Welcome to the FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAY ICON BRACKET FINAL!
This is it ladies and gentlemen, the fight you’ve all been waiting for! The Icon Bracket Final Round! The winner of today’s fight will go on to the finalist bracket where they will face off against the winners of the ALIEN, HUMAN, and CLASSIC brackets! The last one standing will be our FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAY “KING OF THE MONSTERS!” If you’ve been following along then you know I will be adding a bonus HERO bracket at the end. The winner of the Hero bracket will then face our “King of the Monsters!” To catch up on past fights, click here and type in FRIGHT FIGHT FRIDAY!
Today’s fight is between my 2 favorite horror movie icons, Jason Voorhees and Pinhead! Both very powerful. Both nearly unstoppable. Yet, there can only be one winner. What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force? We’re going to find out! Let’s get into it!
JASON VOORHEES
Seriously, can anything stop this guy? Once a small, handicapped child who was picked on by his peers, the days of being messed with by anyone are long gone for Jason. Pamela’s boy, although bashful and shy at times, has pretty much come out of his shell. His evolution has been truly epic. From helpless drowning boy to full grown redneck killer in a flannel, wearing a potato sack mask, to the unholy and undead, more rotten every time we see him, mack truck hitting, teenage murdering, completely unf@#k with-able force of nature that we all know and love. He’s been shot, stabbed, sliced, set on fire, drowned (more than once), dragged to hell by Freddy Krueger and even shot into space. Still, nothing can seem to keep the big guy down. If anybody stands a chance against him, it’s tonight's challenger.
PINHEAD
The Hell Priest. (‘Nuff said.) This guy is long beyond the mortal realm. Yes, it is true, at one-time Pinhead was a man named Elliot Spencer. That man is gone. What remains in his place is something cold. Something empty. Pinhead is an interdimensional demon and the leader of the Cenobites. He is so powerful, it’s said that he runs Hell in Lucifer’s absence. Immune to almost all physical attacks, and possesses superhuman strength, although he rarely tussles. He doesn’t have to. He can control razor sharp chains with his mind, teleport, shapeshift, levitate, and even warp reality. In Hellraiser 3, he walked into a church, melted the priest’s cross and basically set the place on fire. We’re not talking about some mere demon here people. Pinhead would be the one those demons answer to. If there’s anybody that can stand up to him though, its Jason.
FIGHT
We know that Pinhead must be summoned by solving the Lament Configuration puzzle box. The trick was working Jason into the mix. Let’s say it went down like this...
After hearing about her friend's disappearance a few days ago, Amy had stopped by Jen’s house to see her mother. Amy and Jen had always been close and this was practically her second home. After consoling her missing friend’s mother she went into Jen’s room. She knew exactly what she was looking for, although she didn’t know why. There it was, right on the floor. The shiny, golden puzzle box that Jen just had to take from that creepy homeless man. She didn’t know how, but she knew it had something to do with Jen’s disappearance. She picked it up and placed it in her purse. “Where the hell are you, Jen?” she asked under her breath.
She made her way to the door, yelling goodbye to Jen’s mom as she left. She would have loved to stay longer, but she had to meet Danny in 15 minutes. They had plans to go up to some lake and meet a few friends. She couldn’t blow him off even if she wanted to. Not again. He’d never forgive her. At least it was something to do. She had spent the last couple days looking for Jen to the point of exhaustion. She needed to unwind.
The sun was setting as they pulled up to the campsite, the lake sparkled brilliantly with reflections of red and deep orange. “It’s beautiful,” said Jen as Danny parked the car.
“Yeah, don’t worry. After a few beers, you’ll hardly notice.”
“Funny.”
“Hey, you guys made it!” John, Danny’s friend, came stumbling out of the front door of the nearest cabin. “Welcome to Camp Blood.” He held his hands up, making quotations.
“Is that... that’s not really the f@#king name of this place, is it?” asked Amy, glaring at Danny.
“Camp Blood?” He shot John a look as he spoke. “ No, it’s Camp Crystal Lake. And it’s beautiful. You said so yourself”
“Well, it is beautiful.” She looked back out at the lake. The sun was almost completely down now. Only a slight, reddish hue remained, low in the sky. The blackness swallowed it, even as she watched.
“You coming?” asked Danny as they walked up to the cabin.
“What?” she asked, distracted by the moment. “Yeah, coming.”
Inside, John’s girlfriend, Tracy was trying to keep the fire going. “It’s about time,” she said as they came through the door. “I was about to give up. We need more firewood.”
“Where is it?” asked Danny. “I’ll grab it.”
“I got it,” replied John. “You guys just get comfortable. Have a drink. I’ll be right back.”
