Jason Voorhees is animated for the first time in “Never Hike Alone: Ghosts in the Fog,” a new fan film you can watch free on Womp Stomp Films’ YouTube channel. He has 10 minutes to terrorize 3 campers whose weekend trip leads them into the fog around Camp Crystal Lake, where Jason’s waiting.
Released November 13, the short is the 4th entry in Womp Stomp’s “Never Hike Alone” series and its first animated installment. Director Vincente DiSanti teamed with co-director Juan Rivera and Mexico-based Mako Animation Studio for the 2D production. Rivera founded Mako in 2015, and its other work includes the YouTube series “John Death.”
DiSanti founded Womp Stomp Films in 2016, then released “Never Hike Alone” in 2017. The snowy prequel “Never Hike in the Snow” followed in 2020. For the feature-length “Never Hike Alone 2” in 2023, “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives” actors Thom Mathews and Vincent Guastaferro returned as Tommy Jarvis and Sheriff Rick Cologne.
These are independent fan productions using characters and settings owned by the “Friday the 13th” rights holders. Crowdfunding helps pay for production, and Womp Stomp’s self-imposed rules include keeping the films free to watch, putting crowdfunded money exclusively toward production costs and making no profit.
Each film carries a disclaimer acknowledging the rights holders’ ability to challenge it. As of the short’s release, the franchise’s owners hadn’t moved to stop the films.
