What I Liked: One of the best designs for Jason out there. Sure he’s big and imposing but I like that they gave him some scraggily hair and his drooping almost Toxic Avenger looking face is great.
Jason is way more agile here than we’ve seen in a long
time. Not since Part 4 The Final Chapter have we seen him run and move this quickly and it’s awesome. Stalker Jason is good but the filmmakers made
a smart decision by switching up the athleticism and flexibility to make their
version stand out.
Another welcomed change in Jason is he’s sort of a survivalist
type who only goes after folks that invade his territory. He sets a few traps, knows how to use a bow
and arrow, utilizes an underground tunnel system to move around and employs hunting
tactics to lure out his prey. It’s
important to make the distinction that he’s not out there looking for victims
necessarily which gives him a very slight sympathetic edge. If you stay out of the old abandoned Camp
Crystal Lake you’ll be fine. But if you
venture in there you’re fair game.
What a fantastic looking movie this is. The production design in particular is
amazing. Lots of junk and trinkets
strewn about Jason’s home and tunnels presumably from his victims and whatever
else he could find to live on. The
mansion on the lake is a beautiful location to shoot a movie that provides the
perfect amount of isolation needed. It’s
also big enough for Jason to hide out in.
And this is shot and edited pretty well.
It reminds me of the original film where characters are always doing
something giving the picture a kinetic energy.
Plus, crucially, the action scenes are shot and edited coherently. I didn’t have to strain to make out make out
what was happening during the kills or chase sequences. I can’t stress enough how pleasantly surprised
I was to discover this because that was not the popular way to do action at the
time.
What I Didn’t Like: Unfortunately the one really big minus on this film is the majority of characters are extraordinarily obnoxious. Not all, but a large chunk. Horny, bro-y, arrogant, disgustingly creepy, etc. I don’t understand why horror filmmakers have their victims be such dickholes. A little annoying is ok but usually they’re over the top. I guess so you don’t feel as bad when they bite it. But I argue their deaths would have more of an impact if you cared about them.
Overall Impressions: Shockingly this is fine. Nearly all the other horror remakes from the
2000’s are fucking trash: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (same director as this
by the way), House of Wax, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes,
etc. The jury’s out on Halloween. We’ll revisit that later.
Despite the movie simply titled “Friday the 13th”
this is more of an amalgamation of Part 2 and 3. We open with Jason witnessing her mother
getting beheaded by a camp counselor and then we flash forward to present
day. Jason starts off wearing the sack
on his head like in Part 2 (which looks much better than the original
sack, sort of a wrap motif that combines pieces of the mummy and the invisible
man) before it eventually gets torn during a fight and he needs to find a
replacement. Luckily the brawl takes
place in the loft/storage area of a barn so a hockey mask is right there
waiting for him. Nice touch.
There’s also the gross shriveled severed head of Pamela
Voorhees that Jason worships, again, nodding at Part 2 and 3. We even get a finale in a barn which is a
mild tradition in the series (this marks the third time).
Look, I know this is gonna sound weird but this really is a
smarter Friday installment. It
seems the filmmakers put more thought into Jason than probably ever before (one
exception would be Adam Marcus’ unused idea from Jason Goes to Hell that
the character is part of the Evil Dead universe) which leads to the rest
of the picture making more sense than most of the other sequels. There are certainly worse Friday
movies and worse horror remakes. Don’t
dismiss this guy outright. Give it a
shot.
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