January 20, 2016

Sometimes, there are characters in genre pictures that are so darned righteous, you can’t stop thinking about them or their amazing feats long after the movie is over. This column is dedicated to those cinematic bad-asses that keep us coming back for more. And when it comes to the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise, there are a whole lot of people to respect. Hell, if you manage to somehow come face to face with either Jason Voorhees, his mother or one of his imposters and you survive the ordeal, you automatically get our respect for life! But this week I want to shine the spotlight on one of those less fortunate Voorhees victims. I’m giving it up for Rob Dier (as played by Erich Anderson) from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER.

We first meet Rob when Tommy and Trish Jarvis are having car trouble off to the side of the road. He kind of comes out of nowhere and helps them kick start the car back in motion. He’s not one of the obnoxious teens from the group that just showed up and rented the neighboring house; he’s a bit older, more sophisticated & genuinely kind. They invite him back to their family cabin and immediately, the Jarvis family is smitten by this genuinely sweet fellow. Trish obviously has a bit of a crush. And Tommy can’t wait to excitedly put on display all his FX creations for Rob to admire!

But it turns out that Rob’s at Camp Crystal Lake for revenge. His sister Sandra Dier was part of a group that was attacked by Jason and is presumed dead. This all happened in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2, but you have to remember that the timeline of FRIDAYs 2 through 4 is a bit iffy. Technically, it’s all supposed to be the same weekend. Which means Rob should technically be looking for his missing sister rather than out for revenge (a plot thread that was recycled for the 2009 FRIDAY THE 13TH remake), but considering how many bodies are coming out of Camp Crystal Lake that weekend, odds are not good at finding her alive! So it’s a good thing he’s got that machete!

He’s bold enough to go camping out alone in the woods. When he goes to investigate a strange noise, he returns to his tent to find that Jason came in and destroyed his gun and map. That’s just mean! But the worse is yet to come.

If we go by the rationale that FRIDAYs 2 through 4 are all concurrent, then by the end of this weekend (during the events of PART 4), Jason is pissed. So, as he’s violently eviscerating this group of poor teens, Rob gets together with Trish to investigate. After all, at this point Mrs. Jarvis has also gone missing too. They stumble upon the bodies in the house next door and Rob hears something in the basement. He treks down there in the dark to face Jason, and is immediately overcome.

I was probably about the same age as Tommy Jarvis the first time I saw FRIDAY THE 13TH PART IV. And I’ll never forget how deeply it affected me to see Rob to lose his life to Jason. Not only because he was such a likable character, and not only because we understood why he was after Jason, but because he’s pretty much screaming the entire time, “he’s killing me! Oh God, he’s killing me!” before telling Trish to run. Seriously, that messed me up as a kid!

Now, I’m sure we’d all like to think that if we ever were put in a position like the one presented in a FRIDAY THE 13TH movie, we’d totally know what to do. We’d maintain our cool. And fight Jason with a shot of adrenaline like a total bad-ass. But the reality of it is, we probably wouldn’t stand a chance. We would probably go out like Rob.

Rob Dier, you were concerned with the wellbeing of your sister, you were awfully supportive of little Tommy’s endeavors as an FX artist and who knows? You probably could’ve had a beautiful thing with Trish. But you went up against Jason and didn’t make it. Regardless, for the effort you’ve earned this hashtag.

#RESPECT