Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Adds nothing new, just a greatest hits album, but if you like this franchise, you should like this movie., February 17, 2009
This is a straight forward slasher film. No jokes. Simple story. Cliche'd setting, and one dimensional characters that show maybe one recognizable and memorable trait before they're dispatched. This is exactly like the earlier Friday films on every level. I knew going in that this was billed as a remake, even though Jason is the star, and he didn't really appear in the first Friday the 13th, but this isn't really a remake of the first film. It's more of a greatest hits album of Friday's 1 through 4. I swear. Jason gets his mask in this film(part 3), the main characters are just partying up at a cabin(part 4), Clay is searching for his lost sister and eventually becoming a Jason hunter(part 4), we get a quick recap of the end of the first Friday with Mrs. Vorhees and her loss of head, the way our 'final girl' tricks Jason at the end is similar to that of part 2, the ending of the film has basically the same 'surprise' jump scare, and finally Jason himself is more like he was in the first four films. The way he's built, the way he moves, the fact that he's still human. We even get an appearance of the sack doning Jason from part 2. Fans of the series will smile when they see some of the kills from Fridays' past making cameos as well, but they have been tweaked or put in different locations. Just two quick examples are an arrow through the head and a death by sleeping bag. Yes, they are throwbacks, but they play out in a slightly different manner in this one.
Here's the problem and the reason for the average star rating: THERE'S NOTHING NEW OR ORIGINAL IN THIS FILM. The writers and director don't subvert or transcend the material, in other words they don't really make it their own beyond the new glossy look. The only original thing they seem to have added was Jablonsky's score, which if you thought the original score was obvious, wait 'til your ear drums are blown out by the soundtrack in this thing! To say the music has scary stings would be putting it lightly. They are more likened to musical explosions whenever something scary happens or Jason just happens to appear. It's cheap scare stuff, but it will make you jump just for the startling nature of loud noises out of nowhere. It's kind of like clapping your hands together really hard right next to a sleeping geriatric's ear. Not horror movie innovation or genius going on here.
People are going to go on and on about how much faster and stronger Jason is in this thing, but it's all just revisionist history. Watch the original five, Jason was very agile and quick. They'll also go on and on about how he's smarter. He's not. He's about as smart as he was in the originals. The only wrinkle that is new to Jason's character is the whole survivalist in the woods thing. Sure, you could surmize that about the originals, but this film gives you the visuals to show what an accomplished woodsman and hunter our friend Mr. Vorhees is. Plus, we get a Jason lair. This is an upgrade from the shack he used to have in part two where the only valuable thing it held was his mother's severed head, YUCK.
So, the film is watchable and fairly fun in that old Friday the 13th way, but it's nothing special. It's not really scary. It's violent, but no more than the originals and far less-so then the recent Saws and others of that ilk. To call the characters card-board would be an insult to card-board. But, in Friday the 13th land the characters were never the point. The actors play their stereotypes as believable as possible, which is something this installment has over the originals, which were peppered with bad dialogue and bad acting. And yes, I call this an installment, because it plays less like a remake and more like FRIDAY THE 13 PART 3.5. This film could easily fit between parts 3 and 4 and it would feel natural.
***SIDE NOTE---Friday the 13th 3.5 is not a literal opinion on how this film could fit into the whole series. It's a glib reaction to the lack of originality in this remake. It was a reference to certain films that get re-released on dvd with new scenes and are given a .# added to the title. Example would be Spider-Man 2.1. Geeeezzzz people....***
So, old-school fans won't hate it, I suspect, but will rather feel comfortable in it's old-school conventions, but at the same time feel slightly empty at the fact that nothing new was offered to an already paper thin mythos. New-school fans may love it, and find it original, especially if they've never seen an true balls-to-the-wall slasher film, but rather post-modern stuff like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. This film's violence hurts and there are no cute remarks from the characters right before they buy it. Death hurts again in this film.
My only thought at the end is, why remake this? If they had nothing new to say or add to the franchise or character then, what was the point? How was this creativly satisfying to anyone? I dunno, you decide, but that's just the thoughts running through my mind at the moment....
