Evil Dead's Necronomicon Ex-Mortis appears briefly in Jason Goes to Hell, and according to that film's director, Jason Voorhees is himself a Deadite. Among the 12 films that currently comprise the Friday the 13th franchise - there will presumably be more if the legal battle over the rights ever gets solved - 1993's Jason Goes to Hell is often considered an odd movie out. Some fans even cite it as the worst in the franchise, but that's probably being a bit over dramatic.

The primary knock against Jason Goes to Hell is its lack of the titular character. Following Friday the 13th being sold to New Line Cinema by Paramount, New Line decided they wanted to change up the series' formula, the problem was that the form this impulse took was turning Jason into a body-hopping demon. After Jason is finally killed conclusively by the FBI, the coroner is compelled to eat his heart, and Jason's soul than transfers from body to body, killing all the way. Fan favorite actor Kane Hodder actually returned as Jason, but only appears in person for a few minutes of the movie.

Related: Freddy vs. Jason: How Freddy Brings Jason Back From Hell

The change to Jason's origin really didn't make much sense, but it turns out that Jason Goes to Hell director Adam Marcus actually had an alternate explanation in mind to help make things clearer. Oddly enough, it involved making The Evil Dead canon in the Friday the 13th universe.

Jason Is A Deadite

Necronomicon in Evil Dead

Jason Goes to Hell contains several Easter eggs sure to delight horror fans, and famously ends with a tease for the eventual Freddy vs Jason crossover movie. One such fun moment is when the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis (or Book of the Dead) is discovered by protagonist Steven Freeman (John D. Lemay) at the Voorhees family home. Many fans have wondered why there's suddenly a "Voorhees house," but that's kind of beside the point. It's not even a replica either, and is actually the same prop used in the Evil Dead films.

Additionally, the mystical dagger Jason's suddenly existent niece Jessica needs to use to send him packing to Hell also greatly resembles the Kandarian Dagger seen in the Evil Dead franchise. According to Adam Marcus, while he knew New Line wouldn't be onboard with making the connection explicit - since they don't own the rights to Evil Dead - he absolutely intended the audience to intuit that Pamela Voorhees had used the Necronomicon to resurrect her son Jason, turning him into a Deadite. Of course, considering Jason Goes to Hell's outcast status, most fans are likely to push back against the idea of Jason swallowing anyone's soul anytime soon. Interestingly enough though, Evil Dead 2 contains an Easter egg implying that Freddy Krueger exists, and Jason would go on to battle Freddy on the big screen. If only someone would actually create a horror cinematic universe.

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