Friday the 13th

(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)

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 ****

A group of young adults set up tent near the abandoned summer camp where a series of gruesome murders are said to have taken place back in 1980. The perpetrator was a grieving mother, driven insane by the drowning of her child, Jason, whom she believed was neglected by the camp counselors. As legend has it, the last survivor of the attacks beheaded the woman. But then Jason came back, and now he is a vengeful and inexorable killer, wielding crossbows, swords, axes and other sharp instruments. The legend proves horribly true, as these campers quickly discover. Six months later, the brother of one of those campers distributes posters of his missing sister. The police believe she took off with her boyfriend; but he knows better. The brother crosses paths with an uptight young rich guy who is having his girlfriend and friends over at his parents' cabin. The brother ends up at the cabin himself just before his sister's attacker sets upon them all.

In brief: we meet a group of annoying people who, happily, are quickly dispatched. Then we are unhappy to meet a new group of even more annoying people who take longer to get killed off. Didn't we sometimes see things from Jason's point of view in the original "Friday the 13th" series? I would have preferred to see everything from his point of view because I was squarely on his side.

It's depressing seeing this old schlock revived with a glossy sheen, a generous budget and a certain amount of technical efficiency. A certain cold, mechanical efficiency. Everything is shot too dark, with extreme close-ups of the action and in tiny little bits of film that race by too quickly for us to get a good read on what's going on until it's over. My frequent thought: "Oh, that would have been scary." Viewers unfamiliar with the original series will wonder about the superfluous back story regarding the mother, the single hint of the supernatural that isn't followed up on until the end and the mysteriously dwelt-upon moment where the killer discovers a hockey mask and decides to start wearing it. "A MYTH IS BORN!!" Give me a break.

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.

A group of kids are camping at Crystal Lake. They find some marijuana plants, and ... Jason. Now 6 weeks later, another group has arrived at a lake house. Meanwhile Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki) is in the area searching for his sister Whitney (Amanda Righetti) from the previous massacre.

This is a good traditional slasher movie. Jared Padalecki has the boyish charm to be lead hero. And he plays an interesting character. He isn't just some clueless young party animal. He gives a different dynamic to the traditional slasher movie. On the other hand, there is a need for more Amanda Righetti if she is going to be so prevalent in the final battle. The kills are good, but there are still a couple of problems. There isn't anything original. So I'll just give it a passing grade.