फ़्राइडे द थर्टीन्थ

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).

(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)

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.

Yet another remake, with an ending that leaves scope for another remake. Kane 'Jason Vorhees' Hodder isn't in it, maybe because he read the script. Also, possibly the lamest dialogue ever.

A couple go into an old shack - she says 'maybe a homeless guy lives here.' They go into a bathroom with a string of fairy lights all lit up - he says 'someone's been here recently.' A guy rides his motorbike out to a secluded cabin. A girl asks him 'does it run'?

I liked the original series. Yes they were nothing intellectual, but they were good escapism. With all the novels, short stories, graphic stories out there they have to keep doing remakes? I don't get it.

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 ****