To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story (2017) - full transcript

I still think that
it's accurate to say I've

murdered more people on film
than any actor in history.

Unless somebody can dispute
that, but I doubt it.

And if you do, I'll
fucking kill you.

You know, I'm not sure
why I enjoy horror

so much, but I really
do and I always have.

People like to be
scared when it's in

the safety of their
own home or a theater.

They don't really have
to take it with them,

but sometimes I think
the most effective

horror movies are
ones that you do



in fact take out
of the theater in

your mind and it stays with you.

We don't address death.

And I remember
thinking I was gonna

live forever when
I was young too.

I think I can't believe I lived

through some of the
adventures I had.

The horror movie makes
us confront death.

It's one of the
few places we do.

You certainly don't do it
in America's Got Talent

or Dancing with the
Stars or The Kardashians,

but you do deal with
death in a horror movie.

And if you go to a
horror movie, if you sit

in the dark with other
people, there's a



collective catharsis
that's in the air

and the energy in the the air.

It's a really great experience.

Kinda like riding
a rollercoaster,

you know the big hill
is coming and you know

you're gonna be rushing down
it, but you still do it.

It's this great
thing that can happen,

and you share it,
and you share that

moment of really confronting
your own mortality.

I think that's really
the key and really

why the horror movie
will always be with us,

it's the place to do
that a little bit.

I think a lot of
people get labeled

horror icons because
they happen to

play a role in a
film that ended up

gaining a lot of
notoriety or becoming

a franchise or
whatever it may be.

Well Kane actually
legitimately loves this stuff,

and I think the fact that,
look, he played Jason,

and Jason is a huge
character, but he really

held the torch for
Jason for a long time.

He was doing the
conventions, the other

guys weren't, not at that time.

It's kinda ironic
'cause you meet a lot

of these people who
play heroes and people

who play bad guys,
most of the people that

I've met who play
heroes are assholes

and most of the people who play

really bad people are nice guy.

It's kinda funny.

What I admire about
what Kane has done

is Kane has
transcended the role.

He is Kane.

He has made a brand
name for himself.

Kane Hodder, plus it's
just a cool kickass name.

Kane being the
Hawaiian word for man.

I think it's kinda
cool considering

I grew up in the South Pacific,

my first name is really
Hawaiian, because a lot

of people think it's not
my real name, that it's

a stage name or something,
but it really is my real name.

The island of
Kwajalein in the Pacific

where an anti-ballistic missile
system is being perfected.

This artist conception shows a

typical operating missile site

whose job will be
to guard against any

possible nuclear attack
from Communist China.

I met Kane in 1971.

We both lived on an
island called Kwajalein.

Both of our parents
were assigned there.

It's a military base and they

had other companies
out there for support.

It was just an
amazing place to live.

An oasis in the
real world really.

I played all kinds of sports.

The tough thing with playing
high school sports is

that we had to play in men's
leagues in every sport.

When you're 16 playing
varsity basketball

against a men's team,
that's not easy.

Every once in a
while, certain sports

like basketball, we
would go to Hawaii

for a trip and play
a couple high schools

which was incredible
for us because we had

never competed against
another high school team.

We made a road trip to Hawaii,

there was only 12
of us that went.

It was a fun trip
because it was just

fun playing other
high school students

for one thing 'cause
then we did much better,

and then we had a
lot of free time.

On one of the days a bunch of us

went to a hotel and
we wanted to see

what the view looked
like from high up

in the hotel and there
was, on each floor,

outside the stairwell
there was a balcony

you could just walk
out to, you didn't

have to have a room to
get on that balcony.

We went up to the 35th
floor of the hotel

and we're looking around
and I thought hey,

another golden opportunity
to entertain my friends.

I thought how fun
would it be for

me on that 35th floor balcony to

climb on the outside
of the railing.

So I'm holding onto
the railing like this

with my feet on the
deck, but that's

the balcony, I'm out
here over just air.

My friends started
freaking out and that

entertained me
greatly, so while I'm

holding on like this
I thought even more

scary would be to talk
to them, go what's

the matter, and then
grab on before I fell.

Now 350 feet down.

Sometimes I'm even
amazed that I did this

'cause it's not very
bright, but I saw their

reaction to that and I
did it one more time,

guys I'm fine, and then
grab on before I fell.

They took off, they went
back into the hotel,

went back down, they
were freaking out,

and I thought man, that
is entertaining for me.

There were several incidents
like that on Kwajalein.

He was a troublemaker.

To make people have
that kind of reaction

because I'm doing
something that I thought

was easy 'cause
I've never really

had a fear of heights
at all, I just

found it so much fun to
do that with those guys.

I didn't know about Kane's
bullying before the book,

and even after we
talked about it, it took

a long time for him
to open up and really

discuss the bullying and
how much it affected him.

During the elementary
school years,

when I was 10 and 11, I
was a meek, quiet kid.

I started getting
picked on a lot.

It became very severe.

There was a story
that happened when

my buddy and I went
to the community pool

during the summer
to go swimming.

It was over at the park.

We went over there
and swam all day

and then we were
getting ready to leave

and we saw three
kids staring at us

that we didn't
know, they weren't

from our school,
and for some reason

they came over and beat
the hell out of us.

I unfortunately got
the worst end of it.

There was three of
them and they were

much older than us
and just beat me

so badly that the next
day my face was so

swollen that it was
hard to recognize me.

It was so bad that he
was embarrassed by it,

and he should've
went to the hospital,

but he didn't even wanna
show his mom, so he

hid in his room and
suffered with all the pain.

I just couldn't figure
out why they were doing it

because we hadn't
done anything to make

them mad, or to do
anything against them

in any way, they just
seemed to do it for fun.

I don't know if that
spawned other people

to do it from my
school, but then I

started getting
bullied all the time.

In I think it was
seventh grade I was

caught by a guy that
had been harassing me

and bullying me
who had thrown up

in a baggy earlier
in the day because

he was sick and threw
it on the ground and

after school thought
it would be funny if he

poured it in my face while
other people watched.

Everybody thought
that was hilarious.

Except me of course.

That's the way it was.

I mean there was
always the typical

pushing around, calling
names, slamming head

into a locker, stuff
like that, but it's

sad to say those
were the things that

didn't bother me
anymore, that was minor.

I didn't say anything
because I was embarrassed to.

It's hard to admit to
someone that you allowed

this to happen because
technically you did.

There's nothing
you can do about it

because you just
don't have what it

takes inside of you to
stand up for yourself.

So you're embarrassed by it.

Very often the
response is well just

stand up for yourself,
just hit them back.

Very easy to say, but
unless you've been

bullied you don't understand how

impossibly difficult
that can be at times.

When a kid is severely
bullied and ends up

committing suicide
as a result of that,

it's my opinion that
happens not because

the kid is scared,
or even worried about

anything further
happening, it's that

the kid starts thinking
they're worthless

because they don't do
anything to stop it.

Until you've been
there, you don't

understand how
impossible that can feel.

And then you start
hating yourself.

And then you say you
know what, fuck this.

I don't need to go
through this anymore.

I'm worthless, I
don't do anything

to stop, and they
end their lives.

Eventually after
years, I don't know

how I did this,
and I just somehow

snapped and I swung
and I punched him.

I couldn't even
believe I did it.

It didn't even seem like
me doing it, it seemed

like I was outside my
body watching me do this.

I punched him not
very effectively

and I got the shit
beat out of me

because of it, but I went home

feeling better about
myself because I tried.

So I thought hey, you
know what, I lost a fight.

I felt better.

Mentally that turned
me around and somehow

I started to let it
happen less and less.

Eventually it stopped.

After I graduated from
Kwajalein High School,

while I was going to
college at UNR, Nevada-Reno,

I saw a sign in my
dorm looking for

extras for a movie,
and I thought

that might be
interesting to go down

there and just see
how movies are filmed.

So I went downtown
Reno and was able to

work on the film, it was
called California Split.

George Segal and Elliott Gould.

I was just an extra
in the crowd, and I

was fascinated by the
process of filmmaking.

I worked on it for a
day and then thought

that was fun, and I had
classes the next day,

so I blew off those
classes and went

back and worked
on the movie again

just 'cause I had so
much fun doing it.

It was the only time in my
life I've ever been an extra.

Even though that was
only 1974, it was

the start of my
interest in film by far.

It was the very first
thing because the

following year I went
to visit my buddy Mike,

and Mike lived in Los
Angeles and he said

let's go to Universal
Studios and go on the tour.

I loved it, I just loved
being on the backlot.

I wanted so badly
to get off the tram

and just wander
around by myself.

Then the tour was
over and we went

to a couple of the
live shows, one of

which was the wild west
stunt show at Universal.

We watched the show
and that was it.

As soon as that show was over

I said that's what I wanna do.

And I knew it.

From that moment.

Once he gets
something in his head,

and sorry Kane, but
it just stays there.

No matter what you say to him,
you can't change his mind.

Very fortune of
course over the years

to get to where I've
gotten, but I've also

worked hard, it wasn't
handed to me in any way.

On a professional
level, I love the fact

that he takes these
parts so seriously.

There's a lot of
times, especially with

producers or studio
execs where they'll

say whoever is gonna be
this villain, we just need

a big, menacing, physical
presence, preferably a

stunt guy who can take
hits and punishment.

