Friday the 13th (2009)

Friday The 13th (2009)

Normally I'm against horror remakes, but seeing as this remake is made by the producers as the remade 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', I was really looking forward to how they could bring this horror icon onto the screen for today's audiences. There were 10 films including a spin off, it started itself in the woods (a soon to be cliche setting for any horror movie) but eventually found itself going to Manhattan, to Hell, to space and battles with horror icon Freddy Krugar so a remake was necessary so watching this remake was a breath of fresh air to see Jason going to back to his roots and doing what he does best, complete with a machete.

So what did I think of this remake? I feel this did not have the same fear factor or the shock value as the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' movie had provided us. It wasn't that scary as most of the time it was really cliche and guessing where Jason would appear became boring, as much as finding Wally in his adventures.

What it looked like the producers tried to do was incorporate the first 3 movies together into one movie. So at the beginning you see Jason's mother (as Jason doesn't start his reign of terror until part 2). Jason starts with the sack over the head (like in part 2) and finally claim the hockey mask for part 3. It was an interesting move, it did work as there wasn't too much back story with Jason, if they would have put the flashbacks with the 3 parts, no way it would have worked. People would have complained about too much flashbacks. Trust me I see that way too mu

ch of that especially in the 'Saw' Movies.

I found this movie to have one of the longest pre title scences, people laughed, it was good and yet I forgot that they didn't mention the title of the movie as all the credits were rolling at the beggining with the exception of the title.

During that pre title scence, the sleeping bag kill felt like a tribute to the one from Friday the 13th part VII, you know that classic moment, Jason picks up the bag and smashes it agaisnt a tree (with the person still inside). He doesn't do that in the remake so lets just say he does it in a 'Wicker Man' style so that was cool (well sizzling hot not cool)

Speaking of kills, not enough originality for me, just a machete here and there and everywhere. I was hoping for the producers to be a little more creative, but to me they got lazy and couldn't be bothered, so that was a major disappointment. One kill in particular that I admit I liked was the arrow, 'dead' on target as well.

I found the camera and editing a little sloppy. Much like in Batman Begins, the shots go too quick and half the time it was hard to tell what was happening, this happens a lot near the end of the movie. I did however like its atmospheric setting, just the usual camp site and that's it, nothing else nothing more.

Before I speak about horror icon, lets just have a brief moment for our teens. At the start you have your usual rowdy teens, love for beer, sex and exploring. There is one in particular who play a major part of the movie, so I won't spoil it. But the idea with the character was original so I liked that.

The other characters were bland, ordinary and nothing new. They do stupid things, go places they shouldn't go to and do what most teens do in these sort of movies. Get drunk, get stoned and get laid. There was one character in particular, named Trent who acts such a jerk throughout the movie. It kinda made me want to hit him and hurt him so badly and it worked, cause it made want to hate this character so much. There was this random pointless scene with the guys playing ping pong and the loser downing a shot from this guy's sneaker. There was really no point to the scene and didn't progress the story much further.

Ok, lets talk about Jason, of course for this, he's re-modified for this update, he preys on his victims rather than lumbering around this time round so he's basically a near human again and not the frankenstein like person he was before. I didn't like that Jason able to move a lot more faster but again he was human again so I guess I can't complain about it too much but it put me off a bit. It reminded me of the modified zombies in the remake of 'Dawn of the Dead' where the zombies could run. I was hoping for a more stealthy like Jason for this one instead of bumping into him.

Logic remains out of the window, over the hill and far far away. For example, Jason can be standing on the roof of the lake house roof where the teens were staying, then moments later he's chopping up someone like say 50 yards down a driveway.

Also people without a broadband connection can enjoy the topless water skiing scene!

Although I haven't gone into much detail with the plot, saying one thing can pretty much spoil the whole movie. The ending was lame and I mean lame in a big way. the build up didn't work and it was so ultra cliche that once again the creative team got so lazy and couldn't be bothered and just rushed the ending.

It was an ok movie, no where as shocking or terrifying as the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' movie. But it was great to see Jason doing what he does best. My guess that 'Nightmare on Elm Street' is next for a reboot/remake.

My rating 2 (and a half) out of 5 stars!