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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Felt Like A Genuine F13 Sequel, May 6, 2009
In 1980, Pamela Voorhees set out to kill all the counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. Several years ago, the counselors did nothing as Mrs. Voorhees' son, Jason, drowned in the lake. Now, as the camp is about to re-open, Mrs. Voorhees has returned to seek revenge for her son and she only has one more victim before she accomplishes that goal. Unfortunately for Mrs. Voorhees, she didn't count on this particular camp counselor decapitating her and ending her reign of terror once and for all. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, Jason was still alive and witnessed his mother's gruesome death. Now, in the present day, Jason is the one who seeks revenge and anyone who even comes near Camp Crystal Lake is at risk of feeling his onslaught.
It's been something like five and a half years since we last saw Jason Voorhees in the theater. So was it worth the wait? Does the remake measure up to the rest of the franchise? Is it a remake worth seeing at all? Does it continue the trend with 2009 being a strong year for the horror genre? The short answer to all of these questions is yes.
I've always been partial to the Friday the 13th franchise. Jason Voorhees has always been my favorite when it comes slasher films. So I was beyond excited by the time this hit theaters. The film opens with a flashback that chronicles what would be the ending to the original film. Jump to the present day. Some kids decide to hike out into the woods to have some fun and wind up about a half mile from Camp Blood. Everything is fun and games until one of them turns up missing. The survivors wind up exploring and get picked off one by one while Jason wears a bag over his head. After the scene in the trailer where Jason runs towards the girl on the ground and swings his machete, we get a black screen with "Friday the 13th" in red plastered across it. Six weeks later, Clay is looking for his sister, Whitney. She was one of the victims of the attack we just witnessed. It seems as though everyone has given up hope looking for her except him. Meanwhile, Trent and his friends are going up to his dad's cabin for the weekend which just so happens to reside on Camp Crystal Lake. It's basically just more pigs being sent out to slaughter from there. Jason's bag gets pulled off right before he disposes of one of his victims in a barn. It's there that he stumbles across a hockey mask and things begin to pick up from there.
The film definitely delivers in all of the elements that make up the formula to a Friday the 13th film. There's plenty of T&A and sex for any sexhound. I haven't seen any R-rated film with this much nudity and sexual content in quite a while. The kills are also pretty satisfactory for a Friday fan. I think Trent's death is probably the most memorable, but I'm partial to Amanda's death because it was an interesting twist on the sleeping bag kill. Officer Bracke's kill was also a favorite of mine. Then, of course, there's Jason's death. It's interesting since it seems obvious how things are going to turn out for Jason, but it winds up happening in a round-a-bout way. Something is thrown in there to throw the audience off and that not many would see coming. Kind of like a, "Oh, maybe he'll die this way instead," kind of thing. Thinking back on it, it also felt like a throwback to one of the earlier sequels, which is pretty cool.
We can't finish this review without talking about Derek Mears as the man behind the hockey mask. I feel like he did a great job. I prefer him over Ken Kirzinger in Freddy Vs Jason. He kind of reminded me as a cross between C.J. Graham(part VI) and Kane Hodder(parts VII-IX). He also ran at times, which may put some people off. I actually enjoyed the running quite a bit. It reminded me of Jason in The Final Chapter, which is my favorite F13 film. He had the body movements down to perfection and is a worthy addition to the list of actors who have donned the hockey mask.
My one complaint is that it seemed like it was hard to see what was going on in certain scenes. The camera would be too shaky or scenes wouldn't have enough lighting and be too dark. It's really a minor complaint though as it usually only lasted a few seconds when it did occur.
So, all in all, I feel like it was well worth the wait for this film. I am really hoping it does well because I would welcome sequels with open arms. The remake follows the Friday the 13th formula extremely well. Right down to the ending. I guess the only thing that's not like some of the previous sequels is the acting, which seems to be top notch for a slasher film. As a Friday the 13th fan, I'm more than satisfied with the remake. To tell the truth, it was just nice to see a film with Jason Voorhees in theaters again.
Rating - 7.5/10
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
DISAPPOINTING, BUT WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? BUY THE UNRATED VERSION!, June 20, 2009
The Friday the 13th series has never been known to be anything more than a pretty cool looking horror icon (Jason Voorhees) and a series of inventive death sequences and gore FX....don't get me wrong I happen to think Jason is a pretty scary guy, but for some reason I feel he has never reached his potential on screen.
Even though none of these films are all that great, I do like Jason and most of the films are entertaining for what they are. I watched both the theatrical release and "killer cut" of the 2009 installment and found both to be disappointing only because I felt they could have brought the series to another level that the character deserves.
This is a slicker looking film and Jason is a bit faster, but it's pretty much the same old thing. This film is better than at least a couple of the Friday installments with some nice gratuitous gore and nudity even in this theatrical version!
The killer extended cut has longer gore sequences at least that's all that I noticed. The way Jason gets his trademark hockey mask is also the same, but they do give you an alternate scene where they changed how it happens. I don't know why they changed it as I actually liked it better! The unrated release has two short extras about a 10 minutes each including deleted scenes and a feature-ette. These two extras are short I remind you, but considering the theatrical version has nothing!...not even a trailer, you should buy this version as it is the better of the two cuts of the film. My favorite scene is when Jason is running down a victim and he throws an axe into his back!....very nice!
If your a fan of the series you will probably like this film, but if your looking for a true upgrade in the series, then forget it. The DVD transfer seemed a little dark and there are no extras on the theatrical release! BOOOOO!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Movie itself is great, DVD itself sucks, June 25, 2009
I am a huge fan of the entire Friday The 13th (F13) series. I went into this movie not expecting much but was very much suprised. It is a great entry in the F13 series, taking elements from the first 4 movies.
With that being said, I do NOT recommend the DVD. This DVD is completely bare bones and has no special features, no commentary, just the movie. If you want the special features, you have to purchase either the "Killer Cut" DVD (which does not contain the theatircal version of the film) or the blu-ray version.
Granted, the description doesn't say that it contains special features. However, I just assumed it would contain special featues, considering I know of no other big budget new movies released on DVD that don't contain special features. Older movies released on DVD sometimes don't have special features, but not newer movies, particularly the ones that are bigger budgets.
I have no problem with vieweing alternative cuts of movies. However, when I purchase a DVD of a movie I like, I prefer to buy the version I saw in theaters. I don't like being forced to purchase a second version just to get special features. Nor do I like being forced to purchase a blu-ray player just to see those special features.
Shame on the company who made this decision!
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