Kane really gets into
it and that's why

the characters he
plays are memorable.

Did a movie called
Prison in 1987.

I was happy to be the
stunt coordinator on it,

it was a great movie
stunt wise, and then at

the end of the
shooting John Buechler,

who was doing the makeup
effects, said we have to

have a guy in the full
body prostetic makeup.

The wrongly executed
prisoner comes

out of the ground strapped
to an electric chair

and he has full
makeup head to toe,

prosthetics, dentures,
lenses, everything.

And I said well I've
never done it, I'm happy

to do it 'cause it's
not a comfortable thing.

I'd actually designed
it on another actor,

but when I went to
Wyoming I saw that Kane...

I think he had the chops for it.

I put everything on, it took

3 1/2 hours to
put everything on,

and then Randy
said you know what

would be really
cool, since this is

a corpse that has been
buried, he said why

don't we put live
nightcrawlers all over you.

I said how could would it be if

I had live worms in my mouth?

He's like you would do that?

I said yeah, I still don't
think that was a big deal.

He went nuts with it really.

So I put them in my
mouth and did the shot.

I think that Randy
and John Buechler both

were impressed at my enthusiasm

for working in that
kind of makeup.

John in particular liked
how I moved in the makeup.

The thing I noticed
about Kane during Prison

was that he worked
with the makeup.

It's one thing to design a
cool looking creature effect.

It's another thing to
have it performed well.

Aside from being
an amazing stuntman

and a really fine
actor, he works with

the appliances and he tries to

do as much as he can with them.

That stuck with me.

So that's 1987, the
following year John Buechler

is hired to direct Friday
the 13th Part Seven,

and immediately says I got the

guy that I want to play Jason.

I wanted Kane.

I knew that he could
act, and I knew that

he could really work
with the appliances,

and I wanted to take
the mask off of Jason.

I wanted people to see
how pissed off he was.

The thing I gave to the Friday

the 13th movies was
the rage of Jason.

The makeup for Part
Seven was my favorite look.

Very very well done makeup.

It created the
illusion that when he

opened his mouth you
saw him through holes.

The very first shot
I ever did as Jason

in Part Seven being
my first movie was

the single shot where
Tina has a vision and sees

Michael being stabbed in
the kitchen of the house.

That is the very first
thing I ever shot as Jason.

When I put that stuff
on and went to the set

it felt so natural,
and people are gonna go

oh my God, he's so full
of shit, but really,

it felt right for me to
be wearing that stuff.

But I wanted to do whatever I

could to make the
movie look good.

To this day it's
still my favorite

look of Jason, of
all of them really.

Certainly of the ones I did.

There had been six films before

I ever came into the picture.

So the Friday the 13th name,

the Jason name, were
known worldwide.

For me to be able to
step into that role,

how do you not consider
that a huge honor?

And you better do it justice.

You're given an
opportunity of a lifetime,

so you need to do whatever
you can to add to that.

He brings this special
focus, I think, to Jason.

When I first put the
makeup on and looked

in the mirror, I thought
when Jason is staring at

someone and not moving,
he looks like a mannequin.

I said what can I
do to still do that

same stare but add
life to the character?

I don't think people
understand how hard

that is to make
anything, a lot of it's

just the movement,
a little movement.

A lot of it's in the eyes.

He gets in front
of that mirror and he

looks at the makeup
and he figures

out what he can do with it.

He pushes the limits
and he talks to

the makeup artist,
can I do this, will it

hurt the makeup, I mean
he's very specific.

I came up with
the breathing thing

so instead of this you see this.

To me, that made
it look like the

character was about
to spring any moment.

Even though he's
motionless staring at you,

the heaving chest
looked scary as hell

and people have
said that's one of

my signature things that I do,

but I just thought it worked.

Kane owns that,
and I think that it's

very special and I
think that most fans

immediately can
tell if it's some

other person wearing
the mask and why

it's important for
true fans, I think,

that they really respond
to the way Kane did it.

I remember the
first time I seen him

and he was just
breathing and taking

in air and I was like
oh my God, oh my God.

I'm not gonna sleep
tonight, motherfucker.

That Jason's just a predator.

That's it.

It's like an automatic need.

Just pure nihilistic,
must destroy.

There's something
about the way Kane

plays that focus
that's really fun.

I have never in my
life broken a bone.

Which I'm proud of
because I always

think it's funny
that stunt people

brag about how many
bones they've broken.

Isn't the whole point to
do a stunt successfully?

'Cause anybody can be crazy and

just go do something
and get hurt,

but the whole point is to have a

stunt career successful
that you don't get hurt.

I always find it funny when guys

say yeah, I broke 225 bones.

You're not very
good then, are you?

Kane is perhaps the safest stunt

coordinator that you'll
ever wanna work with.

He is very strong, very
firm, very creative on a set.

He can figure out
something ridiculous

and over the top instantly.

There was a scene
written where as Jason

I chase Tina up the
stairs, she goes up

the top of the
stairs where the door

of course is locked
and there's no escape.

So I come up the
stairs, the way it was

written in the
script was she makes

the light start moving
and it swings and

hits me in the chest and
I tumble down the stairs.

I mean Kane doesn't
do things 50%.

He does things 150%.

You tell him to scrub a floor,

he'll scrub the shit
out of that floor.

And I said to Buechler
I said that's not

too bad, but how cool
would it be if that

thing just swings
and hits me right in

the face, in the
mask, and then I just

fall back like a tree and
I go through the stairs.

He goes wow, you
can do that, and I

said I think so, I think
it would look great.

I think it's more in
character of Jason.

Tumbling down the stairs
I think looks too human.

Take the hit and then
fall straight back

onto their staircase,
that's one of

my favorite shots in
the movie as well.

It must've been
difficult, but you could

never tell by the
way he performed.

He never showed the
discomfort or the

difficulty, he was
always 100% performance.

We're at the lake set, this
is in Bay Minette, Alabama.

To go to the dressing
rooms I would always

walk through the woods,
and whenever I was

in character in any
of the movies I like

to leave the mask on
and stay in character.

2 o'clock in the morning
one night or something,

walking on the trail,
I saw someone coming

to the set, someone
who I didn't recognize.

And I thought this might be fun.

So I stopped on the
trail, still had

the mask on, everything,
and I stared at him.

He uttered the most ridiculous

question I think
I've ever heard.

He looked at me,
in all that makeup,

and said excuse me,
are you with the movie?

That's a dumb
bastard right there.

So I just stared at
him and he started

looking around, yeah,
you're with the movie right?

And that's when I rushed at him.

He took off running back to the

trucks, I never saw him again.

But the next day, just
talking to Buechler

before we started,
he said hey, you know

that local sheriff never
showed up last night.

I said oh, hmm, I
wonder what happened.

For a long long
time, my all time

favorite kill was a Jason kill.

The sleeping bag.

The sleeping bag.

Sleeping bag.

Sleeping bag.

Sleeping bag.

Sleeping bag.

The sleeping bag.

Sleeping bag kill in Part Seven.

The sleeping bag is one of the

most classic ones in history.

I killed somebody with something

that's not a weapon,
that's pretty amazing.

And it was just such
an impactful kill

in the theaters, I went
to the Chinese Theater

in Hollywood when
the movie opened,

just anonymously
sat in the back,

and when that kill
came up opening night,

I watched half the
audience stand up

high-fiving each
other and stuff,

I said wow, that was a
pretty amazing feeling.

One of Kane's most legendary

stunts is his burn
in Part Seven.

At the time it was a
record long fire burn,

the entire thing is on screen.

And I thought let's
make it a little

different than what
you normally see

because you typically
never saw the

ignition of the stunt
person on camera.

It always cut from
somebody making

a reaction, then it cut to the

person on fire
already moving around.

This girl has telekinetic
powers, so why

don't we have her make
the fire blast out

of the furnace and
ignite Jason on camera.

And Buechler was like
wow, I've never seen

that really, and
I said I haven't

either, so that's
why I wanna do it.

We did the ignition of
the character on fire

with a propane
cannon, then I started

stumbling around
doing my acting,

which I always love
doing, and ultimately

by the time I went down,
because I was going

by the feel of it,
I had been on fire

so long that the
fuel is almost gone.

I was on fire for
44 seconds which is,

if you watch your watch
for 44 seconds and

imagine being completely
engulfed in flames

for that long, it's an
incredibly long time

and it set some kind
of records at the time.

To this day it's probably
my favorite fire stunt.

And not only is it an
amazing on screen fire burn,

it's a stunt done by
someone who almost died

from a fire burn, so
it's really poetic.

I mean you have to admit that in

Friday the 13th
Part Seven he gave

one of the most
spectacular full body

burns you've ever
seen in your life.

This from a man who
was burnt horribly.

I always say that one
of the best qualities

to have as a stunt
person is a common sense

knowledge of physics
where you think of

a stunt and you
anticipate what's

gonna happen and
what could go wrong.

That's a huge
attribute in the stunt

business to think
well what if this

happens, then what
are we gonna do?

So then you prepare for that.

Maybe I learned much
more from my mistake,

but at the time you have
to protect yourself.

Basically until
the book came out

I never admitted the real story.

