Spring Break
New 'Friday the 13th' movie pays homage to predecessors
Theo Kontos
Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: Entertainment
02/20/09 - Remakes (or "re-imaginings") seem to be all the rage in Hollywood lately. Personally, I don't have much of a problem with them. There have been so many films over the past century or so that a truly original film is fairly rare. Horror films, more than any other genre, seem to be getting remake-treatment overkill.
Some excellent horror films have come out of this ("The Hills Have Eyes," 2006; "Halloween," 2007), but some truly awful ones have as well ("The Fog," 2005; "House of Wax," 2005). I was not a fan of director Marcus Nispel's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I heard he was remaking "Friday the 13th."
"Friday the 13th" (1980) hasn't held up as well as slashers like "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street," so it seems like a good choice for a remake: the original is fairly dated and the sequels couldn't get any worse. "Jason X," the last film in the series (ignoring "Freddy vs. Jason"), was absolutely awful in every way. It was about time someone updated the series or tried something new (without sending Jason to Hell or outer space).
"Friday the 13th" (2009) starts off with a nod to the original film. The new film is more of a remake of the first two sequels to "Friday the 13th" (1980) than the original. Those who have seen the original know (spoilers here) that Jason's mother was the killer, not Jason.
I wasn't surprised that they wanted to rush Jason right into the killings in the remake, but they did acknowledge his mother's role. Afterwards, Jason picks off a group of teenagers camping out near Camp Crystal Lake, with very bloody results. This is all before the opening title, by the way.
Six weeks after this string of killings, Clay (played by Jared Padalecki of TV's "Supernatural") sets off to Crystal Lake to find his missing sister. He meets up with a group of horny teenagers partying in the woods and all chaos ensues. Yes, the usual slasher movie rules apply here. Anyone who drinks, does drugs or has premarital sex will probably be decapitated before the credits role.
Some excellent horror films have come out of this ("The Hills Have Eyes," 2006; "Halloween," 2007), but some truly awful ones have as well ("The Fog," 2005; "House of Wax," 2005). I was not a fan of director Marcus Nispel's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I heard he was remaking "Friday the 13th."
"Friday the 13th" (1980) hasn't held up as well as slashers like "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street," so it seems like a good choice for a remake: the original is fairly dated and the sequels couldn't get any worse. "Jason X," the last film in the series (ignoring "Freddy vs. Jason"), was absolutely awful in every way. It was about time someone updated the series or tried something new (without sending Jason to Hell or outer space).
"Friday the 13th" (2009) starts off with a nod to the original film. The new film is more of a remake of the first two sequels to "Friday the 13th" (1980) than the original. Those who have seen the original know (spoilers here) that Jason's mother was the killer, not Jason.
I wasn't surprised that they wanted to rush Jason right into the killings in the remake, but they did acknowledge his mother's role. Afterwards, Jason picks off a group of teenagers camping out near Camp Crystal Lake, with very bloody results. This is all before the opening title, by the way.
Six weeks after this string of killings, Clay (played by Jared Padalecki of TV's "Supernatural") sets off to Crystal Lake to find his missing sister. He meets up with a group of horny teenagers partying in the woods and all chaos ensues. Yes, the usual slasher movie rules apply here. Anyone who drinks, does drugs or has premarital sex will probably be decapitated before the credits role.
