Review of Friday the 13th (2009) by Mitchell B — 29 Aug 2014

Friday The 13th 2009, as you all know, is a remake of the classic horror franchise of the same title. Now I probably liked this film more than most people did. This is mostly because I didn't grow-up with Friday The 13th. I know the basic premise and I am familiar with the character Jason, but I haven't watched very many of the films, even the first one. At the time of this review the only Jason movies I've seen all the way through are Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason X, Freddy vs. Jason, and now this film. In fact, while there are some I enjoy, the whole slasher sub-genre of horror is not really a genre I'm that into. The only slasher franchise I can say I'm a fan of is Halloween, which is why I refuse to see the new films by Rob Zombie given what I've heard about them and what they did to Michael Myers. However, as someone who isn't a big fan of the Friday franchise to begin with, I can say I had a good time with this film. I won't say it's good, but I had fun with it and that's all you can really ask for with a movie like this.

The plot is straightforward. I haven't seen many of the films but I have watched the recent documentary, Crystal Lake Memories, so I know the basic plot of all the films and have seen clips of all of them. This film is essentially the first four Friday The 13th films put together. Actually, it's more of a remake of Part 4 because the first three parts are covered very briefly before even the title appears, which is also one of the longest intros to a films I've seen if no the longest. The film begins with supposedly Alice (though they never say her name) from the first film killing Jason's mother with Jason watching from afar. It then cuts to years later to a bunch of bland teenagers searching for a spot where weed grows near Crystal Lake to sell it and get rich. They camp for the night and Jason picks them off one by one. Then it jumps ahead another six months to another group of bland teenagers, so it's quite redundant. Except here we have Jared Padalecki's character Clay who is the brother of one girl from the first bunch of teenagers. He's pursuing Jason and they all meet up at this summer home on Crystal Lake. Jason, like before, starts picking them off one at a time.

The films does many things right that I don't think it's given credit for. The scenery and the shots of the countryside look great. The film looks beautiful. They shot this movie on location as opposed to a studio and it shows. The film has a good atmosphere and suspense which you rarely see in horror films today especially remakes. The score, while not great, gets the job done. I also really like this Jason. People say they screwed with Jason here but I don't see that. Again, I'm not a big fan of this series, but from what I understand about Jason I think they captured the character great. I love Jason's look in the hockey mask and even with the bag over his head in the beginning.

Some people say Jason looks too bulky but I thought he looked better that way. They were really trying to make Jason menacing again and I think they succeeded. People complain that Jason runs. He ran in the original series too. For example, I've seen clips from Friday the 13th Part 4 where Jason is running, so it's nothing new. I like that Jason runs because I think it's better and it lets you know he means business. You even have some decent kills with some slight creativity. The kills are done practically. There wasn't any CG being used or at least none that I noticed. If there was CG it was well-integrated.

I also like how they do things slightly different in who survives. Usually in these films everyone dies except for the lead girl and it comes down between her and the killer. Here both the main girl and guy survive. Also the girl you think is the lead girl actually dies, which is a bit unexpected. Jason also sets-up traps in the woods and navigates through underground tunnels which is why he can get places so quickly. I like this because it's something a little different and it makes Jason seem a bit more intelligent.

There are a couple characters I like. Usually in slasher films, especially nowadays, the characters are one-dimensional and unlikable, which is mostly the case here but with an exception. This film, at least, has some star power. You have Jared Padalecki who is famous for his role in the TV series Supernatural, which I am a fan of. From someone who's watched Supernatural nearly from beginning to end I can say that Jared is a great actor and I think he did a good job here. His character, Clay Miller, is the only character who isn't bland. His back story with his mother dying and his sister being kidnapped by Jason at the beginning of the film is sad, makes feel sympathy for him, and makes you want to root for him. I also like that you have a character who is actually pursuing Jason rather than just being another random teenager at the wrong place at the wrong time. I also like the girl, Jenna, played by Danielle Panabaker. She's bland, but she's a nice girl who stands-up for Jared's character which made me like her.

The film, while fun, I can't say is that good. It is a run-of-the-mill slasher when you get down to it. All the characters, save one or two, are one-dimensional and just there to be killed and the plot is paper-thin. I know you can't really expect great characters from a slasher film but there have been slashers that have had them like Halloween. It doesn't even try to do anything new with Jason. Granted Jason sets traps which is something I haven't really seen, but that's it. I kind of wanted them to do something a bit different since this is a reboot. Plus, the ending was a bit typical.

He doesn't do anything I haven't seen him do in the Jason movies I've seen before. The film does have one or two slightly creative kills, but many of them are uninspired. The kills aren't bad by any stretch but I was hoping for a bit more creativity especially since this franchise has become known for its creative kills. I've seen many horror movies including several slashers where I've seen many ways for people to be killed, so the kills didn't impress me as much. Plus some of the kills are shot in the dark which made it a bit tough to understand what was happening. There is some shaky-cam as well, which I always don't like.

Overall though, I enjoyed this. As far as slasher films go I think it was a decent, fun popcorn flick. It's not good, but it's definitely not bad like many people say it is. Yes, it's playing it safe and not taking many risks. I wish they explore the characters more or explore Jason more than they have before. However, I've seen films try to do that and fail miserably like Halloween 6. I'd much rather have a fun and safe movie like this than have another Halloween 6. The film looks great, has good atmosphere and suspense, I like Jared Padalecki, Jason is badass in it, and, while standard, has some decent kill scenes. All-in-all if you want a fun horror movie to watch with your friends on Halloween or something then check this out if you want.