Because he knew
for the first time

ever he had to face the truth.

He was embarrassed
about it for years,

he lied, he told
stories to other people

that it was on the set of this,

on the set of that,
he made up different

situations how it
happened, but no one knew.

It was really this
powerful moment with

me and him when he
finally decided he

could tell the world and open up

and tell the story
and not be embarrassed

about it anymore, that
he's matured enough

to face the facts and
tell the full story.

Since I had officially
gotten into SAG

and done a TV show,
that's when I talked

to this reporter and
she said let's do

a story about the
local kid that's

making his way in
the stunt business.

I'll give you some
pictures and if you

want I'll do a fire
stunt for you live.

She said really and I said sure,

I've been doing it no problem.

We went out, it
was just her and I.

We happened to pick a
place that was, where I was

doing the fire stunt, it
was right next to a lake.

Six feet away from the lake.

But because it was the
lake it was real windy.

We did the stunt
and I was on fire

and I put myself out no problem.

I knew that I wasn't
gonna be happy with it

because the wind
was blowing so hard

it was blowing the flames down,

so I didn't think it
looked as dramatic.

Too bad I didn't
just settle with it.

So the next day they went to a

different area in
the desert, not near

the lake, not near
the water, he had

no safety stuff with
him, it was just him,

his lighter, and the
biggest mistake he did

was he couldn't afford
rubber cement at the time.

Even though it was a
few bucks he was broke

trying to struggle in Hollywood.

I said I ran out of
glue, can you get me some.

The reporter
brought some from the

office saying here you
go, here's some rubber

cement so you don't have
to spend your own money.

Having never used
that brand before,

Kane didn't realize
how flammable it was.

I got all prepped
and ready and I

went to light myself,
which is normally,

when I would do
this you'd have to

touch the glue with the
flame to make it ignite.

He put his arm out
away from himself to

be safe, and when he lit
the match he ignited.

Completely burst
into flames everywhere.

You always see stop, drop,
and roll on TV commercials

and stuff, and that's a
nice theory, but the thing

that people don't
understand, unless you've

been on fire, is that
when your head is in

the flames, and you can
hear your hair burning

and you can feel
your face burning

and your ears burning, you run.

It's not the right thing
to do, it's a reflex.

And every person that
I've ever talked to

that's been burned
seriously in the upper body

says the same thing, they ran.

As I'm running and
burning, she doesn't

realize I'm out of
control and in trouble,

so she keeps snapping
pictures, and again,

I don't blame her in the
least for any of this,

but she didn't realize
until I started

screaming probably
that I was in trouble.

Then I somehow got
my wits about me and

realized there was
some kind of dampness

on the ground, dove
into there and rolled

around and finally
got myself put out.

And when he finally
was conscious enough

to see the reporter,
the reporter looked at

him and that's when he
knew how horrible it was.

All my clothes that
I had on were gone.

My skin was falling off,
I had mud all over me

from the ground that was
falling off with my skin.

I knew I was in
very very bad shape.

She said let's go,
we got in her jeep,

we said we gotta get
somewhere to get some help

because this is very
serious, my face

was burned, everything,
my hair was gone.

We're driving in the
jeep out of the desert

and the first thing we
see is a fire station.

I think oh perfect.

We go there, we
bang on the door,

we try and get, nobody answers.

So we got back in
the car, we went to

the first house we could get to.

The photographer...

Sorry.

Photographer knocks on the
door and a lady answers.

And she looked at me terrified
and says get in here.

And I said what, she
goes get in the shower,

stand in my shower,
I'll call the

ambulance and they'll
come and get you.

I do that.

As I walk through the house...

Sorry.

As I walk through the house
there's a little girl.

Sitting on the floor playing
and she was terrified.

And I don't blame her,
I mean the way I looked.

She was scared to death.

Kept looking out the
shower, looking at

my eyes thinking why
does this not hurt yet.

I was just astounded
that I knew I was

severely injured and
there was no pain.

But I kept waiting for
something to start hurting.

The ambulance finally
came, I walked

back out, the girl
wasn't there anymore

thank God 'cause
I felt horrible.

I felt worse for her
than I did for myself.

Was three years old or
something, just scared to death.

Got in the ambulance
and sat up the

whole time in the ambulance
all the way there.

As it turns out, when
you burn that badly

you burn the nerves
completely off

and there's no pain for a while.

The next day it was
incredible and didn't stop.

That basically started the next

six months of horrific torture.

Can we cut for a second?

Once the pain started after the

initial shock wore
off, it was so

much more than I
ever anticipated.

So much worse than
you can even imagine.

The worst part of this was
he had no painkillers in him.

He didn't know at the
time, but his father

pulled aside the
doctor and asked him

not to give him any painkillers.

And the doctor
went along with that.

I'm not sure why he
didn't just say no,

he needs pain medication
to get through this.

I had less medication
than I should have had.

And the reason for
that was his father

was in The War and
he saw all his fellow

soldiers who came
back with injuries

who got addicted to
painkillers and he

was scared that was
gonna happen to Kane.

And I know my
dad was just trying

to look out for
my best interest,

he didn't want me
to become addicted

to stuff, but that's
something you have

to worry about later,
you have to get

rid of the pain so you can heal.

But the pain itself was so
unbelievably tremendous.

I got to the
hospital and I didn't

know anything about what is the

proper way to take
care of burns.

And neither did my
parents, so whatever

the hospital did for
me we thought was good.

I don't know how else to say it,

they weren't equipped
at all to take care

of my injury, but they
thought they were.

My parents came
in when they could

and my dad walked in
and left immediately.

They could just see
me from here up.

My face was burnt, but
not as badly as the

rest of my body, so I
didn't look that terrible.

I didn't know until
later, when he walked in,

the smell that was
in my room because of

me being burned I
guess brought back

terrible memories of
him during The War.

He had to run out and he had to

go to the bathroom and throw up.

Then I remember
my mom lifting up

the sheet and looking
at this arm and just

started crying because
it looked so terrible.

It was very very
hard for my parents

to see their son
in that situation.

Because I was burned
all in the upper body,

I couldn't use my
hands at all, so I

couldn't go to the
bathroom by myself,

I couldn't even change the
channel of the TV myself.

It was a terrible
way to have to live,

especially since I was
22, when someone else

has to help you take a
piss or wipe your ass.

It sounds funny, but
it's very humbling.

Then they would take
me to what's called

the Hubbard Tank, and they have

to get rid of the dead tissue.

Even when you're
healing, dead tissue

accumulates and it
has to be removed

so the fresh tissue can heal.

So they would put him
down in the basement

because he would
scream so loud they had

to hide him from all
the other patients.

They would soak him
in a bathtub, and then

the doctor would take the
back side of a scalpel.

And scrape all of
the burned area to get

the material off that
needed to be debrided.

This is, again, when
I couldn't even stand

the vibration from
somebody kicking my bed.

Now you're gonna scrape it?

There is no way I
can ever express

the amount of pain there was.

They did a skin graft
surgery and they

splinted my arms
straight out like this.

From my body, I
couldn't move because

they wanted the skin
to take, and when

you do skin grafts
you need to be

motionless so, it has
to be your own skin,

and it can adhere and
start growing to your body.

It's taken from a
healthy area, my legs,

put on the burned
area, and hopefully

grows into it and helps
cover up the burn.

As I'm barely
conscious coming out of

the O.R., going back to
my room, they realize

I can't get in my
fucking room because

my arms are like
this, I'm too wide

to go through the
doorway to my room.

Now I have to, just
after waking up

from major surgery,
have to stand up

like this, walk into
my room, wait for

them to bring the
bed in, and then

get back in my bed,
which I thought

was the most asinine
thing you could

ever do, not look ahead to that?

You couldn't see that coming?

That was just one of
the first days and

that was an indicator
of what was to come.

I was in that
hospital four months,

consistently getting
worse every day.

Trying skin grafts
that didn't work.

One of the most
important things with

a burn injury is
to keep a sterile

environment around the patient.

When I'm in a room with
another person who has

some other kind of problem,
that's not sterile,

and that's what happened
in that hospital.

And everyone had
to scrub down to

come in except for
the doctor, the doctor

would come through
and not wash his

hands, be wearing
his tennis shoes,

and just walk over
and check Kane.

I was amazed that
he thought everybody

else should do it,
but he was above it.

He shouldn't have been
taking care of me at all.

Unfortunately at
that hospital they

did very little
correctly for me.

There was such a
long list of terrible

things that happened
as a result of being

in that hospital that
never should've happened.

My veins started
collapsing, now I have to

submit to a needle in
the vein in my groin.

They put pins through my elbows

and you can still see the scar.

They would hold my
arms up like this.

When they took the pins out
I couldn't put my arms down.

Not being able to
sleep, and then when

you finally do doze
off I would twitch.

That happened every single
time I would doze off.

And I lost my voice completely.

Put a feeding tube through
my nose into my stomach.

I had a catheter for a while.

Gained and lost 50
pounds in five days.

Seven skin graft surgeries.

They kept doing the procedures
and it wouldn't work.

And I didn't have
any health insurance.

If I read it in a
book, I would read it

and say this can't be
true, he's exaggerating.

To make it sound more
horrific than it was.

