Friday The 13th (Remake)
Taken as another entry in the series, this reboot/rehash of Parts 1-3 stands as about a middle in the road entry in the legendary horror series. Itās interesting that unlike many others of its kind, one would need a certain working knowledge of the older films to understand much of Jasonās motivation. Case in point: The idea (utilized for only a couple of minutes in Part 2) that one of the females who bears a resemblance to Jasonās mother would actually have a measure of control over him, or at least enough to keep him from killing her; As a result, even though the kidnapping angle might be enough to cause the film to ājump the sharkā so to speak, anyone who remembers the past scene with Amy Steel in Part 2 would realize it actually makes sense, even if the dynamic is greatly expanded upon here. The cast of teens is actually kind of forgettable though, and the females, with the exceptions of Righetti and Panabaker, all kind of blend together without standing out despite (or maybe because of) the fact that they all do a generous amount of nudity. As for the males, itās a telling sign that the token minorities in the cast (Asian Guy and Black Guy) are the fifth wheels of the group who get NO pussy, while the white males are the ones hooking up. Also, the pot-smoking redneck character gets one of the biggest laughs due to his fixation with a department store mannequin (āRemember the time you took my virginity?ā). Van Winkleās Trent is a hateful rich kid throughout, though itās bearable just to hear him scream like a woman towards the end, and Padaleckiās Clay, while ostensibly the hero of the film, due to lazy writing comes off as a wuss, and this viewer wonders if the character has seen past Friday films to know that Jasonās invincible and thus going out with Trent to save their screaming friend is basically using them as ābaitā, when he would have no way of knowing that a 2 on 1 against the killer would be futile (or would it?). I also didnāt care for the way that when Clay finds an escape route from Jasonās lair, he manfully leads the way out with the two girls in the rear instead of sending them out first while keeping an eye over his shoulder (which results in one of the girlās deaths). Derek Mears, however, is a fine Jason Voorhees, bringing the needed physicality to the part as well as an intimidating presence. The kills are well done, if not spectacular, and the bit of business with a character getting ready to masturbate before realizing that a mounted deerās head is staring at him is pretty hilarious. Nispel brings a bit of a glossy sheen to the proceedings as director, an acceptable approach even if it misses the grittiness of the originals, and Panabakerās cuteness continues to show that she is a star in the making who hopefully breaks out soon. In the end, average in many ways, though a typical walk in the park for Jason Fuckin Voorhees is still better than much of the Oscar-bait garbageā¦
7/10