Author: Chris Snelgrove Published
A topic I’ve written passionately about before is that when you go back and rewatch a “bad” movie, you may find unexpected pleasures. For example, when I was recently checking out the remake of the infamous horror classic, I was surprised to see that Nana Visitor played Pamela Voorhees in the 2009 film Friday the 13th. In case you didn’t know, she’s best known for playing a Bajoran terrorist-turned-boss in the seminal series Star Wars: Deep Space Nine.
If you’ve seen this movie but don’t remember seeing Nana West in the recent Friday the 13th movie, that’s because her cameo appearance was very brief. The movie attempts to cram several of Jason Voorhees’ iconic legends into one story, which means we get a brief flashback at the beginning that essentially recreates the ending of the first film Friday the 13th. So our favorite Star Trek icon played Pamela Voorhees, the unexpected killer from the original series who had her head chopped off by a would-be victim and she became our first The final girl.
Another reason that is easily forgotten is that Nana Visitor appears in Friday the 13th The film follows her flashback sequence with a long cold open. We basically see a disparate group of young characters, obsessed with sex and pot, who are systematically murdered by Jason (who starts off with his new look of the baghead from the first sequel film). When we get to know the real-life cast of characters, it’s easy to forget that this movie started with a Star Wars legend playing one of the most iconic characters in horror movies.
Unfortunately, after the flashback sequence, we don’t get to see Nana Visitor show off her important acting skills. Friday the 13th. After all, chopping off her head at the beginning of the movie doesn’t leave her any room to do anything else. However, as a huge Star Wars: Deep Space Nine Fans, I hope this movie is a proper remake of the original, until Pamela Voorhees is revealed as the killer. Few can match the performance of original Pam star Betsy Palmer, but “The Visitor” deep space nine I believe she could have done the whole movie.
If you just want to see more Nana Visitor Friday the 13thyou are lucky (more or less). As with earlier entries in the series, Jason retains her severed head with a strangely sentimental sentiment. The Star Wars actor’s head first appears in a bit of a fright, but later takes on surprising narrative importance. This is because the film’s final girl realizes she has a superficial resemblance to Pamela Voorhees and uses this to temporarily trick Jason into escaping his clutches.
If you want to watch Nana Visitor’s haunting horror film, you can watch Friday the 13th (2009) on max. Admittedly, this movie isn’t for everyone, which is why it only has a 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But for those who want to see the Star Wars saga embodied in the horror saga, this surprisingly great remake (suck it, haters!) is definitely worth the price of admission.