That can't all be true,
and unfortunately it was.

And it's a horrifying story.

It's bad enough being
burned obviously,

but all the other
things that went wrong,

I mean it couldn't
have been worse.

Bottom line is after four months

that doctor told my parents that

I had a staph infection and it

doesn't look like
I'm gonna make it.

My parents are like
what do you mean?

After four months he's
gonna die from the burns?

'Cause typically if you die as

a result of being
burned it's early.

You don't get through
the first week.

You don't die four
months later usually.

They were astounded
that he was saying that.

Then he said we're
gonna ship him

to a burn unit in San Francisco.

My dad was wait, burn unit,
we didn't know what it was.

He said what's that
and he said it's a

place that specializes
in burn care.

And my dad almost killed
the fucking guy by saying

why did you not send him
there in the first place?

I get to San Francisco,
the Bothin Burn Center

in Saint Francis Hospital
and everything changed.

At that time it was
the best burn center

west of the Mississippi River.

It was a real first
class burn center.

We had attendings, resident
doctors and nurses,

they all devoted their time to

treating burn
patients specifically.

My doctors
were different, this was

a unit that was self-enclosed.

We have our own
O.R., we do all our

treatments here, we
have hydrotherapy.

That was built in 1967.

The other thing
that the burn unit

had to deal with was
that I was in bed

at the first hospital
for four months,

never being able to sit in any

other position other than maybe

recline a little bit or sit up a

little bit, but I was
always on my back.

So consequently I had two
really bad bedsores on my back.

The burn unit had to
deal with all that too,

they had to get rid
of the bedsores,

they had to get rid of
the staph infection,

they had to get me skin grafted

and get my weight up, and they

did all of that in six weeks.

Whereas the first hospital took

four months to get me to
that horrible position.

If I had been in
the burn unit from

the beginning I
probably would've

been in there four weeks total.

What stayed the same from
when I started 35 years ago

today is the patience that
it takes for everybody,

the caregivers, the
patient, the families.

The body heals only
at a certain rate.

The caring part, the support
that these people need,

is exactly the same
through the years.

That hasn't changed.

I started getting a
more positive attitude

because this place
is state of the art,

even back then, for burn care.

Then that's when the
depression sets in.

Because at the beginning
you're just trying to survive.

Now that you know
you're gonna survive,

now you deal with
the fact that for

the rest of your
life you're gonna

have that visual reminder,
which is the scars.

The biggest misconception is

that it's just about the skin.

It's not just about the skin.

Major burns affect every
system of the body.

It affects the immune
system, it often affects

the lungs if they're burned
in an enclosed space.

It affects the GI
tract, it affects every

system of the body,
and also I think

a lot of people
underestimate the

psychosocial recovery of burns.

I didn't let anybody
come and visit me really,

just immediate family
and that was it.

I actually wanted
to go out and see him,

but he didn't want any
visitors, and I respected that.

But it was scary.

I just didn't want my close
friends to see me like that.

It's the weirdest thing, the
things your mind go through.

I'm never gonna be able to
take my shirt off again.

People are always
gonna stare at me.

I'm gonna have scars
for the rest of

my life, limited movement,
which I still have.

I got very depressed even
when I was getting better.

I was laying in my bed
depressed because there

wasn't much to be happy
about other than surviving.

I looked at somebody come in
to visit the nursing staff.

Everybody had to gown up,
when you go in the unit

you have to put on everything
to keep it sterile.

Even visitors.

This guy, who I
didn't recognize,

was at the nurse's
station, and I'm

watching him, he starts laughing

and having a good old
time, being happy,

shaking hands with
people and I was

laying in there saying fuck you.

You have no idea what
I'm going through

and you're fucking
happy, I hated him.

Truthfully I became
somewhat, I guess you could

say suicidal,
because I didn't know

if I wanted to live like this.

I watched this guy
laughing and having a good

old time and thinking
God, you are so lucky.

He pulls up his
sleeve of his gown,

'cause he was warm
or something, and I'm

looking at him thinking
oh wait a minute.

He's got burn scars.

This guy was in this unit.

He's a former patient
that was in here,

burned badly 'cause I could
see his arm just like mine.

And he's fucking happy.

And I thought holy
shit, this guy does

know what I went
through and he's happy?

I thought holy,
man, maybe there's

something positive
that'll come out of this.

He completely turned my
whole attitude around.

So if he can do it, I can do it.

Everything changed after that,

everything started improving.

That's the thing
with a burn injury.

If you're sitting and
talking to somebody

and they're telling
you what to expect

and you don't see
burn scars on them,

in your mind you're
just thinking,

you're not even listening
because you don't know.

But if you're sitting
there with scars,

I'll listen to you all day
long because you do know.

We do a burn support
group once a month

here in the burn
center where we have

patients come back for years to

get that support from people who

had been through it like them.

It was an amazing
experience that

this guy completely,
basically saved

my life a second
time without even

knowing it, and never
never knew his name.

It seems like this
was the angle.

Right here.

It was bigger than this, it
went out a little farther.

The beds were this
way, not this way.

Right.

We were like this.

He was here.

I guess that could've been
the angle I was looking at.

Yeah, I think that was my room.

My biggest goal was to
get home for Christmas.

Just to be out of the hospital
and home for Christmas.

My doctor's name
was Angelo Capozzi.

He was okay with sending me home

really before I
should've gone home.

Well I think as
we've become more

knowledgeable about taking
care of burn patients,

I think it's one
of the physician's

duties to keep the
patient comfortable.

He allowed me to
go home with the

training that he gave
my mother for my,

I had slight open wounds
all over, but small ones.

Because it was
in-between where the

skin grafts were that
hadn't quite healed yet.

He knew what I had been
through, decided he

was okay with me going
home on December 23rd.

I haven't seen Dr.
Capozzi in 39 years.

Hey doc.

How are you?

I'm great, I'm great.

Been a long time.

Yes it has.

39 years.

Yeah.

This area was some of
my worst, you can see.

It was really quite deep there.

I know, but it looks great.

That's the only bad part still.

A little tight, but if you can

get along with that,
I mean that's fine.

I never really got
to tell you thank you.

Because you saved
my life, there's no,

I'm not trying to
be dramatic 'cause

everybody knows I don't do that.

You saved my life and don't try

and be fucking humble
about it please.

Because...

Strike that.

I would like to say thank
you for everything you did.

You're very welcome.

I really appreciate that.

I went on to have a great life.

I think it's very
interesting that I never

developed a fear of
fire considering it

almost killed me
and I understand

how terrifying it
is to be on fire.

You would think
the last thing I'd

ever wanna do is
be on fire again,

but another friend of mine that

gave me a lot of good stunt jobs

named B.J. Davis,
was doing a movie

in New Orleans called
Avenging Force.

I had worked a
little bit with him,

we had become
friends, and he said

why don't you be one
of the stunt guys

to come down for the
entire shoot of the movie.

I was very happy to
do that, hadn't done

much on location before.

So while I was in New
Orleans, B.J. said,

I don't know how he knew that he

could ask me this,
but he had a good

sense of my personality
I guess, he said

we gotta do two full
burns at the same time.

You wanna do one with me?

First I was like
oh shit, I didn't

think anybody would ever
ask me that, first of all.

Then I start thinking
about it more

and I said you know
what, he knows what I've

been through and he's
confident in me doing it.

If he had said
you probably don't

wanna do this, but
there's a fire stunt,

but he didn't do it
that way, I guess

he just did it the
right way for me.

Just offer it to me
without any hesitation.

If I don't wanna do it, fine,
somebody else will do it.

But ultimately I did
the stunt with him.

B.J. comes flying out
of a window on fire,

and I come out of
the doorway on fire.

It was a full burn
that I did again

for the first time
since my accident.

I loved it.

I felt very
comfortable, I see how,

when you do the
proper setup, how easy

it is to do that stunt
really, and I came

to the conclusion that
I love doing fire.

It's very very surprising that a

burn survivor could even
go near a fire again.

Doing that first fire
stunt again was huge,

a huge step forward in
forgetting about the past.

I met Kane when he was working

on a pictures with Wes Craven.

Called The Hills Have Eyes II.

I had doubled a character
called The Reaper.

Was a stunt double
for him, I was falling

through a skylight and
riding a motorcycle

and doing some stuff
around some fire.

He was a wonderful
and interesting guy.

Clearly he was a guy that didn't

seem to be afraid of anything.

And I ended up
doing every one of

Sean Cunningham's
movies for quite

a while after that one,
all the House movies.

Everything he did really.

I did the original
Friday back in 1979, '80.

I was around for Friday
Two and Friday Three,

but I was anxious to move on and

do some other
things, so the series

proceeded for a while
without me and then

we decided to do Friday
the 13th Part Nine.

Fortunately the
person that was hired

to direct, Adam Marcus,
was a fan of mine

as the character
and immediately said

hey, I want him to
play Jason again.

This is my third
go around as Jason.

He just brought
a certain kind of

consistency and flavor
to the character

that the fans really
responded to and I

would be mad if I were to
think of replacing him.

The last shot of
the movie, when I read

the script for the
first time, it said

Jason's mask is
laying on the ground

and Freddy's hand
comes out of the ground

with the glove on and
the sweater, and grabs

the hockey mask and
pulls it into the ground

to set up for
Freddy Versus Jason.

