So here we have the re-boot of the “Friday The 13th” franchise. I was actually looking forward to this, when I saw the trailer it looked fantastic, but then I heard Michael Bay was involved and my excitement plummeted, but then it went up again when I heard he was not overly involved, just serving as a part time producer.
The cast look like they’ve been taken straight out of Beverly Hills 90210 or some program like that, so you do find it hard to relate to these pristine teens.
The film intro is one of the longest I’ve ever seen, clocking in at over 25 minutes, The intro seemed like an ode to the original series but at the same time it felt like “Out with the old, in with the new”.
This installment throws Jason into today’s modern society, Crystal Lake seems to have become a place for rich people to own huge log cabins and Camp Crystal Lake & Jason have an old legendary tale.
With a new series comes a new Jason, Derek Mears. He isn’t the best Jason (I’ll get to that in a bit) but it could’ve been worse. The new Jason is faster, stronger & smarter. More of a hunter than a rampaging murderer. Personally I didn’t like the new Jason, it’s like those who like the original slow walking zombies, not the new fast ones. The same formula is here.
The film also has a-lot of over the top erotic/sex scenes (so much so that even Michael Bay walked out of the film premiere disgusted at the amount of nudity). The scenes aren’t really needed but whats a slasher film without some flesh?!
With the film we also see Jason wearing a bag over his head before he finds the hockey mask (Just like in Friday the 13 parts 2-3). To see the differences between the old Jason & new Jason you have to watch it, Personally I thought Kane Hodder was the PERFECT Jason, Derek Mears put too much personality into him.
The film also went for too much humor for my liking, don’t get me wrong I enjoy a good jokey moment in a film, but there is way too much of it here! You find it hard to take it seriously especially when the makers obviously didn’t.
There is apparently a part 2 in production, to see if it can better this, well we’ll have to wait and see, but it wont be hard.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
The first film in the series released by both New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures. Originally, Paramount owned the rights to the series after the original was released in 1980 but sold the rights to New Line Cinema in the early 1990’s after poor box office returns of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. New Line bought the rights to the characters of Jason Voorhees and Pamela Voorhees, the Crystal Lake name, and the trademark for the title “Friday the 13th”. All footage from the first eight films and the remake rights for the first film remained the property of Paramount. New Line Cinema released Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Jason X and Freddy vs. Jason. When Platinum Dunes came aboard to develop the new film, they wanted the freedom to use scenarios and characters from the films still owned by Paramount. After a legal dispute, the companies decided to co-produce the 2009 film.
Jennifer Atias auditioned for a lead role.
Israeli actress Moran Atias was originally cast but had to be replaced early into filming.
The character Tommy Jarvis was at one point confirmed by producers of Platinum Dunes to be returning as Jason’s nemesis.
Scout Taylor-Compton auditioned for the role of ‘Jenna’ which eventually went to Danielle Panabaker.
The title card of the movie isn’t displayed until the end of the opening segment, nearly 25 minutes into the film.
Despite the title, the date the events supposedly take place on, Friday the 13th, is only mentioned once. The date can be seen on a tear-away type calendar in the police station, as the officers leave to investigate towards the end of the movie.
Clay and Whitney’s last name is Miller. This is a reference to Victor Miller, the creator of the Friday The 13th series.
This is director Marcus Snipel’s second remake of a classic horror film in a resume of only four features. The first was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which was also produced by the company Platinum Dunes.
Derek Mears is the eighth actor to portray the adult Jason Voorhees in the series.
Interestingly, co-writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift were involved with both the conclusion of the old Friday The 13th series and the start of the new one. Indeed, their first produced script (this is their second) was that of Freddy VS Jason the last installment in both the original Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street series (even though Jason X takes place later).
Producer Bradley Fuller believes the reason that the Friday The 13th movies have become so iconic and have terrified audiences so is that many of the people who seen the films have themselves been to holiday camps such as the fictitious Camp Crystal Lake, or have at least already gone camping.
When approaching the film, one of the main questions director Marcus Snipel asked himself was what aspects of the Friday The 13th mythology would moviegoers want to see again and again. He was also concerned about giving the audience what they wanted, but not what they were expecting.
Samuel Bayer turned down the offer to direct.
Including the 2009 remake, Jason has killed 167 total people throughout the “Friday the 13th” series.
Adrienne King, star of the original 1980 film, was approached by producers to do a cameo appearance during preproduction. A few days later, the producers called her back and told her they didn’t want anyone from the original film to appear in the remake.
The character Richie was one of a few characters to have CGI effects added into his death. Derek Mears (Jason) was holding only the handle with half the blade of the fake machete, making it look like it impaled Richie’s (Ben Feldman’s) head. The visual effects crew digitally superimposed the fake machete to look like it was a completely bladed weapon in the final film. Director Marcus Nispel usually allowed minimal use of CGI effects into his films.
So here we have the re-boot of the “Friday The 13th” franchise. I was actually looking forward to this, when I saw the trailer it looked fantastic, but then I heard Michael Bay was involved and my excitement plummeted, but then it went up again when I heard he was not overly involved, just serving as a part time producer.
The film intro is one of the longest I’ve ever seen, clocking in at over 25 minutes, The intro seemed like an ode to the original series but at the same time it felt like “Out with the old, in with the new”.
With a new series comes a new Jason, Derek Mears. He isn’t the best Jason (I’ll get to that in a bit) but it could’ve been worse. The new Jason is faster, stronger & smarter. More of a hunter than a rampaging murderer. Personally I didn’t like the new Jason, it’s like those who like the original slow walking zombies, not the new fast ones. The same formula is here.
With the film we also see Jason wearing a bag over his head before he finds the hockey mask (Just like in Friday the 13 parts 2-3). To see the differences between the old Jason & new Jason you have to watch it, Personally I thought Kane Hodder was the PERFECT Jason, Derek Mears put too much personality into him.
There is apparently a part 2 in production, to see if it can better this, well we’ll have to wait and see, but it wont be hard.