Godzilla Vs. Kong Has A Jason X Reference That Went Unnoticed By Many
In Jim Isaac's goofy-ass 2002 slasher "Jason X," the immortal killer Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) is trapped in a cryogenic freezing tube by a potential victim named Rowan (Lexa Doig). In the year 2455, Rowan and Jason are discovered by a cadre of space travelers and thawed on board their starship. Jason, of course, immediately restarts his murder spree, not really caring that centuries have passed or that he's in space.
Late in the film, the eternally rotting Jason is enhanced and reconstructed using high-tech medical nanites. He is transformed into a super-strong armored space monster that is named in the credits as Über-Jason. Über-Jason is now even more unstoppable than before, and his potential victims have to distract their pursuer by any means necessary. Using hologram technology, the human characters re-create Camp Crystal Lake, Jason's old slashing grounds, circa 1980. To complete the illusion, the hologram comes equipped with a pair of topless, weed-smoking camp counselors, Jason's favorite type of person to murder. "We love pre-marital sex!" they yell, and crawl into their sleeping bags.
Jason, finally in his element, picks up a bagged counselor like a massive, human-sized cudgel and beats the other counselor to death with her. It's one of the funnier scenes in an admittedly silly movie.
It seems that the "beating one person to death with another" scene in "Jason X" was a major source of inspiration for director Adam Wingard while making his 2021 monster flick "Godzilla vs. Kong." He said as much in a Reddit AMA back when his film was just released. He also wanted a scene where Kong beat a creature to death with another creature.
Daddy Warbats
In "Godzilla vs. Kong," Kong passes through a magical portal to a magical underground realm of monsters. There is sunlight in this underground realm, and plenty of exotic flora and fauna not seen on the surface. Kong seems to distantly recall his legacy as king of this realm and even locates an axe-like scepter made of a Godzilla scale. This is Kong's domain. While exploring the underground kingdom, Kong fights a pair of creatures called warbats, big ugly mothers made of wings and teeth. He grabs one by its long, whipping tail, swings it around, and clocks a second warbat in the head.
It seems that the scene's similarity to "Jason X" wasn't a coincidence. Wingard wrote:
"The big reference that I haven't seen anyone pick up on is when Kong folds up and kills Nozuki (a.k.a. warbat). That was inspired by the holodeck murder scene in 'Jason X' when Jason picks up the camper in their sleeping bag and smashes them around."
Not only has Wingard seen "Jason X," but he paid it homage in his goofy kaiju movie. That earns him my eternal respect.
But then Wingard used the phrase "smashes them around" and not "smashed them into each other," which may muddy the Jason waters a little bit. In 1988's "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood," you see, Jason (Hodder) hoisted a bagged-up camper out of her tent and smasher her against a tree. The makers of "Jason X" may have been paying homage to that "New Blood" moment with their holodeck scene. As such, Wingard was paying homage to an homage.
The cycle of art is eternal and beautiful.