And I said okay,
well I'll tell you

one thing right
now, I'm gonna be

wearing that Freddy
glove to do that shot.

Nobody else is
gonna do it 'cause

Robert Englund is
not gonna do it.

I did that shot, I was
underneath the set,

pulled down the mask and
pulled it into the set

thinking I was setting up
for Freddy Versus Jason.

Back in 1983 I had a
meeting with Wes Craven

and he said I'm developing
a new character.

He's gonna have burn scars.

I'm thinking about using
somebody with real burn scars.

And I said wow, that's great.

What kind of
character, well he's

not a really nice
guy, he's a pedophile.

I said okay, and
with burn scars,

and his name is Fred Krueger.

Wes Craven was a
friend of mine, I did

a series with Wes
Craven and I know that,

I think there was
a time when he was

really considering
Kane to play Freddy.

Obviously we know
where this is all headed,

I did not play the
character because he

decided to go with a
more established actor

with prosthetics instead
of real burn scars.

I think Robert did an amazing
job as that character,

and obviously one of my horror
heroes is Robert Englund.

How different life could've been

for everybody had that happened,

but I know that West
thought very highly of him.

Well Kane and I, we go way back.

Robert and I have been
friends for a long time.

We do conventions
together of course.

And we just hit it off
because we both have to

go through a lot of the
same off-screen fan stuff.

Give it up for Kane Hodder and

Robert Englund,
ladies and gentlemen!

When I started in this business,

never anticipated ever
signing an autograph.

You loved it the first
time that goth girl

walked up to you and
went sign me, Kane!

But we have worked together also

which was a lot of fun for me.

I had done a web series with
Robert called Fear Clinic.

Well Fear Clinic's
where Kane and I

got to do most of
our work together.

That's really where
we found our vibe

as actors together
'cause we were really,

we had a lot of
scenes between us.

I'm taking you down before
you kill anymore patients.

I'm not fond of this
new attitude of yours.

Clearly you don't understand the

employee/employer relationship.

Now help him!

Yeah, blah blah blah, I know,

I got the body,
you got the brains.

It was fun working together.

It's cool to have
pictures of him

face to face arguing
without makeups on.

Really Freddy versus
Jason in a different way.

There was still this pressing,

my pressing need to go
ahead with Freddy 1 Jason.

And still, because New
Line and Robert Englund

and some other issues,
we couldn't do that,

at least not yet, and
so that's what led

us to Jason X, or
Jason in Space.

It seemed like a really
good idea and was

a really fun notion
to try to figure

out how we would do all of that.

The sets were amazing and the

movie was pretty
clever I thought.

There was a part
of the film where

somebody created
a virtual reality

to try and slow Jason
down, and all of a

sudden Uber Jason was
back at Camp Crystal Lake.

We're in space and
we're looking for

all the kind of
gags that we used

to do and that
Jason's known for.

Basically this is just
for the fans really,

the fans of the previous films.

I had a girl in a sleeping bag,

and I was slamming
her against her

friend that was in
her sleeping bag.

So killing them both
with each other.

Redid the stunt that
the fans so loved.

It was my idea to do one shot

to the tree just as a throwback.

It was just so silly.

My hands down
favorite Jason kill

is the frozen head
in Jason X where he

lifts it up and then
just shatters it.

Freeze the head in liquid
nitrogen and smash it.

Liquid nitrogen and
smashed on the table.

And then smashed it
and he brain rolls out.

I thought that was great.

No one was expecting that and it

was just so gory and
so crazy, and just

the way he does it, just tosses

her aside, it's an awesome kill.

I got a call from an
executive at New Line.

She wanted to have
lunch with me.

She gave me a script
called Freddy Versus Jason

and she said we're
finally doing this movie.

And I said that is fantastic,
I'm so happy to hear that.

I assumed at that time that
meant I was doing the movie.

You're giving me the script
and saying we're finally

doing this movie, pretty
sure thing in my mind.

Then in the weeks that
followed I started

getting a weird
vibe from New Line.

Well I knew Kane.

I was told by the
powers to be, for most

of that prep time it was
always gonna be Kane.

Ultimately I was
told that they had

hired somebody that
played Jason before.

Then I found out
it was Kirzinger.

I was like how is he having
played the character before?

And then I remembered in
Part Eight, 'cause they

didn't want me to
take a chance of

getting hurt and not
being able to work,

I was forced to allow
Ken Kirzinger to do the

car hit where the cop car
hits Jason in the alley.

Even though I've done
that stunt many times,

they thought if you
get a broken leg

or something we're in trouble.

It seems to me that
someone, I don't think

it was him, I'm almost
sure it wasn't him

because I've talked
about it with him,

but someone had represented him

as having played
the character also.

Based on that shot.

That was a done deal,
he was already hired,

and I, to say the
least I was devastated.

It's only a role, but
it's something that

I had put my heart and
soul into for 15 years,

four films in a row,
and it seemed like...

None of that mattered.

I never in a million
years would've

given them a reason
to replace me.

By saying hey, I
want this much money

and they just say oh
can't afford that,

let's go somewhere
else, then that's on me.

But I would never
have given them any

kind of reason, I
was never difficult

to work with, I was
never late to the

set and undependable,
nothing like that,

so I couldn't understand
why I was replaced and

I don't think I'll ever
know the real reason.

It was a very very low
point of my career.

It was almost as low a point
for me as getting burned.

Because I was never
told any reason.

Took me a long time
to get over that.

For almost 20
years he was Jason.

And in thousands of
fans, upon millions

around the world, he
is Jason, he always

will be Jason no
matter if someone

else plays him more than
once, or if he never

plays it again, he will
always be the Jason

because he's the one
that made him iconic.

That made him more than
just a guy with a mask.

After the whole
mess of not doing the

Freddy Versus Jason
movie, I got contacted

by Adam Green about
a new character

that he thought could
be a franchise also.

Well my first project with
Kane was the original Hatchet.

I was a huge fan of
all the Slashers.

Michael Myers, Jason
Voorhees, Freddy Krueger,

and the concept
of possibly having

Kane Hodder be
Victor Crowley was

always just a pipe
dream, and then

John Buechler who was
doing the effects,

when he first suggested
well why don't

I show the script to Kane,
I was just like really?

Seriously?

'Cause I didn't think
he'd wanna do it

just because he's
already done it.

And he had been a
fan of my work as Jason

and wanted to talk about playing

a character called
Victor Crowley.

With Jason, he came
into that so late

in the game, and as
much as he's the Jason

as far as anybody who
knows what they're

talking about with
Friday the 13th goes,

this was a great opportunity,
especially because

it's a very different
character and

he's not hidden behind
an emotionless mask.

I was somewhat
excited because it was

similar to Jason, it was
a character in makeup

that didn't speak and killed
everyone he could reach.

That movie was very surprising.

It was very over the top.

It started like a
comedy at first and then

suddenly it switches
gears and it

turns into the most
horrendous over the

top makeup effects extravaganza.

I mean I love that.

I think Adam
purposefully didn't reveal

everything in the
first movie so he

could give some more
information over

the second one and
ultimately answer

everything left
in the third one.

That's pretty
confident for a guy

that was unknown at the time to

assume that you're gonna get the

chance to tell your whole story

over the course of three films.

Kane was really one
of the only people

who I said what
the next two movies

were gonna be because
I feel like if you're

gonna do a slasher
series, you have to have

an endgame and you have to
have things planned out.

The idea of just
making one, and then

all of a sudden it
performed, so now

you're gonna make another
one, you can start

to tell as a fan
they're just finding

their way with this
and they're just

either repeating the
same movie over again,

or they're making shit
up, but I had a plan.

There were a lot of similarities
to Jason with Victor.

And I did not wanna
do the same thing,

I wanted to do more
of a grotesque guy.

We did a demo appliance and the

prosthetics on top
of him, and I did it

in such a way that
it was risky because

there was so much
prosthetic on his face,

but I think it worked
out pretty well.

Kane really gets
into it and that's

why the characters he
plays are memorable.

When you have a real
actor behind these

prosthetics and makeup, it
makes such a difference.

You can tell when it's
somebody just going

through the motions and
when it's a character.

There are a lot of
actors that could have

simply thrown the
makeup on and thrown

the prosthetics on
and just getting

in front of the camera
and going grrr like

Godzilla in a Godzilla suit
or something like that.

He was, every night, in
uncomfortable situations,

he was off taking it
very very seriously,

so that when he came
out and when he did

his performance, it
had a lot of weight

behind it and it had
a lot of realism.

I mean the character
really seems

like a creature that's in pain.

And so the fact
that he takes it so

seriously and does not want the

other actors to see
him at all, so when

he's in the makeup
he stays separate.

Whenever I'm
playing a killer like

Jason or Victor
or anyone really,

I like to fuck with
the actors a little bit

for their performance
being enhanced

and also just for my
own entertainment.

The cast just
didn't know anything

about him and never
got to see him

or spend time with
him, and I think

that made a huge
difference because

that way what you
see in the movie

when the cast sees Victor
Crowley, that's their

first time seeing him
and they were terrified.

