User reviews

"Jason was my son, and today is his birthday…" Twelve birthdays have passed for the masked killer Jason Voorhees since the series was born thirty years ago back in the golden age of slasher films. Of the slew of terms studios use to avoid the word 'remake' I suppose the best term to describe the latest 13th film would be rejuvenation. The series started its downward spiral after part IV and while director Marcus Nipsel's doesn't wipe the slate clean, he ads enough pizazz to make it the best of the series in nearly two decades.

To give credit where it is due, this film does a number of things with the Jason character that are certainly a relief. Nipsel has opted to do away with the supernatural element and the super-zombie- Jason angle as well as giving Jason some spunk and cunning that he left with him at the bottom of Crystal Lake before part VI. Along with discarding these cumbersome characteristics, Jason is graced with a hunter/gatherer mentality that has him setting snares, traps and siphoning gasoline from locals. This is what the character should be; a loner forced to fend for himself in the forest; disturbed and deadly.

From the get go I thought this movie was a disaster. Never before had I seen poorer character development or less tense of a build- up. But don't leave the theatre so soon, as the opening act is graced with a nifty twist that you will not see coming. The calibre of the acting has never been a prominent staple of the Friday films, but this latest offering certainly comes closest to what could be considered as such. The dialogue is acceptable, only occasionally displaying the wince factor, and the leads are likable enough that you care just enough that you don't wish for a machete to the skull.

Years have passed since young Jason drowned at Camp Crystal lake, and the rein of Pamela Voorhees (Nana Visitor in a cameo) has been cut short…pun intended. Returning to the town of terror, much to the chagrin of the sheriff is Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki) who longs to find his sister (Amanda Righetti) who disappeared along with her friends a month prior. Clay's journey intertwines with a group of friends venturing to a cabin for a weekend of booze, boobs and bongs including Jenna (Danielle Panabaker), the cabins snooty owner, Trent (Travis Van Winkle) the resident stoner, Chewie (Not to be confused with Chewbacca, Aaron Yoo) among others. Their story lines are forced closer together still as people go missing, and soon the terrifying force from the nearby abandoned camp is revealed.

Aside from the Jason overhaul, who can run, jump and kill with the best of them, I enjoyed how the director managed to make the characters do stupid things, without making the characters themselves seem equally idiotic. The way the story unfolds, it is only the frantic ramblings of a few characters that claim a threat, which allows the others to wander to their bloody demises. There are still all the trademark Friday elements; a lot of booze, a lot of pot and a lot of nudity (which is overdone at times) When Jason first rears his ugly head, he has not yet donned his hockey mask, and I was interested to see if they could have him happen across it in an uncontrived manner; I was pleased if not blown away.

Fans of the series should at least be content with the latest offering, but really there is nothing new enough to become ecstatic about. One death aside, it is predictable, and the gore and deaths are less inventive then the early films. There are moments of tension to be certain, and the climax, like all Friday films, does not fail to disappoint. Disposable, but nothing special, when Jason does return I am hoping for a full overhaul of the horror icon that will not be as unlucky as its title implies.

6.5 / 10.0

Read all my reviews at: http://www.simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com

A group of young adults, some in search of the elusive illegal herb, stumbles upon Camp Crystal Lake, where a legend tells of a boy who grew up to be a killer. A few weeks later, another group enters that same woods. The body count begins to climb... is Jason back, and if so, can he be stopped? Let me make a confession: I really didn't want to like this movie. I loved the original series of films, I don't like remakes for the most part, and with Michael Bay's name attached, I knew it was going to be an action-packed film done in ADHD-ready music video format. Sadly, I wasn't wrong about the last part. However, the film as a whole isn't that bad.

The Jason mythology is still here. His mother is still involved, there's still a hockey mask, and it all makes sense. I'm a little unclear as to why he has a home at Camp Crystal Lake (he has a permanent bed at a summer camp), but that's fine. We even have the brother off to find his little sister scenario, which hasn't been in the series since the 1980s... well done bringing back a one-dimensional character. Crazy Ralph isn't here, but an old woman does a weak job replacing him, which is better than nothing.

If you're looking for sex, drugs and rock and roll, this film has it. Plenty of topless girl screen time (thanks, Willa Ford), although you should be warned that the two most attractive women (Whitney and Jenna) don't get naked. Sorry. Marijuana plants and bongs are around, as is the Pabst Blue Ribbon. Some might say "if you only have PBR, you're out of beer" but I disagree. As for the rock... they had Night Ranger's "Sister Christian". What more do you want? The theater audience I went with enjoyed singing along.