A few cabins down, by the edge of the forest, was a huge pile of firewood. John had no idea who chopped it and stacked it, but they were the only ones here now. He piled 4 logs in his arms and turned back towards the cabin when he heard a noise in the woods. He stopped, listening closely. Again! It sounded like footsteps. Probably an animal. He turned back to the cabin when he heard it again, louder this time. As his gaze shifted back to the woodline, a figure emerges from the cover of the trees and shadows, holding a large machete. “Hey pal, if this is your wood, I’m sorry. I didn’t think anybody else was here. I’ll put it back.” He tosses the logs back onto the pile. “There. We good?” He rubs his hands together, brushing off the dirt. His voice was higher than usual. His palms were sweating. The man continues towards him, fast. “Look, man, I don’t want no problems, I’m here with my girlfriend having some beers. You want one?” He pointed back towards the cabin as he spoke. He turned his head back toward the man just in time to catch the blade glistening in the bright moonlight. Then everything was spinning as he hit the ground. The man walked closer, his black muddy boots looked like they had seen a hundred New England winters as they stopped in front of him. He couldn’t move. His eyes were heavy. It looked like someone was lying on the floor next to him. As his eyes closed for good, he realized it was his own body, and he was lying next to himself.
“How far away is that firewood?” asked Danny. “It’s been like ten minutes.”
“You know John. He probably made some friends on the way.” Tracy smiled as she answered. “He’ll be back any minute.”
“Yeah, well I’m going to check on him.” Danny stood up, stretching his legs. “You girl’s wait here. I’ll go see what this meathead’s up to.”
“I’ll pour us another drink,” replied Tracy.
Amy nodded her head, pulling the box out of her purse unconsciously.
It was the worst thing he had ever seen. Even being an EMT for the busiest hospital in the city doesn’t prepare you for looking at your friend’s decapitated body. No. That’s some shit they just don’t train you for. The nausea was immediate. Everything in his stomach was propelled through his mouth as if his dinner had hit the eject button. Then came the fear. The fear was worse. It gripped him tight within it’s cold, chilling grasp. It came over him like a wet blanket and suddenly, he couldn’t move. Who did this? Were they here now? Watching him? They must be. He knew he should run, everything in him wanted to scream out to Amy in the cabin, but he couldn’t. The frigid hand of fear had wrapped itself around his larynx. His legs as useless as a sack of wet jello beneath him. Trapped in the depths of mania, he didn’t hear the footsteps. Not until it was too late. By the time he realized he wasn’t alone, the man in the hockey mask was upon him. He stood, mouthing the word “No,” as Jason raised the machete. Danny lifts his arms to his face as if they would stop the blow. Jason lowers the machete back to his side, then with his other hand, slams Danny’s head into the tree behind him. He falls to the ground slowly, pieces of his skull still stuck to the bark.
“What's that? Some kind of puzzle? Like a Rubik’s cube or something?” Tracy’s question startled Amy, who was deep in thought wondering where Jen could be.
“Um. Yeah, kind of. I think.” She hadn’t even realized she had been rubbing her fingers around its edges, tracing the patterns. She placed it on the table in front of her. “Truth is, I don’t know. My friend, Jen is missing. I think it has something to do with that box.”
“What do you mean?” asked Tracy.
“Well the other day...” she looked at Tracy and stopped. “Nevermind. You’ll just think I’m crazy. Forget it.”
“No, come on. Tell me. What happened?”
Amy sighed. “Alright. She took that thing from some creepy old man. Like seriously creepy. I dropped her off at home. Haven’t heard from her since.”
Amy smiled, politely.
“See, I knew it.” Amy stood up, grabbing the box off the table.”
“Don’t be like that. What does it do?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t do anything from what I can tell. I can’t even get it to open.”
“Can I see it?” asked Tracy.
Amy looked at her reluctantly.
“I’ve always been good with puzzles. Maybe I can help.”
Amy handed her the puzzle box. “Fine, but if you disappear too, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Deal.” She examined it closely. “You said it opens?”
She rubbed her fingers around the edges, tracing the circle in the middle.
“I think so.”
Tracy continued playing with it, caressing every pattern. She was almost ready to give up, when suddenly, the box opened, rotated, and clicked back into place. It startled Tracy and she dropped it to the floor.
“What the hell?” asked Amy. “How’d you get it to do that?”
“I don’t know I just...” her thought was derailed by tiny beams of bright white light, coming through the walls in all directions. They grew bigger and bigger as the two women watched in awe. “Um, Amy. What the hell am I looking at here?”
“I have no idea, I thought you drugged my drink.”
Just outside the cabin, Jason watches as light beams from the walls. He walks slowly in the direction of the front door. He stops short as he passes the window, peering inside.
“I think we should get out of here. Like now,” said Tracy. The far wall was almost completely gone, leaving some kind of portal in its place.
“I’m not leaving.” Her voice was calm and flat. “If that’s where Jen is, I’m going after her.”
“In there?” asked Tracy. Her voice was shaky and high. “Are you crazy?”
A man steps from the portal draped in black. His skin was white and nails protruded from his head like some kind of grotesque pincushion.
“Oh, shit!” Yelled Tracy as she backed up against the window.
Amy was a second late noticing the hockey mask outside the window. “Tracy!” she yelled. “Look out!” Jason’s arm crashes through the window effortlessly, grabbing hold of Tracy and pulling her violently through, grinding her body against the remaining jagged glass.