What he'll do is as
he's getting into

character you don't
know where he is.

He's off in the
woods somewhere and

you just hear him
screaming or kicking trees

and just these
bursts of rawr, rawr,

and the cast is
terrified at that point.

So the cast is
already convinced that

he's half crazy
anyway, and by doing

things like that it just brings

so much more to
their performance.

We would do some rehearsal
sometimes without him.

B.J. McDonald would
come out and say

so Kane's gonna
come out from behind

the tree and when you
see him squeeze off

a couple of shots,
say your lines,

and run off in the
other direction.

A lot of times the
only time I saw Kane

on the set was when
they would go action

and Victor Crowley would
come out, be in frame,

scream something horrible at us,

and then I'd be
running for my life.

And what was so funny
about it is when

you don't do a lot of
rehearsal with him,

he actually comes out
of the pitch black,

out of the woods, and he
scares the crap out of you.

Amanda!

There's an interesting
connection about

having been through
some violent acts

in my past and being
able to recreate those on

film has to have
helped somewhat because

that's what people say
the most is when they

watch me kill somebody
on film, it's so violent.

So it's like to become
the ultimate badass.

I think it's a pretty
interesting thing that

he picked up as a result
of his background.

He got used to torment
and agony and suffering,

and then he just started
getting paid for it.

Good deal.

When it comes to your death
scene, it's not gonna be easy.

I'm not gonna hurt
you, but it's not

gonna be comfortable
either because

I like a little bit of realism.

Without fail the actor will say

goddamn, that was
a little rough.

Then they see it on
screen and they love it.

And they're happy
we did it that way.

I've known him for 33 years now.

I always wanted him to kill
me and finally that was

the thing where he sawed
me in half with a chainsaw.

And I told the guy that
was behind me, Coulton,

I said Coulton, he's
gonna take a chainsaw

and stick it between
our legs and lift us up

in the air and we're
gonna get sawed in half.

He goes yeah I know,
I said bring a cup.

And he goes why, I said
I know Kane, bring a cup.

So Kane comes out,
we're standing there

and he goes waff,
lifts us up in the air.

And as soon as
we're done Coulton's

like this, he goes thank you.

So yeah, Kane plays hard.

You would think
that would be enough,

but then there's the
pranks which I'm just

as guilty off because I
love doing it as well.

Adam and I decided that it
might be fun to scare Mercedes.

Mercedes McNab, on
the first Hatchet,

started to complain
after a while.

Well everybody else has
been pranked and Kane

scared them, but nobody's
done anything to me.

I was like, we were
already planning it,

but I'm like now you're
just asking for it.

So in the full Victor
Crowley getup Kane

snuck into her
trailer and just stood

in the bathroom in
the dark for a good

20, 25 minutes, and
just waited for her.

Then Joel David
Moore had a camera

that day on set
where he was just

documenting his
day, and so they go

into Mercedes'
trailer and Joel's

interviewing her,
and when he says so

what was your favorite
Victor Crowley moment.

Kane just comes bursting
out of the bathroom.

Goddammit!

I scared the absolute
shit out of her.

It was very funny.

I think she called me some
names that I had never

been called before, so
that was pretty creative.

What he wouldn't
want you to know though

is that the things
that he wants, like in

his trailer, are
peanut butter and jelly

and DVDs of Saturday Night Live.

We would use code
and be like oh bring

another dead baby
to Kane's trailer,

or another bottle of Jack
or whatever, but it's

really just peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches.

He's a very simple guy
when it comes to that.

My favorite Victor
kill is one of the

goriest kills in the
history of cinema where

he grabs the woman's
mouth and rips it open.

Anybody can kill
people with a gun,

but how many people
can catch a woman

who's running away
from them and put your

hands in her mouth and
rip her head apart?

Now that's creative.

I like the more hands
on creative things,

I mean that's my favorite
kill that I've ever done.

Hysterical because
when I started writing

Kane's biography,
my aunt was like oh

who is this guy
you're writing about,

so she decided to watch
Hatchet, and she's

never watched a horror
movie pretty much

in her life, and she
saw that scene and

threw up three times,
and Kane thinks it's

the greatest thing in
the world that someone

threw up because of a
kill he had in a film.

It's fun as hell to have an
effect like that one somebody.

I mean for me,
knowing that Kane is our

stunt coordinator,
I know I don't have

to worry about getting
hurt, so I always say

if Kane's coordinating
I'm doing my own stunts.

Unless Kane says you
can't do this Dee,

is the only time
that I won't do it.

When Adam first
talked to me about

playing Victor, I asked him if I

could do something
as another character

and show some emotion
because I wanted

to show people that
I could do something

other than just
violently kill them.

So that's when he came
up with the idea of the

father, he said let's have
you play Victor's father.

I already believed that Kane

could play Victor
Crowley's father,

so it's funny, he
approached that as

let me prove to you
that I can do this.

He was already cast,
and I don't know

if I should admit that, but I

already believed he could do it.

Just sat
there for almost 10 years

before he finally died
of a broken heart.

And I think he surprised
himself a few times,

but I just love that he's
up for the challenge.

"- I mean we a" draw from
our own life experiences

and they help us become
who we are and how we

deal with things and how
willing we are to open up.

He got to be himself and
not be covered in makeup.

And he cried on camera for
real for the first time.

He was so inspired
and moved by that.

He got out of monster
stuntman, gonna do what

I know how to do and I'm gonna

literally take the mask off and

I'm gonna be
vulnerable, and that's

something that I think is really

hard for a lot of
people, especially a man,

and someone like
Kane, so when he did

the scene he got a
taste of the bug.

They say when you get
the bug it's like a drug.

So it worked out
very well, that started

all the people
thinking wait a second,

he can do something
else, so let's try this.

That was the beginning
of all of it.

Every time I see
Kane at a convention,

of course we're always
choking each other,

that's the first thing we do,

we just go over and
choke each other.

He can really choke you.

He's like, Kane,
we're just joking

around, you're
like turning blue.

Kane definitely
choked me one time,

he grabbed me, he's a
tremendously powerful man

and his hands are large,
so when he puts the grip

around your neck it's
surprisingly tighter than

you think it's gonna
be, so you're like

oh wow, that's fun,
I can't breathe.

I'm known for choking
people at conventions.

Anybody that's had me do it
knows that I choke you for real.

I don't say it in
a cavalier way,

it's just what I've
become known for.

People love it and
they love to bring

their friends who
have never met me

because they can't wait
to watch the reaction of

the person 'cause they've
all been through it.

Watching people turn
blue as he chokes them.

Yeah, they're a
little unexpected.

I thought I was dying
'cause I was like I'm

fucking getting choked
what's going on, holy shit.

Yeah, it does seem
real, you can feel the

pressure of the hand
grip around your neck.

It definitely felt real.

It felt real and it's awesome.

Does he ever choke you?

It hurts.

He choked me to
death, I don't know.

I introduced Kane to my mom and

he's like come
here, and he does it

and I'm just like that's
my mom, Kane, stop!

She can't breathe!

I've been choked by
Kane quite a few times.

It shocks you a little bit.

I guess that's the idea.

I was new to Kane's
choking tricks.

Kane put his hands
on mine and started

squeezing really
hard and I realized

oh my God and there
was nothing I could do

in terms of
countering his power.

Kane was really
choking and I panicked.

He'll grab someone,
he'll grab them.

I mean you'll hear them go.

He really gets in
there, I think he

enjoys actually scaring
people for real.

He's the only one
I've let choke me, so.

People love to get
choked out by Kane Hodder.

I don't get it.

I don't understand.

It does nothing for me.

But I guess that's
your chance to be

in a scene essentially
with Jason.

Well my experiences
with Kane are not

horror related, my
experiences with

Kane are comedy
related, and what a lot

of people don't know is
that Kane is very funny.

He's a natural comic.

By the time we got
to Holliston, I mean at

this point Kane doesn't
even need to see

a script I don't
think, I just say

oh hey, we're doing this,
and he'll be like great.

He said he wanted me
to play myself in it.

I thought that's interesting.

The idea of making
fun of the whole

Kane losing the
character of Jason

in Freddy Versus
Jason thing and making

that a plot point and having him

own it and laugh at it and make

fun of it was huge, and for me

I was just like I
hope he gets it.

And this was somewhat
a touchy subject

not long before this,
he said now I want

you to freak out and
try to kill yourself

every time somebody says
Freddy Versus Jason.

I was like wow,
that is going into

an area that was once
very sensitive to me,

but maybe it's time
to make light of that.

That's exactly what we did.

Oh God.

Oh!

Hey.

He got it, and he
realized hey, if I

do this, it goes away finally.

If I'm the one to stand here and

make jokes about it
and be all pathetic

and try to kill myself
anytime somebody says

Freddy Versus Jason, nobody
can say anything anymore.

So I tried to make fun of it and

the fans responded
to it, they respected

the fact that I could
finally do that.

It was a fun thing to do.

I don't have any friends.

I'm not even Jason anymore.

Now I'm gonna get
stuck doing shit

Friday the 13th ripoffs
with wannabe young directors

that think they're making
the next horror icon.

Nice ad-lib, dick.

You like that?

I've never had an
acting class in my life.

I did do a stage production
in high school.