Many good one-liner jokes, and the gore here is decent. I'm not going to say it's the best gore I've ever seen, but there's no shortage of bodies getting impaled, hacked up, shot with arrows... another reviewer summed this film up as "killing spree", and that couldn't be more true. There was almost no plot to speak of (this is the film's downfall), but how could there be when characters were getting killed off every five minutes? Derek Mears is a fine Jason. There is a better one -- Kane Hodder -- but Mears' version, where Jason looks like Darkman, is respectable. Despite all my misgivings about this film, it turned out to be alright. Not my favorite in the series, not by a long shot. But if you're into beautiful young people drinking, having sex and dying in bloody ways, this film should meet your criteria for quality. Next on the list, the "Last House on the Left" remake... if there's one film I think should have been left alone, that's it. But if they do as well as Marcus Nispel (a great guy, and director of one of the better "Frankenstein" incarnations) did on this one, it has a chance.

(Synopsis) Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki) travels to Crystal Lake, the last known location that his missing sister Whitney (Amanda Righetti) was seen. The police have searched with no luck, and Clay is searching alone. Local citizens have advised Clay not to go into those woods, because anyone who shows up missing is already dead, and he is wasting his time. Their warnings go unheard, because he must find and rescue his sister. During the search, Clay meets a group of thrill-seeking college students who have just arrived at Crystal Lake for a weekend of sex, booze and pot smoking. One of the students, Jenna (Danielle Panabaker) decides to help Clay find his sister, and they go into the woods. They find the abandoned Camp Crystal Lake and search the dilapidated camp house for any signs of his sister. They soon see why people don't come to these woods, because they encounter the evil and psychopathic killer, Jason Voorhees (Derek Mears).

(My Comment) This is your typical teen slasher horror movie. By now, everybody should know that you don't enter the haunted domain of Jason, or you deserve what you get. We now have a bigger and stronger Jason who hunts his prey and not only uses his razor-sharp machete, but other instruments to carry out his nightmarish revenge. There are some terrifying scares scenes that made me jump, luckily there was no one sitting next to me. If you like slasher movies, the hockey-mask wearing stalker Jason will not disappoint, and you will have a bloody good time as Jason increases his body count. I was glad when it was over, because I couldn't take much more of this traumatic experience. (Warner Bros., Run Time 1:37, Rated R)(6/10)

THe Friday the 13th films have never been what you would call good movies. For me they have always been guilty pleasures, but not something I would recommend to fans not into gory movies where there are occasional scares but no real suspense built up. After seeing this latest entry, which is really a remake of the first four films into one, I can't really say its bad. Horror movie fans who love creative killings will love it, but if you're not a horror movie fan of the slasher genre, then I really can't tell you to see this movie. However if this is your type of thing, go see it.

Now on with the plot, which I really won't go into detail about because we already know what it's about. It starts off with a pitiful prelude that goes back to 1980 and found me rolling my eyes, but afterward it gets better. Young adults go camping, young adults die in nasty ways. THe one wrinkle added to the story is that one of the character's (Jared Padelecki from Supernatural on the WB) is brought into the story because he is looking for his sister. THis sister was involved with the first group of victims, and now there is this second group who know of nothing that has happened to the other group because it has been about six weeks since the first group went missing. You all know what happens next, so I won't say anything more.

Most of the cast was competent, better then many of the ones from the earlier films. THere were a few who were annoying, but that is part of the Friday The 13th scenario. I like the new Jason because he is much more active in the role, much like the Jason from the 2nd and 3rd entries back in the early to mid 80s.

I will give the movie a solid 7 out of 10. It went out and did what it was supposed to, but if you are more into the suspenseful horror films, and not hack and slash with a few jump scares, then Friday the 13th 2009 is not for you.

Teenagers head out to Crystal Lake, NJ where they encounter murderous Jason and his handy machete...

Make no mistake horror fans, Friday the 13th 2009 isn't exactly a remake of the 1980 slasher classic (save for the opening five minutes), but really more of another sequel to the popular series. Even still Friday' fans will find much to enjoy in this splashy, well-made slasher flick. The film makes no pretensions, it's a slasher film and acts like one too! The action arrives hard and fast, with bloody brutal kill sequences and some intense chase scenes. There's also a dash of dark humor (and plenty of topless actresses) thrown in for good measure.

