continued to fascinate fans who knew very little about her, the review says. Pam was beheaded in the first film after just 13 minutes onscreen, and her spirit occasionally appeared in later films. Betsy Palmer, the original actor who portrayed Pam, refused to return, largely because the character has no depth, according to the review.
Linda Cardellini plays Pam Voorhees in Crystal Lake; Betsy Palmer played her in the original film. Ars Technica's review says the series' attention to Pam is both its project and, in the review's view, a limitation.