“Oh my God!” screams Amy.
“Not exactly,” replies Pinhead from behind her.
She spins around startled. “Where is Jen?”
“Come with me, child,” says the Coldman. “I will show you” He extends his hand to her as an offering. His black eyes gazed through her, sending a chill down her spine. It was calming, entrancing. Jason bursts through the door, snapping her out if it.
“I’ll find her myself!” Amy shoves past Pinhead, headed for the portal.
The Hell Priest laughs as one chain wraps around her ankle, pulling her to the ground before she can make it.
“In such a hurry, and we’ve only just begun.” Pinhead’s voice is calm and damning.
Jason, not happy with someone getting in his way of killing more teenagers, slices the chain in half with his machete. He looks up at Pinhead, his head cocked to the side curiously.
Amy stands up immediately, her ankle bleeding from the razor sharp chain. Jason heads straight in her direction. Before he can get his hands on her, chains shoot out, grabbing his arm. He cuts them off as Amy barely escapes his grasp.
Pinhead pushes his hand forward, palm out, sending Jason flying back into the wall. “You dare challenge me?” He disappears and immediately reappears in front of Jason. Before Jason can get his balance, chains fly at him again, this time lifting him into the air.
Pinhead turns back to Amy. “It is your friend that you seek?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Your friend belongs to me now. See for yourself.
Inside the portal, three figures appear. The one in the middle was a woman. When Amy looked closer, she could it was Jen. “No. It can’t be.” She said as she got closer. Her skin was torn, hooks hung from the shreds of her cheeks. Her gums were fully exposed. Her hand was held out, beckoning to her.
“You son of a bitch, what did you do?” cried Amy.
“Your friend wanted to be free, and now she is.”
Pinhead calls the three Cenobites forth, the two on the end head for Jason.
Jason manages to break free of the chains as they approach. One was fat and hideously deformed. The other skinny, with half a face. His teeth chattered as he approached Jason. They grab a hold of him, trying to drag him towards the portal but he won’t budge. Jason grabs both of their heads, slamming together hard enough to shatter their skulls. They fall down at Jason’s feet.
Amy is horrified at the sight of her friend’s condition. Jen is coming for her when Jason swings his machete, removing her head from her shoulders. “No!” yells Amy as her friends head hits the floor and rolls towards her and comes to a stop against the puzzle box.
Amy picks up the box, desperately trying to reverse whatever the hell they had done when they opened it. Pinhead immediately knocks it off her hands with a chain. Another chain wraps around her, then another, and another. They rip into her flesh as they twist and turn, coiling tight. They release their grasp, dropping her limp, still warm body to the floor.
Jason looks at Pinhead, machete in hand, blood still dripping from the blade. He charges forward, but the Coldman changes shape into something familiar.
“My Jason. Such a good boy,” says the woman. Jason stops immediately in his tracks. The sight of his mother freezes him in place, and he drops to one knee holding his head. “Did you miss your mother?” asks the projection. “Come to me, Jason. Come to Mother.”
He stands and slowly walks toward Pinhead.
“Yes, come closer.” A chain shoots out from what appeared to be his mother's hand, wrapping around his waist. It shattered the illusion and Jason, enraged, rips the chains from his waist, tearing pieces of his own body off with it. He grabs Pinhead, putting his machete through his stomach.
“Your weapons can not harm me, you fool!” Pinhead sends Jason flying back into the wall again. Then lifts him and slams him to the ground, not once but twice. “I am beyond your understanding. Beyond your reality.” He lifts Jason again slamming down hard enough to send him crashing through the floor and into the basement. Floorboards fell on top of him, the puzzle box was sucked down with the debris. It lands next to Jason’s feet. Pinhead stands at the top of the hole looking down as Jason rises, barely phased. He looks up at Pinhead. Then down at the box. He raises his machete high in the air. “No!” yells The Hell Priest.”
The machete comes down hard, splitting the box into pieces. The portal closes and Pinhead slowly starts to fade. “Next time, you come with me.” his voice echoes as his silhouette disappears into the air. Jason looks down at the broken pieces of the box, unimpressed.
This one was tough to call and honestly, it could have gone either way. There are several ways Pinhead could defeat Jason, but today, Jason Voorhees is the winner. I felt Pinhead had an easier weakness to exploit. At least for Jason. With his superhuman strength, he could easily destroy the Lament Configuration puzzle box and although it won’t kill Pinhead, it will send him back to his own dimension until he is summoned again. And hey, there is more than one puzzle box, so I have a feeling our friend Pinhead will be back eventually!
What do you guys think? Does Jason take Pinhead down? Or does Pinhead finally stop him? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to upvote your favorite fighter! Next Friday I will announce the coming bracket along with our next 8 fighters! Then the fights will continue the following Friday! Thanks for reading and until next time, keep on geekin’ on my friends!
Joshua “Prometheus” Scafidi
Follow me: @JoshuaScafidi