So I can't complain that there's little character development or that the movie is riddled with clichés and stereotypes because this film is wise enough to dispense with the myriad BS and get to the elements that Friday' fans enjoy. Good choice. My only big complaint is the fact that Harry Manfredini's iconic theme music wasn't featured much, if any, in the movie. I did miss that ki-ki-ki ma-ma-ma.

Worth your money horror fans, as this is one of the best Friday' movies in many years.

** 1/2 out of ****

Look, I know F13 series was never high art. it was never really clever (except maybe part 6).. it was camp. but in general, it was fun.

This film alternated between three moods

1) nothing. I mean there is at least ONE HOUR where NOTHING HAPPENS! a bunch of moronic, profanity-laden kids TALK!!! No suspense. No horror. No humor.. NOTHING!!

2) Sex. Hey, part of the slasher genre is some sex scenes. But this felt more like soft-porn. There was one sex scene that felt like it went on for TWENTY MINUTES.. I didn't clock it, but it sure felt like it to me. These scenes went WAY beyond T&A or tease. I actually felt uncomfortable watching some of these.

3) Sadistic-torture porn. When Jason was around it felt more like a Saw movie, or maybe the remake of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Jason TORTURES his victims? Huh? Instead of a supernatural zombie he is more in line with a sadistic serial killer. a VERY different personality, and one that I felt was repugnant. In the original, Jason was alternately fun and scary. In this, he was just a sicko. Ugh.

This pretty much sums up the movie for me.

Oh, except one more thing. It looks like they used the lights over from AvP:Requiem. The scenes were TOO dark to see. And the Michael Bay 2-second scenes just made it worse! This wasn't some heavy cheap=CGI that had to be 'hidden' with low lit scenes and fast cutting!! I couldn't take it anymore.. And found myself fast forwarding to get through the picture.. Every time I played the movie it was one of the above 3 moods..

I never thought I would appreciate the 1980 original so much. That was truly a brilliant piece of film-making compared to this.

I have NO idea of who/why someone would like to see this. I am seeing some folks giving this high marks, so obviously it is filling a need. Just one that I don't understand.

Where was the fun?

If there are sequels to this reboot,then I will pass..

This is still one of the best horror remakes I've ever seen. It's got everything you could want in a horror movie, and they made Jason more beastly than ever! Good for die hard fans and newcomers!!

There's not too many movies I could watch multiple times and enjoy just as much every time. Great cast too! It might not necessarily be anything "new" but it certainly breathed new life into the franchise, modern Jason rules lol.

I don't know what else to say, anyone who hates this doesn't truly appreciate horror movies.

This remake is perfectly fine and it blows my mind that a lot of people trash it... they honestly haven't seen some of the films that came before this if they think this is awful.

Jason.

The hockey mask.

The machete.

That ominous theme that sounds a lot like "Kill, Kill, Kill."

Anyone with any knowledge of the horror genre has undoubtedly come across this villainous icon who practically sprayed theatres with blood throughout the 1980s. Although he pretty much became a parody of himself in Jason X and then was basically (and wrongly) turned into a psychologically tormented Frankenstein's Monster-style creature in Freddy vs. Jason, the beast was always remembered for who he originally was.

And that is what makes the new remake/reimagining of Friday the 13th such a success (for the most part). Despite being written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, the same guys who brutalized Freddy vs. Jason, they wisely went back to the basics that made the character so popular. Sure, he runs now, but he is a hulking beast again. There is a bit of added development in the relationship Jason has with his mother, but the story remains the same. He is still taking revenge on sex-crazed teenagers stupid enough to want to camp on Crystal Lake.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween and to an extent, The Hills Have Eyes, all went down the route of making their deranged killers need to have parental issues in order to establish their motives as adults. For some reason, there seemed to need to be a reason for these killers to be the way they are. They simply could not exist as being demented and totally sick-in-the-head. Friday the 13th does not bother with any of that. Sure, there is a plot twist that will make any devotee or fan squirm with repulsion, but it still makes sense in the grand scheme of who Jason was and is now. The character has no added dimension completely taking away from how terrifying he is, and making him into a misunderstood infant. For that alone, the movie is more than worth the price of admission.

