Directed by Marcus Nispel
Review based upon the US Warner Bros DVD release
After successful reboots of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Halloween” (certainly in terms of cash, anyway) it was really only a matter of time before someone decided to repeat the same formula for one of the key horror icons of the 1980’s: Jason Vorhees. Produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes studio and directed by Marcus Nispel (the same team behind the “Texas” remake), how does this version of “Friday the 13th” fare compared to the original franchise?
The flick starts with five young friends taking a weekend break, ending up hiking to the outskirts of the notorious Camp Crystal Lake. Wade (Jonathan Sadowski) tells his friends about the urban legend of Jason Vorhees; a little boy who drowned while the counsellors were drinking and having sex instead of supervising the children. He explains that Mrs Vorhees was killed after she exacted her revenge on the camp staff, but that Jason came back and the body was never found. As the group sleep they’re picked off one by one until only Whitney Miller (Amanda Righetti) remains. Six weeks later, a gang of college pals are staying with spoilt rich kid Trent (Travis Van Winkle) in his father’s cabin for a few days. On the way to their final destination they bump into Clay (Jared Padalecki), who’s Whitney’s brother and is searching the area desperately for his missing sibling. As strange sightings and disappearances occur all around them, Clay and Jenna (Danielle Panabaker) begin to realize who might be responsible for the terrors being unleashed… But what does Jason really want, and can he be stopped?
This is effectively the twelfth entry in the “Friday the 13th” franchise, and in rebooting the series screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift have chosen to put the
iconic character of Jason at the forefront of the narrative. Without giving too much away, the plot of the original Sean S. Cunningham version (who returns here to executive produce) is covered in the first three minutes, and instead this 2009 reimagining opts to increase the gore quotient massively instead. Before the credits roll (which takes an impressive twenty minutes) there are already numerous victims lying in Jason’s wake. The reality is that such an approach could be said to have one major disadvantage. Whilst this “Friday the 13th” starts off at a killer pace (no pun intended) and rarely pauses for breath as it moves from one innovative slaying to another, it lacks the suspense and mystery elements of the 1980 original which added a great deal of tension and boosted the final impact. It’s pretty clear that Shannon and Swift were inspired more by the sequels, as after 40 minutes Jason has already picked up his iconographic hockey mask; something he didn’t wear until part three in the original series.Nevertheless this is a movie that does exactly what it sets out to do, which is to give Jason Vorhees the chance to exact his revenge on a group of nubile and sexually active teenagers who drink too much, smoke too much, and generally need to be taught the kind of lesson that only a machete can deliver. This modern take on the premise is well directed by Marcus Nispel, and contains enough killing sequences to keep every gore-fiend happy. None of these are as fresh as the arrow-through-the-neck sequence from the original “Friday”, but the effects are nevertheless top-notch. Axes, knives, screwdrivers and wood-chipping machines are all utilised to maximum effect, and there’s even a few jump shocks to be had here as well. Director of photography Daniel Pearl (who shot the original “Texas Chainsaw”) gives the whole piece a grimy and gritty feel whilst using light discerningly, especially during the scenes at Camp Crystal Lake.
Perhaps the biggest weakness of the 2009 “Friday” is the characterisation, which is rather unconvincing at times. A classic example is Trent, whose whiny brat antics evoke an interesting reaction when he finally meets Jason face-to-face. When examining the ensemble cast it’s really quite difficult to feel sympathy for any of them, as they behave in such a stereotypical manner. Nevertheless, this is ind
icative of most of the flicks within the series, so it’s rather difficult to blame the writers when they’re working to such a tried and tested formula. On the plus side there’s the dispatch of a key character towards the end, which comes so out of the blue that it adds substantially to the shock value. The performances from Jared Padalecki as Clay and Danielle Panabaker as Jenna are perhaps the best on offer here, and they manage to turn their one-dimensional characters into reasonably believable protagonists.Overall, “Friday the 13th” is a solid and enjoyable reinvention of the classic franchise. It might not be challenging or original in its method and execution, but it gives the audience exactly what it aims to in terms of body count and sheer dumb fun. Most interestingly, here is a reboot that retains what most fans loved about the series, and as such is guaranteed to appeal to those who remember the original as well as those uninitiated to the antics of young Jason. One of the better remakes, which is interestingly directed and shot, “Friday the 13th” comes recommended to all genre fans wishing to take a trip down memory lane to the heady days of the 1980’s. It’s great to see that good genre icons never die, and based on the ways this ends a sequel is highly likely. Personally, I’m looking forward to going down to Camp Crystal Lake again in the not too distant future.
7 out of 10
A solid reimagining that gives Jason fans exactly what they want… let’s hope that the impending remake of “A Nightmare On Elm Street” delivers similar results
