Brad Caulkin on Building a "Crystal Lake" "Small-Town Set" in the Same Locations Where "Friday the 13th" Was Shot, Faithfully Recreating an Iconic Scene, and "Twin Peaks-y" Ideas for Season 2

As Crystal Lake brings Jason Voorhees fans back to their roots, the prequel series Peacock returns the Friday the 13th franchise to where it all began. Series creator Brad Caulkin told Deadline the filming of this eight-episode show was "amazing" — all episodes are now available to stream — and the location was Blairstown, New Jersey, where the original 1980 slasher was also shot […]

Just as Crystal Lake brings fans back to their Jason Voorhees roots, the Peacock prequel series takes the Friday the 13th franchise back to where it all began.

The "amazing thing" about filming the eight-episode show — all of which are now available to stream — where the original 1980 slasher was also filmed in Blairtown, New Jersey, is that the town "hasn't changed in 45 years," series creator Brad Caleb Kane told Deadline.

"It's still exactly the same," Kane explained. "The structures are the same, maybe some paint jobs are different, and we had to do a little bit of that. But basically, it's the exact same untouched city it was 45 years ago, which is amazing."

Fans of the original horror film Sean S. Cunningham may recall one of the opening scenes in which camp counselor Annie Phillips (Robbie Morgan) crosses Crystal Lake, crosses a small bridge, and cuts a corner in downtown Blairtown with a striking red round phone on the sidewalk, visiting the hosts before meeting Trudy's family. Watch on Deadline

In episode 4, "A New Beginning," writers Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard recreated the scene with a hippie hitchhiker named Willow (Ona Roche), even recreating the interior of Trudy's diner in a soundstage.

Kane also emphasized the importance of filming in New Jersey, "because honestly, like the trees in Jersey look different. You can't recreate that feeling anywhere else, so we wanted to recreate that feeling and the only way to do it is in the same state."

Although the nearby Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, still an active camp and destination for horror fans, was not available for Camp Crystal Lake as it once was in 1980, Kane and directors Celine Held and Logan George were able to recreate the camp's boathouse on a sound stage to recreate "Loyalty" in the opening of the new episode with its own footage.

"It's still there and it's still intact, and we went through it because we couldn't shoot there," Kane explained. And obviously now that you've seen the show, you know that we're recreating a scene in that boathouse, shot by shot from the movie. Our senior production designer Lester Cohen rebuilt it from the ground up to exacting specifications at Camp Ocawasin in New Jersey, which was where we camped for the show.

In addition to recreating the show's memorable scenes and locations about Jason Voorhees' grieving mother Pam (Linda Cardellini), Crystal Lake also introduces a number of fan-favorite locals to its cast of characters, including diner owner Trudy (played by Dorothy Cobbs in the first film, police officer Bernadette Quigley in the Cop series). Scoggins) and crazy hermit Ralph (Walt Gurney, Nick Cordileone), as well as new faces, including Pam's love interest, Officer Levon Brooks (William Catlett), her reporter sister Briana (Dwain Kessler), and Pam's single friend Rita (Joey Soprano).

Kane found it "exciting" to see Crystal Lake and its residents again through the series, which he envisions as having a "Twin Peaks-y vibe".

"I mean, it's a world I come back to again and again," he said. "I go back to these movies, we all kind of do. They became iconic for a reason. But there's a lot about the town we don't know. We meet these colorful characters in the first movie, we meet Trudy and Officer Dwarf and the so-called Crazy Ralph, even though he seems to have a point. But some of it we don't find too bad. Momentary communal comic relief.

Kane continued, "And, you know, with a show like this, we have the opportunity to open it up and spend a little more time with them. Everybody loves a small-town show, and in the world of Friday the 13th, it's just getting stronger and more interesting."

With a host of characters to discover (and ultimately kill), Kane hopes to return to Crystal Lake for another season. "I have some ideas in mind for season 2," he confirmed.

"Obviously it's not just Pam's story, it's Crystal Lake, so you have all the side characters that are interesting to me," Kane explained. "You have the opportunity to have more of a Twin Peaks feel with Ralph and with the dwarf and Trudy and all those characters. There's a lot more to go into them. But obviously the relationship will always be Pam and Jason and their story."

After giving a nod to fans of the original film, Cain noted that if Peacock had given them enough time, the show "could meet the events of Friday the 13th (1980).

"That doesn't happen in season two," Kane explained. There are more stories to tell, for the residents of Crystal Lake and to the extent that Linda wants to continue the journey with us, with Pam. So, we'll see.

As for Cardellini, he joked that he wants to keep the show going until Pam "kills every resident."

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