BPM MediaTwo unlikely worlds collided in aid of a young boy’s dream: Plymouth and Crystal Lake.
We all have a favourite fictional character – someone (or something) that we’ve plastered our walls and notepads with. For me, it was always Spider-Man, with posters and toys galore growing up.
For this young boy, his hero isn’t super. Rather, he’s one of the most iconic horror villains of all-time: Jason Voorhees, of Friday the 13th fame.
Check out the video of Jason and Carter walking together below:
Carter Murphy, a Coombe Dean student from Plymstock, was recently picked up from school and walked home by the slasher. But how?
Sam, Carter’s dad, explained that when he recently asked his son what he wanted for his 12th birthday, he only asked for one thing: Jason Voorhees.
Sam told UNILAD about how his son’s amazing love of Jason came about:
It’s quite odd the way he is… he’s absolutely crazed on Jason, he absolutely adores him. If he grows up to be a psychotic killer I won’t be surprised [laughing]. I’m talking if we go for a nice Sunday walk in a park with the dog, Carter is in his boiler suit with a machete. If we go to Morrison’s to do the Sunday shop, he’s got to take his mask and machete with him.
Kids these days have access to the internet so easily now, don’t they? When he first watched it I wasn’t sure, but when I watched it again with him, it’s quite comical, isn’t it? It’s not really scary in today’s terms? It just escalated from there: t-shirts, mask, machete.
After explaining it would be quite difficult to pull off – and that Jason is probably tied up killing people back at Crystal Lake – Sam started researching how Carter could actually meet the machete-wielding killer (who famously only became the franchise’s mainstay villain in the second film, before wearing the hockey mask in Part III).
BPM MediaFortunately, Sam found a way. Via the assistance of a local special effects expert and impersonator, Jason and Carter finally got the chance to spend some time together.
While Jason looked amazing, the real feat was how comfortable Carter was. As he struggles with ADHD, eye-contact and personal space, Sam couldn’t believe how happily he chatted to the character – even holding his hand, something Carter doesn’t do with his dad.
BPM MediaSam said:
Carter was blown away. He walked hand-in-hand with him the whole way home. Then he showed Jason all his toy weapons and toy guns and his Freddy Krueger character. Jason threw it on the floor in disgust! He stayed in character the whole time and never spoke.
Later that day, Sam, Carter and Jason (played by Tony Gartland, who stayed in character throughout) went on a drive – where Jason even tried to strangle Sam.
Tony has been a longtime horror fan, having already dressed up as the legendary villain at a number of conventions – where he always, without fail, stays in character. ‘It was really cool, I’m glad I made Carter’s day. It’s a birthday Carter will never forget,’ he said.
Sam doesn’t know how he’ll top this year’s birthday by the time 2021 comes around. But, he assured: ‘As a dad, you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do, haven’t you? If that’s what your kid wants for you birthday, you just make it happen.’
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.