I enjoyed performing,
but I had never

been trained and
still hadn't ever

had any formal acting training.

If I do in fact have any
talent with acting it's

gotta be from watching
quality actors work in person.

Did a movie called Monster
with Charlize Theron.

I was the stunt
coordinator on the movie.

I always say that
was some of my best

acting training was
watching her work.

I was on the set every day
helping her through the

action stuff and watching
her prepare and do scenes.

Then the director
said you know, I think

I want you to play
a cop in this movie.

I was like a cop, wow.

I'm always a bad guy,
this is one of the

first times I've been
asked to play a good guy.

I'm gonna be a cop,
finally something good,

and she goes yeah, you're gonna

be undercover in a biker bar.

Oh, well there you go.

Same thing as always.

Two whiskeys, two
beers for the lady.

I'm VG.

Come in here much?

Oh come on.

But it was very
cool to do a scene

with someone who wins an
Oscar for the character

that they're playing in
the scene you're doing.

I was so proud of
him for doing that

'cause it was such
an amazing movie.

All of us get pigeonholed
into certain things

and to break out of
that has been amazing.

He made that
transition from stuntman

to stunt coordinator
to actor and really

did all three very effectively.

Personally I love
seeing him without

the makeup because
he is a good actor

and people are
finally giving him

a chance to show
his acting chops.

Another guy that I
credit to helping me expand

my acting career in a
big way was Mike Feifer.

I think that Kane was
at a place in his career

where he was looking
to do real roles,

to actually show
that he could act.

I think, you can
imagine you're behind

the mask for so
long, nobody knows

who you are or
what you look like.

Kane is an actor.

He called and said
hey, I'm gonna do a

movie about Ed Gein, I
want you to be in it.

It's based on the story.

I think you would
be good in the role.

I was impressed that he
had that confidence in me.

I specifically
remember a moment where

he's sad and he's
upset and he has

a picture of his
mother and he drops

the picture and he hits the wall

and he slides down
the wall crying.

And I was like wow, I mean
there's somewhere he's reaching.

I tried to make
him uncomfortable

all the time, just
weird and creepy

'cause that's the
impression I got

from reading books
about Ed that he

wasn't really that
terrifying, but everybody

was always like God,
that guy's weird.

So I tried to make him just feel

uncomfortable all
the time and it was

great playing a
character like that.

He said I liked what
you did in Ed Gein,

now I want you to
play Dennis Rader,

who was a guy known as
B.T.K., another real guy

who was a serial killer
and I loved that role

because here's a
character that an actor

would die for because
he has to be really

likable in a lot of
scenes because that's

what the history was with him.

People loved the guy.

He was a church president,
he was a Boy Scout leader,

and then he was a
murderous maniac.

That's right, girls.

Your father has been chosen to

take the church down a new path.

I think he really
creepily enjoyed

playing that character,
so it was fun

to watch Kane inhabit
this role of this

straight guy who's
really mean and nasty.

Kane and I are doing a movie
together called Death House.

Directed by a guy
named Harrison Smith.

What I love about
Kane is that he

speaks exactly
what's on his mind.

And it was a lot of
fun working with Kane.

It's awesome, it's like
The Expendables of horror.

It's got all kinds of
horror stars in it.

Kane's the big bad
guy in the script.

Kane's character Sieg has a very

unique ability to regenerate.

So he gets shot, bullet holes
seal up, things like that.

The way out is not that way.

It's down.

To them.

With me.

To work with him as an
actor, consummate professional.

He's really concerned about
the quality of his performance.

Most of all, that
imagination of his,

he brought, I mean
he was the character.

That's what I loved
about him, he took this

totally seriously, and
after we were done shooting

Bill Moseley said, he
goes this is Kane's movie.

Now Bill Moseley is
also hyper intelligent,

so when you get Kane and
Bill Moseley together,

I mean I just sit there and it's

like they're talking in.

It's like I have
no idea what these

two guys are talking
to each other about.

But they both have
really bizarre sense

of humor, so it's
always so much fun.

And Kane is especially
smart, and I think he

prides himself on
talking about his MENSA,

'cause a lot of
times we play pretty

dumb, scary, one
note characters.

I will fuck you in Hell.

It's been in the
works for a while and

some of the best horror
icons are involved.

I don't know what
Kane's career would've

taken had he been cast
in Freddy Versus Jason.

It didn't happen and
Kane, being a survivor

that he is, and most of
all transcending that

mask role, went off and
forged another career.

Nobody handed it
to him, he worked

his balls off to
get back, and I mean

he worked and he
worked and he worked

and it finally paid
off, he got the

Jason, the Victor Crowley
and things like that,

and honestly, just
me, I'm proud of him

because I've known
him for a long time.

I know where he
came from, I know

the things that vexed
him a little bit.

While the burns scarred
him physically forever,

the worst effects from the
burns were actually mental.

I was burned when I was
a child on 35% of my body.

We have talked about
that and discussed it,

and I think we felt
a little bit of

comradery because of
our burns and getting

through your life and
trying to deal with that.

Most patients the
recovery is difficult

because of posttraumatic stress.

As a little kid I
had a really amazingly

hard time, and really
all my life with it,

and to go through
what he's gone through

I can't even imagine
because it took me

my whole life to be
able to deal with it.

I started getting
the feelings of...

And it's been, I've
been to many therapists

and stuff and it's
been classified as

PTSD type thing
from the accident,

everything I went
through, slowly manifested

itself because since
my parents and my

sisters were the only
ones that saw me,

and I got a staph
infection and almost

died as a result, that
somehow I've come to the

conclusion within my
brain, not consciously,

but that they had
something to do with that.

So for some reason,
years later, gradually I

started feeling that
if my parents or my

sisters came to where
I lived, then they

were bringing something
bad with them.

It's almost the worst
part of this whole ordeal.

Everyone that had
anything to do with

him at that time was
suddenly infected,

they were contaminated in a way.

Even his own mother,
who was the one

who took care of him
and stretched him

and did every single
thing afterwards

when he came home, all
the therapy with him,

if she wanted to
see Kane she had

to go through what
he calls a process.

I would have to
have them, once they

arrived at the house,
give me everything

they brought with
them so I can put

it in the washing
machine, they'd have

to go immediately
into the shower and

get rid of whatever they brought

with them, that's
how it felt to me.

If I washed all their
clothes and they took

a shower, then I was fine
with them being in the house.

It's ridiculous,
I'm the first one

to admit that it's
ridiculous, but it

was something I
could not control.

I would either ask
them to do that

or I wouldn't be
able to have them

come to the house,
so what's worse?

Now that my mom
is gone, I've seem

to have lost touch
with everyone.

It's a sad thing
because I was always

very close to my
family and obviously

it's basically, it's
my fault that I don't.

He lost a lot of family members

because of it
because they couldn't

understand the
OCD that Kane had.

It's not something
I'm proud of certainly.

I'm ashamed of it,
but it's just the

one thing I was
not able to beat.

And I have to live with that.

I don't give up on anything.

My wife and kids know that and
they mean everything to me.

My wife Susan is very...

She's a therapist,
she has a practice.

For many years
helping people cope

with certain problems and stuff,

so she's very caring
and empathetic.

And helps people get through
some stuff, including me.

I'm probably her
star client because

I've had so many
issues that she's

helped me deal with
and been very patient.

I think what was
horrifying to me was

not so much the burn
story, which is bad enough,

but then the recovery
story was really

I think much longer and
more tedious than it

could have been, or than
it should have been.

Being in the hospital
for six months

I think made him a much
more sensitive person.

It made him a much
more generous person.

I love hanging out
with Kane and his family

because we were
knuckleheads, we were young

knuckleheads for a
long time and then we

both started families
about the same time

and I knew him with Susan
and his relationship

and their dynamic
is great, they're so

different and yet
they complement

each other and it's
just so fun to watch.

When we first
started dating I was

a set decorator, but
I stopped because

it was exhausting
and really hard and

having two people, I
found, in a relationship

that are in the same
field was really hard.

I think when Susan
started seeing me

really start working,
there had to be

an element of concern
with her considering

I was doing dangerous
stuff quite a bit.

Earlier in his
career it's a little

nerve racking, and
there was a few times

when he would be
doing, like if he was

doing average things
and car stunts,

those didn't worry
me, but things

where he could get
seriously hurt.

Perfect example was I doing
a movie called House 11.

I was testing a rope,
there was a rope

hung from the permanence
in the sound stage.

One of the characters
had to swing

on the rope from
the top of the set

on a long swing
down into the set

and then up the other side and

then back to the top
of the temple again.

I swung out, and as I
was swinging back in

I hit part of the
set and it knocked me

off the rope and I
fell pretty close

to 25 feet to the
stage floor and hit

really hard, and
right at that moment

Susan arrived on
the set to visit.

I just came down
to visit, he was

really excited to
be on the movie.

And one of the
stunt guys I had there

for the day ran
over to her and said

oh my God, we
thought he was dead.

Oh my God, I thought he
was dead, and I'm like...

What?

Wait, what do you mean?

What are you talking about
you thought he was dead?

And then she found
out I had fallen.

They showed me
where he had fallen.

I think since that
day, that was the

instance why I
don't go to the set.

