Friday the 13th (remake) Movie Review
Friday the 13th (remake) Movie Review
This is no "casual Friday"
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Jason really, really hates romance. In other words, don't play tonsil hockey when Voorhees is in the vicinity! Some things never change, and in that regard the Friday the 13th remake is no exception… the first 20 minutes is all passionate heavy-petting which sets us up for a major climax clustered with penetrating kills.
1981's Friday the 13th holds a special place in my memory. It is the first horror movie I found on my own; my dad introduced me to scary cinema late one night with The Pit and the Pendulum, and my mom used to creep me out by rasping "Regan…" just like the devil in The Exorcist. But Friday was all mine — nobody recommended it to me or showed it to me. I found it. I told my friends, and we all watched it over and over. As each sequel came along, I was disappointed… yet compelled to watch, and to finally grudgingly embrace.
The Friday franchise typically had several themes loosely in common: But the constant was Jason Voorhees — the mask-wearing, machete-wielding, never-speaking judge, jury and executioner of those doing anything connected with what led to his childhood "death". You see, when Jason was just a little tyke at Camp Crystal Lake, he drowned while the careless counselors were smoking, drinking, and fooling around. Their selfishness led to his demise and in the first movie, it was his bereaved mom doing the wicked wet work.
That's not the case in the remake. There's a set up showing how Mrs. Voorhees was beheaded with a machete by a would-be victim, and there's also a glimpse at how the full-grown Jason gloms onto the iconic hockey mask, but there's not a whole lot of back story. Although I liked Rob Zombie's Halloween remake (yes, he's my cinematic King Midas… what can I say?) there are just enough mommy issues here without overdoing, and thank goodness, Jason never utters a word. But Halloween is about family, so learning of Michael Myers' upbringing didn't seem too out of place. Friday movies are (to my mind) all about the random, various and totally disposable victims, so the less we know about their killer, the better.
The story follows 20-something Clay (Jared Padalecki) on his journey through Crystal Lake, where he's searching for his missing sister, Whitney (Amanda Righetti). She went camping one weekend, and never returned. Alone in the world, Clay is a one-man search party as he plasters the small, woodsy town with "Have You Seen…" flyers. This doesn't sit well with petulant rich city boy Trent (Travis Van Winkle), whose family owns an opulent vacation cabin by the water.
Trent doesn't want any downers to destroy his meticulously planned weekend of controlled debauchery. He's handpicked all the best horror movie archetypes to hang with: His innocent girlfriend Jenna (Danielle Panabaker), good-timing slut Bree (Julianna Guill), slacker dude Chewie (Aaron Yoo), token black guy Lawrence (Arlen Escarpeta), and the perfect Ken and Barbie couple, Nolan and Chelsea (Ryan Hansen and Willa Ford). Needless to say, Clay and his sob story are the ultimate buzz-kill.
When Jenna hops on the back of Clay's motorcycle and takes off to help him find Whitney, Trent's day goes from bad to worse. And when Jason (Derek Mears) shows up at the shindig, let's just say nobody's thanking god it's Friday.
A slew of slayings ensues, and there are several gory goodies. There's an eyeball skewering worthy of vintage Fulci, a machete blade through the cranium that sets the stage for a gratuitous boob-shot allowing for a nice double-dip — and 11 more watery deaths, woodland fatalities, claustrophobic kills I won't spoil.
So, is the new better than the old? Is it odd to say the 2009 revision is too good? Slick, assured, accomplished and polished, it's all plotted out to the nth degree, cast to perfection, and has well-timed punch-lines. It doesn't have that goofy, making-it-up-as-we-go-along, halfway apologetic feel of the original batch. Even though there are the obligatory bong hits, tits and half-wits, this Friday feels the most mature of any in the series. It's pretty adult in that there are no kid-characters like Tommy Jarvis or Reggie the Reckless; the sex scenes are more graphic than playful; and there isn't any wasted time on questions about ice cream flavors or prolonged robot-dances. This Friday has the same gritty feel the director / DP team of Marcus Nispel and Daniel Pearl brought us in 2003 for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake — while the somberness worked in the gloomy vibe of Tobe Hooper's 1973 masterpiece, I'm not sure I ever thought of the Friday films as "gritty".
All the franchise baggage aside, I have got to say I was definitely entertained throughout. I felt suspense and tension. I worried, and I anticipated. I liked the characters (the good, the bad, and the batty), and I think Mears is one of the best Jasons ever. Neither hulking nor ninja-slight, he's fluid and strong. Mears' physique and demeanor genuinely makes it seem as though Jason could be a survivalist who's gotten strong and fast from living off the land and hunting those who invade his space. Although Jason is extremely methodical and totally merciless, there's a trace of the human (true to character, he responds to his name with a Nipper-like head tilt, and he has a soft spot for certain ladies) which is, for lack of a better word, believable.
The filmmakers have achieved a successful balancing act in reinvention and respect — Friday should appeal to both hardcore fans and curious newcomers. Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake!
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
Latest User Comments:
| I Agree | |
| I agree 100% The new Jason (derek mears) has many scenes where he is shown as an actual human being. However, he doesn't give too much away about his personality and that's what made this new re-make so interesting. | |
| 02-20-2009 by Kannrykidd95 | discuss |