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES UPDATED REVIEW 6/07/09
Yeah, New Line really skimped on this one, at least on the dvd end of things! We only get two special features, an 11 minute making of doc and three deleted scenes. All the deleted scenes are uselss. We get an alternate death scene for the Donnie character who helps Jason make an important fashinon decision with his hockey mask, it's more gory and really poorly filmed and edited. We get another scene with some cops, YAWN, and finally a shorter and less gooey demise for Mr. Voorhees. The doc is filler. No extenssive details about anything, just how excited and 'kewl' the whole experience of remaking Jason --BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...Totally LAME! Though, we do get some glimpses of Derek Mears suiting up and being put into his Jason make-up. Plus, we get some alterante angles from the opening 'death of Mrs. Vorhees' prologue that gives the viewer a good look at Jason as a deformed child.
The movie itself looks great and has been extended by about 1 minute. Yes, there's more Jason and some of the violence has been put back in with gory results, which is the real reason these films have endured anyway. Though, the only major difference I noticed was in the token Asian guy's death by screw driver, it's longer and bloodier. Either the movie is going to get some double dipping action in the near or far future or the newly sold New Line, now with Warner Bros., will be putting the good special features on their Blu-Rays. Though, after looking up the Blu-ray specs, not really. There's one extra special feature called 'Hacking back, slashing forward'. This may be the more informative doc on the film's making, dunno. There's also some BD live stuff, but who actually gives a crap about that?
I would've appreciated a commentary by the director and especially the very funny screenwriters. Though, on the upside, there are extenssive and more telling interviews with them, and actor Derek Mears(Jason), on the very good 2-disc dvd release of HIS NAME WAS JASON.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not half bad, really at all. Suprise., June 19, 2009
Oddly enough i found myself enjoying this movie quite a bit, sure there were a few parts towards the end where i wanted to fast forward, but nothing to make me wanna shut it off. This movie is far far superior to the absolutely horrid My Bloody Valentine, which is about the worst attempt at a horror flick i've ever seen. Anyways moving on here is a short review using pros and cons about the movie.
PROS
*The actors can actually act, some better than others.
*The comical parts are actually funny, (one is unintentional as a body flies from the window above and smashes a windshield mr TOUGH blonde guy screams like a girl)! I rewond it a few times!
*Its scary in a very realistic tense way.
*Jason looks bigger and badder than ever, the way he finds his mask in this film is very cool.
*All the characters have there own unique personality, and the girls arent just stupid bimbos who run.
*It actually HAS a plot, the guy who is looking for his sister gone missing.
*Bloody but not even nearly as bad as a movie like CRANK-HIGH VOLTAGE.
*The over all atmosphere and production(direction) is well executed.
*Great looking girls(much better than the 80's and 90's) with a few great sex scenes:)
CONS
*Every actor except maybe 3 look like they just stepped out of GQ or Vogue magazine(put at least one fatty in there).
*Some obvious cliche' parts of why didnt they just swim to the other side, or why didnt they just run(faster), or hide.
*Some of the killing scenes are a bit drawn out(die already).
*Jason has become an expert archer.(laughs)
*The people you do think will survive do survive,(well sorta)
*Some of the script seems a little off in places, or confused.
*A few parts don't make sense, plot wise.
*The usual, he kills everyone very very easily except one person who always seems to be the toughest.
*Also Friday the 13th, is NEVER mentioned in this movie.
Other than the for mentioned which can easily be overlooked, unlike a lot of horror films, it really is a worth while watch. I watched it the first time alone, but plan on watching it with a group, or just one girl, at some point. So though i'm not a big splatter horror fan(more of a psychological horror buff) this was not bad at all. Just a few usual cliche's and a few plot mistakes here and there. Also the people are just a little TO beautiful, but hey isnt that what a good horror film is all about. Good looking people must be easier to kill!!! HA.
PS-Jasons last name is not mentioned either, same dude? Who knows. Plus sometimes in this he's an emotional little big ole psychopath. Poor Jas.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A solid entry into the franchise, September 8, 2009
I found the Friday the 13th remake to be a solid, middle-of-the-road entry into the franchise. It's far from the best F13 movie I've ever seen, but far from the worse, either. If I had to rank it, I would say that it's better than part III, not quite as good as part IV. I do think Derek Mears might be my favourite Jason, though. He's incredible in the role, and I hope to see him in the sequel.
The "killer" cut is the superior cut, and adds a bit more characterization. It's also the only standard def DVD with any extras, though the Blu-Ray has more.
One thing that could definitely be improved upon is the creativity of the kills; I understand the filmmakers were going for a more realistic vibe but quite frankly many of these kills were rather boring. It seems like most of the great slasher kills are going direct to video these days (Hatchet, Laid to Rest, etc.).
Overall, though, worth owning if you're a fan of Friday the 13th.
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