Another wise choice is sticking to the formula. The filmmakers here (including director Marcus Nispel of Texas Chainsaw remake fame) have made what is basically an homage to the series. Instead of trying to completely redo and rebrand the character for a 2009 audience, the film amalgamates everything everyone loved about the series that made them come back for ten sequels. Remember the gratuitous amount of breasts and graphic sex scenes? They are here, and just as graphic as ever. Remember the goofy dialogue, and total lack of any knowledge shown by the characters in trying to combat themselves against this machete-wielding maniac? Its back too. And remember all those ridiculously violent kills?

Well, they are back too.

The film knows its genre, and it knows its audience. It throws plenty of cheap scares at a moment's notice, and offers just enough laughs (both intentional and unintentional) to keep the audience invested in the movie. And when the actual scares come, the film manages to keep the audience transfixed at those moments too (whether they are screaming in fear or laughing from how ridiculous the scene is). Rather tastefully, the deaths are gruesome, but not to the point of overkill like in the Saw series or even within The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Sure, there are some points where it may be hard not to wince, but it never seems like the filmmakers want to push the audience to the limit. They ground themselves in reality (for as real a situation as this story seems), and very rarely do they cross that barrier. They know which buttons they want to push, and which they want to stay well away from. And instead of exploiting the genre, they embrace it and somehow do not make things too disgusting for themselves. None of them may look innovative, but they work for the type of movie it is trying to be.

But for all the praising, the film is obviously imperfect. Leaving aside the ridiculous twist in the middle of the film and the total lack of character development (albeit, totally expected, but upsetting nonetheless), the film drags its heels getting to the finale. There is a very dry spot as the film nears its third act that borders on boring, and seems more like a forced narrative device to stretch the running time out. I have more than enough faith to see that they clearly could have added more running and screaming to some scenes, and still could have gotten a better effect. Some scenes seem marred by trying to be tense and failing as well. But of course, it is pretty hard for a scene to be tense when you are cheering for the killer as opposed to the victim.

The film also suffers from the slapdash editing that plagues modern horror and action films. In some instances, it is almost impossible to be scared because we barely see what is going on in the scene. It merely shows Jason show up, the person make their movie, and then a quick cut of what Jason does. Some scenes linger on the aftermath, but some happen and disappear quicker than you anyone would think. The fact that the film is not incredibly gory only makes it seem all the sillier to be so horrendously edited in some areas.

Some of the actors could have tried a little harder too, but that is just a nitpicking gripe.

In the end, Friday the 13th is a whole lot of fun. I did not think I would enjoy it at all, but I ended up being surprised at how reverent the film was to the series. Granted you know what to expect from a film featuring Jason Voorhees as the main character, than you should not go home disappointed.

And coming from a remake, that is saying quite a lot.

7/10.

(An edited version of this review also appeared on http://www.geekspeakmagazine.com).

After an exciting prologue involving your usual sex and pot crazed teenagers being dispatched by murderous woodsman, Jason Voorhees, Friday the 13th flies off the handle and populates the rest of the film with some of the most unlikable characters ever showcased in a slasher film and expects us to care when they're murdered one by one. We have no choice but to root for Jason and, I'm not sure about you, but I like horror movies where I feel bad for the people being stalked and killed.

If the characters aren't absolute morons or jerks, they're boring. We have the lead, Clay, who keeps trying to find his sister, but that's his only major character trait and it's hard to connect with him. Even worse is his sister who spends the entire film cowering in fear and screaming as she's trapped in the killer's secret underground lair.

Friday the 13th is yet another misguided attempt at remaking a classic film that forgets what made the original so compelling and watchable in the first place.

It stands for "Classic Horror In, Re-imagined Garbage Out". You can substitute "Camp" or "Crap" for the C, depending upon how you feel about the original "Friday the 13th" - the rest of the acronym remains the same.

The re-imagined "Friday the 13th" isn't scary. It isn't creepy. It isn't suspenseful. It isn't funny at any point, and it's only the slightest bit sexy. It doesn't add anything to the Jason mystique or, for that matter, to the "unstoppable boogeyman" archetype in cinematic horror.

The characters in this flick are so one-dimensional they make all the throwaway performances from previous installments of the series look positively Oscar-worthy. And that includes episodes 5-9, which are hard to beat on the Unwatchable Meter.

As many have noted, the lighting in a lot of scenes is bad. This is probably done for realism, but frankly it doesn't detract too much because you never feel like there's much to see anyway. Likewise for the relatively sparing use of shakycam.

