'Crystal Lake' Review: A Bloody and Nostalgic Return to Friday the 13th
By Jack Ransom - October 19, 2026
TV - Premium TV
The prequel to the landmark 1980’s slasher flick that birthed one of the most iconic and successful franchises of all time. Crystal Lake sees a dark secret from Pamela Voorhees' (Linda Cardellini) past emerge after her son's death, just as bodies begin turning up across the quiet town of Crystal Lake.
It would take the length of this entire review to go in depth of the utter mess that is/was the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise, but what it really boils down to is, original screenwriter Victor Miller owned the rights to the original film’s screenplay concepts and elements (Pamela Voorhees, child Jason, Crystal Lake) and director Sean S. Cunningham (Horror Inc.) took hold of adult Jason, the hockey mask and post first film distribution rights. The pair reconciled their differences in 2024 under the Jason Universe banner which now is a collaborative effort that will oversee all Jason related projects going forward.
When it comes to the Friday the 13th films, Jason X & Freddy vs. Jason are amongst my favourites, the 2009 remake is solid, and honestly when it comes to the rest they range from fine to dull. Upon Crystal Lakes announcement, there was scepticism, particularly when the trailer dropped and it instantly reminded me of the swiftly forgotten Ratched Netflix series that acted as a horror prequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. There was also the lingering question of “Is this necessary?” which always crops up when a franchise enters the prequel-zone, particularly when focusing around the character of Jason, where his relentless mysterious invincibility is a big part of his appeal and Pamela’s twisted motivations were enough to carry the first film.
First up, I’m going to quickly mention the elephant in the room (without spoilers), Jason’s origin. Yes, it is revealed in the show and I understand completely why it would cause division, however it is suitably twisted and features some very disturbing visuals. As well as (like with Rob Zombie’s first Halloween), the slightly jarring aspect of seeing the legendary machete murderer as a playful young kid, which will certainly take away from some of the fear factor and mystique that adult Jason held. The series begins by retelling the day leading up to Jason’s drowning, we then witness said drowning and the core of the series begins after Pamela kicks off her body count and has to keep it all together as the suspicion (and corpses) starts to rise. It's an engaging enough central hook and is bolstered by some strong character dynamics (particularly her relationship with Chief Brooks), and when it really taps into the horror side of things it provides a real love letter to the retro slasher formula that is genuinely charming to see elevated to prestige level production.
Crystal Lake falters however in the handling of its side plots and the overbearing notion that at eight lengthy runtime episodes there are some pacing issues and filler content to beef out the duration. Even from the second episode (Part 2) which centres around an out-of-town self-help seminar the series diverts from its interesting central narrative. The most focused upon of these subplots is Grace’s, which is a bizarre mash-up of coming-of-age, parental abuse, her relationship with Jason and ultimately is left hanging after a genuinely excellent and shocking rug pull in episode 5 (The New Blood). The investigation into Pam’s past feels like an afterthought up until the last couple of episodes and outside of Officer Dorf’s arc, the rest of the townsfolk are never particularly interesting, but do serve to bolster the palpable sense of small town community.
Where Crystal Lake excels is in its commitment to the kills. From the opening episode it’s clear the showrunners are not messing around. A couple of the demises here had me cackling out loud from the get go: face slashes, an insanely brutal jaw smash, heads caved in, throats spray like hoses, eyes pop and bodies are left completely butchered and mangled. Genuinely the most brutal kills that the franchise has seen. The essence of the films is captured in the camerawork (a lot of POV shots, heavy breathing and leering voyeuristic longer takes), with certain sequences lovingly recreating sections from the first movie.
As mentioned up top, Linda Cardellini absolutely crushes this role and channels Betsy Palmer’s unhinged, wide-eyed mania and moments of faux sickly sweetness which kickstarted the multiple revisits to Crystal Lake. However, with the extra material she showcases vulnerability, palpable care, grief and confusion and she really excels in the flashback episode dedicated to Jason’s origins. William Catlett’s dedicated, no-nonsense yet caring Sheriff is a strong second lead. His back and forth with the bumbling, enthusiastic Dorf (Cameron Scoggins) is a fun dynamic and the latter delivers multiple chuckles. Gwendolyn Sundstrom does have darker, maturer, weightier material to deal with as young Grace. Nick Cordelione, Joy Suprano, Devlin Kessler make-up a solid rotation of main supporting cast members and Hamish Linklater is a suavely presented, manipulative, cruel presence that appears in the latter episodes of the show.
Whilst it's not without its issues particularly when it comes to the pacing and leaning on filler feeling subplots, Crystal Lake is a solid series with some great moments scattered throughout. Significantly carried by an excellent central performance by Linda Cardellini, Crystal Lake also has superb practical gore effects and captures the tone and stylistic choices of the 80s entries.
All episodes of 'Crystal Lake' are available to watch now on Sky and NOW, following its UK release on October 19, 2026.
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Jack Ransom
Senior Writer
Jack loves to talk films: After a regular cinema trip, he likes to review them, rank them, react to them or even adding to his physical media collection!
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