Kane Hodder's Story Is So Heart Warming, It May Save The World

A montage of Jason Vorhees killing a bunch of people putting a smile on my face is a pretty strange reflection on my own possibly wavering sanity. Really, its a reaction peaked by memories from solo viewings to social interactive commentary about these not-so mindless slasher films. I love revisiting the latter Friday the 13th films because this one person out of the half dozen was able to give the star character, signature menacing movements in his undead form. In turn, the man most remembered for playing this horror icon, Kane Hodder, turned me into a puddle of sympathy with no makeup in another role, the beginning of Hatchet II (2010) as a lonely man who loses everyone he's ever loved. I was reminded so vividly of these gripping reactions while watching the stunt man/actor's life chronicled in To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story. This feature documentary just magnified all of those feelings with a sincerely honest, funny, fearless, and self-aware Kane taking back his narrative and expelling any miscommunication by exposing the man that he truly is.

To Hell and Back is as raw as documentaries get. Most fans of Hodder are aware that he was severely burned in his past, but this in-depth piece explicitly details the never told on camera journey that has essentially made Kane the guy he is today. There is so much more great nuggets of history told about Kane's stunt work, the Freddy vs. Jason whomp whomp, fan interactions, and quite a bit more shard by his friends and colleagues such as Bill Moseley, Robert Englund, Cassandra Peters, Adam Green, and Bruce Campbell.

A spellbinding story with enough heart to crumble the most stoniest of us, To Hell and Back's purpose is to help and inspire burn survivors. The funds raised for film through Indiegogo went to the Bothin Burn Center in San Francisco, the medical facility that helped Kane recover from near death. Director and industry veteran Derek Dennis Herbert combines the emotional energy from Kane and company's powerful words with imagery that makes this documentary more than a talking heads sequence. To Hell and Back is an experience, and a story that breaks the boundaries of a simple retrospective on an actor's career, showing us just how much it takes for every, single breathing person on this planet to fight their way through adversity and hopefully, help others. I unashamedly love my Part 7 and Part 8 Jason Vorhees, but I knew when I saw the man behind the mask, there was a real tenderness there that I'm grateful Kane has offered with an audience.