Considering all the things they might have updated 29 years later, there really seems to have been little thought put into this movie. Yeah, there's more sex and nudity than in the original installments, but it doesn't seem that over the top and it definitely isn't titillating. Most of it is accompanied by insanely annoying dialogue.

There are plenty of scenes that will make you cringe and groan for their stupidity, but I don't want to include any spoilers, so I'll skip them.

Instead, I'll just mention the two most memorable non-spoilers:

1) There is gratuitous use of sudden loud noises to create shock or suspense when none would otherwise exist. Lots of movies do this when they can't be scary - I can't think of another one that does it so often or so loudly.

2) There is also a major preoccupation with weed. Was "Pineapple Express" that big a hit?

If there is any horror in this movie at all, it is that Amanda Righetti and Willa Ford felt it necessary to star in it to advance their careers.

This movie does to the "Friday the 13th" franchise what "Quantum of Solace" did to James Bond. I hope Bond can be revived somehow. I no longer have the slightest interest in the goings-on at Camp Crystal Lake.

They should've listened to Crazy Ralf 30 years ago....

I didn't grow up watching the series, but I bought the box set when it came out and watched the whole series, I saw the New Line Series as well. I am in love with Friday the 13th. And seriously, every day of this month, I watched one F13th film leading up to this remake/reboot.

And now, on to the movie.

Friday the 13th is the thrill ride we've been waiting for. It has it all. Gore, Tits, Drugs, and most importantly...Jason! The film starts off with a fast-paced 10-15 minutes. Some creepy guy killing of 5 horny teenagers looking to harvest some weed. And who is this creepy old guy that wears a sack over his head? Jason!! And boy, Jason is back, in a big way! Then we are introduced to Clay, searching for his sister who has been missing for 6 weeks, who was part of the group that Jason killed off in the first 10-15 minutes...only with one survivor. A group of teenagers is staying at a Cabin in the woods...sound familiar? And Jason decides to drop by...and all hell breaks loose.

Friday the 13th '09 was worth the wait, it is a fast-paced roller coaster that gives us what we want. The deaths are freakin sweet, and trust me, there is a lot of the red stuff. Jason is a badass in this one. He kills with anything he can get his hands on to.

Seriously, Die hard fan or causal horror fan...this is a must see not matter what. Trust me, this one really delivers. 10 stars!

Hollywood's remake machine still droning on, and eighties semi-classic Friday the 13th is the latest film to get the unwelcome treatment. I can't say I'm a massive fan of the Friday the 13th series; certainly it's one of the better slasher film examples, but that's not saying much in a niche so lacking in good films. However, compared to this remake; the original Friday the 13th is like Ferrari compared to Ford, it's Led Zeppelin to the Spice Girls; Mario Bava to Michael Bay. To say this update is poor would be a gross understatement. The plot is, of course, just your basic slasher fare. The scene is set at Camp Crystal Lake; where a bunch of kids have travelled to camp in the woods and steal some of the local weed that grows wild in the area. It's not long before there's a discussion about the legend of Jason Voorhees, and shortly thereafter all the kids are butchered. A while later, someone named Clay sets off on his motorbike to look for his sister (who was one of the kids from the start) and he meets some other kids who are there to be slaughtered.

The film is a remake of Friday the 13th, but effectively it's a mish-mash of ideas from the first few films of the series. The plot involving Jason's mother is briefly skipped over in the first few minutes as the producers knew they couldn't market a movie without Jason Voorhees in it. There's also a scenario where Jason finds a hockey mask and puts it on, which feels completely out of place. Obviously the producers knew Jason had to wear the mask so they could put it on the posters, but it would have been less silly if he was just wearing it from the start. None of the characters are interesting at all, and only one is memorable. I don't remember his name but he's the one doing a Tom Cruise impression. Director Marcus Nispel (who did quite well with the TCM remake) expertly captures the modern horror MTv music video style, and this basically glosses over any attempt the film makes to be shocking/scary. There's some gore but it doesn't make any impact. There's also some RIDICULOUS idea about Jason taking a prisoner, which was obviously put in the movie to dampen it and ensure that it got the 'R' rating, which helps the producers to make more money. Overall, this is an absolutely abysmal effort that does no justice to the original and was clearly made to cash in. Luckily, it didn't cost me anything to see (but I still want my money back!)