*** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Great review. I have been a fan since the very first F13th and even though this series has been knocked around and made fun of, I still enjoy it. I am looking forward to seeing this one tonight!

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

I'm still 12 hours away from seeing the remake, but I thought offer up some other reviews

* Rotten Tomatoes has it at 25%

* CHUD, on the other hand, likes it

* Bloody Disgusting likes it too

* As does Horror.com and IGN.

Honestly I'd believe chud, Bloody disgusting and the guys over at DVD mainiacs more than I would the mainstream press. The mainstream NEVER likes these movies. Me, all I need is lots of blood and guts, some naked titties, and creative and interesting slaughter. All this nonsense of character development and plot gets in the way of letting the lovely flowing red.

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Hopefully, there's something in President Obama's stimulus package that will help the ailing slasher-movie industry. Not only are horror filmmakers running out of ideas for this genre, but they can't even remake the old ones with any skill.

The reboot of the "Friday the 13th" series is a pretty big mess - not particularly scary or interesting or even gory by 21st century movie standards. The makers of this film have removed the handful of redeeming qualities from the original and added rejected subplots from "7th Heaven" and "The O.C.," where most of the cast members seem to have been recruited. If it wasn't for a topless waterskiing sequence, there would be nothing memorable to recommend to your friends.

It's not as if director Marcus Nispel had an especially difficult task, making a movie that equaled the original. "Friday the 13th," released in 1980, was an inferior knock-off of John Carpenter's "Halloween." The makers of the first "Friday" didn't have a better story or technical skills than Carpenter, so they ramped up the sex, gore and depravity. Their one genius idea was accessorizing Jason with a hockey mask, and they didn't get around to that until the third movie in the series. The best part about the original "Friday" was the chance for teen moviegoers to defy their parents and the critics, who had declared a national crisis because of the horror picture. If Siskel and Ebert spent an entire show trashing the movie, then we have to see it!

Ten sequels later, including the "Freddy vs. Jason" movie, it's hard to generate much outrage for this series re-launch, which despite several decapitations and impaled heads seems tame in the "Saw" and "Hostel" era. "Friday the 13th" has enough credited writers to field a hockey team, and each of them was able to contribute one-third of a good idea. (In addition to the topless waterskiing scene, there's some inventive use of a wood chipper.)

"Friday the 13th" begins with a short and grainy scene involving the history of Jason, his mother and Camp Crystal Lake. After Jason takes out several campers in a second pre-credit sequence, we move ahead to present day, where a strapping young Josh Brolin look-alike (Jared Padalecki) searches for his sister. Of course he runs into Jason, who also terrorizes a group of college students staying in the vacation house of a rich kid.

Notice that you didn't see the words "camp counselors" once? Creating a "Friday the 13th" movie without counselors is like making a "Godfather" movie without any mobsters. But these filmmakers try anyway, filling the story instead with modern product placement - including GPS devices, a Cadillac Escalade and an underground dungeon that looks like it was made by the same subcontractors responsible for Jame Gumb's lair in "Silence of the Lambs."

Both groups of machete fodder are made up of five or six stereotyped young people, who couldn't possibly be friends in real life: the spoiled wealthy kid, the pot-smoking tech nerd, the black guy who wants to start a rap label, the sensible girl who keeps complaining that everyone should turn around and drive home ...

No chance of that happening. Twenty-nine years may have passed, but the self-preservation skills of American teenagers hasn't gotten any better. Neither has the ability to make a great horror film.

-- Advisory: This film contains violence, profanity, sex scenes, drug use and that creepy "ki-ki-ki ma-ma-ma" sound effect (which would make a really badass ring tone).

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

I'm not sure if they're breaking these threads up into "Review" and "Discussion" so with that in mind I'm going to put the discussion parts in spoilers for now.

I'm going to comment about a couple of the people who have had issues with the film.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

IMDb :: Boards :: Friday the 13th (2009) :: Did anyone get hard during the sex scene?

The above link is a group of "other" reviews so to speak. Be warned if you're easily offended.