I think I've brought
the kids and we've

visited the set,
but I don't like to

watch him work and I
think he's nervous.

I have two sons, Jace
and Reed, and they're

very responsible, smart,
well-adjusted kids.

He really is a wonderful dad
and he's totally plugged in.

It's amazing that
Kane is able to

keep two completely
different lives.

He has this life
of flying all over

the world and
putting on makeup and

ripping heads off of
people, and then he

goes home and sits
on his couch and

watches a TV show
with his family.

If you saw a shot of
them sitting there you

would think they're no different

than any other
family in the world.

It's really cool
that he can keep up

the balance of both
of those and not

let the two bleed into
each other too much.

When he's home
we still enjoy our

time together
watching TV and movies

and stuff like
that, finding one of

his movies every
once in a while,

watching a little bit of that,

him realizing how old it is and

then switching to a new channel.

I think some of
my favorite memories

are probably when we
hang out together.

Most fathers and
sons don't really

hang out that much
together, but I

really enjoy
hanging out with him

instead of going out
with my friends at night.

Both of my sons,
when they visited

when I was shooting
Jason X, I was in full

costume and I have a
picture with both of them.

That was one of my
favorite sets to visit.

I was pretty young,
and I mean seeing

all the people in their makeup,

seeing how futuristic
everything looked.

It was a really
unique experience

to be on the set of
a movie with my dad

and seeing him in person
acting was really cool.

The funny thing
about Kane is he has

this intense presence
about him, but he's

the nicest, kindest guy
once you get to know him.

Most people wouldn't
think of Kane as being

a nice, basically
mellow, soft spoken guy.

I'm sure he has his
moments, but I think

that would be very surprising
to a lot of people.

Maybe he sews or does
macrame or something,

I'd be curious what
his hobbies are.

Kane is the entire
horror community.

I can say that bar none.

Kane's body language,
Kane's posture,

the hockey mask, the
way he moves, his bulk,

all of that is the
logo for the experience

of 30 odd years of
Friday the 13th films.

He's a horror icon.

Me being into the
horror genre and

loving horror
movies, he is Jason.

He is the epitome
of Jason, goddammit!

Know about it, motherfucker!

He's by far the best Jason.

He's known as Jason,
that's, you can't

really take that away.

I have to think
that of all of them,

and I've said this before, he is

the one, the only, and the best.

Nobody else can even
compete with him.

As a leader, when
you're an icon,

if you wind up
playing a role that

becomes really
important to people,

there's a responsibility
that comes with that.

Kane's one of the few who really

takes that
responsibility seriously.

Well I think my
fans are the best.

There was a big
outcry from the fans

when I was replaced
as Jason, and that

made me feel good that I wasn't

the only one that
was disappointed.

Let's face it, if
we didn't have fans

we wouldn't be in the
place that we are.

I have a reputation of
being nice to the fans

and Kane has a
reputation of really

being fun with the
fans, they love it.

He makes everybody have
their own special moment

to walk away with, he's
definitely a fan's fan.

Fans are everything to Kane.

He goes above and beyond.

Fans are completely the life

blood of the horror community.

You see dozens of
horror conventions

with people lined up
who wait hours to meet

their favorite celebrity
for a few seconds.

You might be doing a convention

every weekend for
a year, or on tour

promoting something,
but for this person

they're waiting
all year for this

moment that you're
coming to their town

and they have something
they wanna tell you

or share with you, so you
can't ever forget that.

It doesn't matter what
else is going in your life,

everything could be
going to shit, you could

have the worst day
ever, you could be sick,

for those five, 10
minutes that this person's

gonna get to spend with
you, that's everything.

Kane really gets
that and that's why

the same fans will come
see him all the time.

It doesn't matter
that they already got

his autograph once,
they just wanna see him.

That's huge.

Even a couple people
in line ahead of me,

just how he was talking
to them, they'd ask

questions I'm sure he's
been asked 80 times a day

and he stills answers
enthusiastically as much,

but he's still got that
snarky asshole attitude

that you love about it,
which makes it perfect.

The first photo we took, I
was wearing my hockey mask.

I did what Kane
does, I did the heavy

breathing where he lifts
up his shoulder like.

And tilted my head a little.

He smiled at that, I think
he thought that was cool.

He gets it, okay, just
like a few of us get it.

That the fans are
the ones that are

really important in
this whole scenario.

We're just guys doing our job.

The fans are the ones
that make it all happen.

They're the driving force.

Whenever I'm with him in public,

and he gets
recognized by someone,

he's always happy
to take a picture.

They're really important
to him and that's why he

does so many conventions
to meet all of his fans.

People come to see
Kane Hodder for a reason,

over and over, I mean
his line never ends.

I was very envious of
him 'cause he had a line

going clear out the door and
I had nobody at my table.

He's so appreciative
and so good with the fans.

I don't think you could have a

better ambassador
for a franchise.

That whole segment of
fandom didn't get the respect.

Now I think everybody
realizes that

the horror movie, like
the science fiction

film or the fantasy
film, is a go to

popcorn ingredient in
the soul of Hollywood.

Horror fans, they
tend to be very

fervent for some reason,
I'm not sure why.

You don't have people tattooing
Adam Sandier on their body.

I'm not sure why, maybe
that would be a good tattoo,

but Kane Hodder, I'm
sure he's on a lot

of bodies as a tattoo,
the classic face.

I do have this Kane
tattoo right here.

I have Jason from Part Seven.

I had gotten this
tattoo, it was the

first one I had on
this arm, and he comes

over me, he's like you're a huge

fucking fan, but
you got the wrong

Jason on your arm, and
then he socked me one

and I was like all
right, this is how

the relationship is
gonna go from now on.

Now he has a whole
new fan base of

a younger generation who grew up

watching the Hatchet
series and those

kids' parents grew up
watching the Jason series,

so it's changed and
gave him a whole

new rebirth in his
career and now he's

doing almost 20
movies a year because

people wanna see him do stuff.

I think Kane is
relentless when it

comes to anything that
he's passionate about.

He overcame a lot of
things, and that's

by his own volition
by a force of will.

Some people just don't
have that in them

anymore, they give up,
they roll over and die.

Those are words I cannot
use to describe Kane Hodder.

Whether you wanna draw
an analogy to Jason

who never dies, maybe
Kane never dies.

I'm blown away
by his history and

what he's gone through
and just how he's a

triumph and he's the
coolest man walking really.

A man with that much
fortitude, desire, and ambition

to go through what he
went through is amazing.

To go from what
happened to him to being

one of the best in the
business as a burn guy

I think pretty much tells
you all you need to know

about Kane, the guy's got
balls of freakin' steel.

A lot of people
would've just been well

I had my time and
that was my thing and

I'm just gonna be
put out to pasture

and do the
conventions, but he was

smart enough and
still hungry enough

when Hatchet got
put in front of him

to say I'm gonna go at this with

everything I have, and I'm gonna

keep going and I'm
gonna keep showing

people that I'm just
getting started.

More people should
approach their

work and their
life like he does.

When you go through
an ordeal like that,

you begin to take
life seriously.

You slow down for a
second and you make

sure that your next
step is the right step.

And I think that's
what Kane does.

The fact that I
was, suicidal thoughts

and stuff, I know how you
can get to that point,

and I understand when
people get there.

I think I could've been
justified possibly ending

my life then because of
everything I had been through.

But look what I would've missed.

That's huge, I think,
I hope to instill

in people that get to that point

you don't know what
you might miss.

And I would've
missed all of this.

I still believe he's
just getting started.

10 more years from
now there could be

a whole 'nother
documentary about yeah,

so he did all of that,
but then he did this.

J“ Haters, more than a monster J“

J” Haters, your worst
nightmare come alive J”

I Haters, more than a killer I

J” The one who's coming
to take you tonight J”

I Fear has many forms I

I He comes in the dark I

I In his mind, his
clothes are torn I

I Wielding anything like
a weapon to take lives I

I His gift is the power,
the ability to survive I

J” A stab with a mask or
a cloak, a dark shroud J”

I Take the whole world
and flip it upside down I

J” You can't stop the
rage he has within J”

J“ I mean you could try, but
you can't, and you won't win J”

J“ Haters, more than a monster J“

J” Haters, your worst
nightmare come alive J”

I Haters, more than a killer I

J” The one who's coming
to take you tonight J”

How would I want
Kane to kill me?

I think quickly.

Very, very quickly.

I just thought of
something horrible.

It was sexual.

I definitely, I'd want
him to choke me out.

You ever hear the expression

rip off your head,
shit down your throat?

Maybe if he made
me eat my own shit,

or some script that
I wrote and stuff

it down my throat and
made it eat it, or shove

my own movies down my
throat or up my ass.

I thought we were gonna
be friends and partners.

What do you know about the
script that I don't know?

I'd like to be beat to
death by two naked ladies.

Wow.

Number one, his
character couldn't kill

me 'cause I can whip his
ass any day of the week.

Period.

With kindness.

No, I don't know, let's
see, a particular way,

how about he and I are
both burned up in a fire.

Ew, creepy.

By the way, I don't
know if you know this,

Kane has killed
more people with his

hands than anybody
else in movie history.

Don't know if you know that.

J” The one who's coming
to take you tonight J”