Never Hike Alone (2017) A Friday 13th Fan Film

Never have I ever watched a fan film. Let alone watching a Friday the 13th fan film. Never Hike Alone was something I saw after a fellow horror enthusiast said it was excellent. Then they mentioned something about Friday the 13th and POV. I like these things a lot. This is no ordinary film though. It’s a slasher, micro-budget, and a must-watch.

What is a Fan Film?

If you’re like me and rarely venture outside the prescription label of cinema you may not know this film exists. It’s not had a theatre run and it doesn’t come up in search bars for the streaming apps I have. I originally surmised it was another of those times when a film I wanted wasn’t available in Australia. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch a fan film. They are usually reserved for things like Star Wars, Star Trek, and parodies and that’s just not my thing.

Quite simply it’s a movie made by fans… just people that like stuff.

Are Fan Films Legal?

Like anything though, making a fan film like Never Hike Alone can land would-be filmmakers in all sorts of strife. There have been new laws and regulations as recently as 2012 leaning towards the acceptance of these types of films. Serious fan filmmakers often find themselves shot down by the bigger production companies like Fox Studios which stopped production for, Max Payne, in 2008. Of course, there are other examples.

In the case of Never Hike Alone, they were smart. For a fan film to follow the Creative Commons licensing laws, it’s not to make a profit. They’ve gone as far as to donate excess proceeds to nonprofit organizations.

This, of course, means I was looking for the movie in all the wrong places. I found it on YouTube, for free through their website. Made just for me (ok, ok the fans and any other people that want to watch it I guess.)

Never Hike Alone Review

As I said, had I heard this was a fan film, I wouldn’t have touched it with a ten-foot pole. I have a massive watch list and stuff to blog about, screeners to watch, and stuff to do. That might sound like I’m a film snob, but I’m not. It’s just as I pointed out, fan films are usually based on comic books or Star Wars and stuff, not horror. Even finding it on YouTube didn’t cause any pennies to drop that this was a fan film. I just thought it was indie.

It starts not that dissimilar to a film I like called Man VS. with a guy camping and filming himself in the woods. It’s not all point-of-view techniques being used, there is a mixture of professionally styled and beautifully shot things going on and the film has a very smooth and calibrated look. The story travels along quite nicely, Drew Leighty who plays Kevin is nice to look at.

Never Hike Alone Based on Friday the 13th Fan Film

Friday the 13th Never Hike Alone is a Fan Film

The cinematography combined with great storytelling overall is impressive. There are brilliant long shots where you see Jason in the background, action sequences, and great fight scenes later in the piece. To be honest, this movie had my full attention just in the finite intricate details of the franchise itself. Jason’s costume, the storyline, the special effects, and the score all hit the right Ch Ch Ch Ch Ah Ah Ah Ah notes.

Likewise, the ending rounded off the homage to Friday the 13th just beautifully. Oh, how I love a great ending.

When it was over, my reactive notes went something like this;

“I feel like I have just watched some kind of indie film from someone with a mediocre amount of funding. Instead of falling on a very large machete-shaped sword, they’ve knocked it out of the park. What a delightful fun film!”

Quote from Mother of Movies

And that’s totally how I feel. Watch it for yourself, share it around, and don’t forget to tell your friends about it. Who knows, maybe Vincente Disanti will spew forth some more story arcs based on Friday the 13th or some other horror franchises that I love. With this much talent spent on a fan film, we can only hope to get more.

I give Never Hike Alone

4 Please Mr. Disanti, may we have some more? out of 5