A few spoilers about the death scenes:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Yep, that was my feeling exactly. Take away the hockey mask on Jason and there would be virtually nothing that you could use to define this as a F13 film. I know it's not supposed to be a shot for shot remake but if you're going to call this "Friday the 13th" after a much established and beloved series of movies, you probably shouldn't wander too far off the path. I did catch a couple of homages. The shot of the clouds over the moon at nighttime at the beginning was a familiar shot and I noticed the archery targets at the camp were the same as in the original.

A few things I didn't get

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

And, I'm still relatively young, but when did when did girls become such whores? I certainly don't remember any women like that from my college days.

I did like how the wood chipper guy was also the "retarded" guy from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"

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Will, I can answer at least one of your questions:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

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Joe reguarding the death scene you put in spoilers, it's pretty much what I said. You expect the death but then they take it a step further.

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Maybe, but there really isn't anything presented in the film that suggests that. Unless I missed something.

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Actually Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Here's my take on the new F13 film, coming from a lifelong fan of the series: Horror Reviews - Friday the 13th (2009)

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Big Hollywood Blog Archive What Recession? Biggest President?s Day Weekend in Hollywood History as FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH scares up $20M Friday and has a stab at $51.25M for 4 Days!

Get ready for the sequels. Apparently the film took in $20 million on Friday and it might reach $50+ for the weekend. Not bad for a $16 million budget.

Welcome back Jason.

re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Michael, I'm not mad that they didn't remake the original film, or any of them for that matter, but my biggest gripe is that this is just a poorly made film.

I'm not sure when characters became so vile and narcissistic in these types of films, but pretty much the entire cast of characters here were reprehensible. And when you're rooting for the killer it certainly takes away a lot of the intended impact.

In fact, I think I could've almost dealt with my other issues with the film, but these characters are SO idiotic and groan - inducing that it derailed the whole thing.

And while you said "this isn't my dad's F13", I see your point. But this certainly was 2003's Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So while they missed the mark in giving this a familiar F13 feel, they certainly had no problem making it feel A LOT like the last movie the producer and director worked on.

That illustrates a real lack of versatility in my eyes.

This one's a huge turkey for me. Too bad, too, because I was pretty sure I was going to like it.

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It's a new morning here and I'm STILL thinking about the film from last night. I still don't know what to make out of it. Since I'm a diehard fan I think I'm trying to force myself to like it more than I actually did, and that's something which should never happen.

But it's interesting to read these box office figures now, since I had actually begun to think I no longer want any more sequels. I realize that money talk$, but after watching F13 09 I left with a feeling that it's really "been here, done that, again and again", and who needs more? Nobody is more surprised than myself that I'm starting to feel this way; I always welcomed more and more sequels from 1980 through 2003 .... but I'm not sure where I stand on this. As much as some fans did not like the direction the original series went in, I find that after awhile you have to change things up a bit. You can't just have kids in the woods and Jason hacking them for another 11 installments... there'll have to be some kind of structure or character changes ... just like in the original they made Jason a zombie, then had him face a telekenetic teen, then had him on a crusie ship and in Manhattan, and then in Space....

And then again, knowing me I'll STILL be there for PART 2 on opening day
The only thing is, I'd hate for them to call the sequel "PART 2" ... it's going to get really confusing having to verify WHICH part 2, 3, etc. we're referring to...

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Though I share with you the feeling of being somewhat underwhelmed, I have to say I don't know why you think there's that much of a difference in the teen characters of the old series... because many of them are so generally and stereotypically drawn and unlikable there too. Sure, you can go through all the 11 movies and cherry pick the exceptions, but most of them are pretty similar.

Also, I have to disagree with you on the "rooting for the killer" aspect in a couple of ways. For one, part of the appeal for fans in the original series was that after awhile Jason DID, in fact, become sort of the "hero", in an odd way -- we wanted him to kill those annoying teens, and we rooted for him!

Another thing is I didn't feel that I was rooting for Jason in the new movie at all, however. I think he was the "bad guy", and we do fear him, and view him as the antagonist of the piece. Or at least I did. And I say this even though I didn't like this particular bunch of kids at all.


I'm so glad I didn't see the new TCM.

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Anyone catch the Bay Transformers reference throughout the film?

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

The only character that I think fits that category was the a-hole boyfriend. The rest of the characters aren't well drawn or believable or particularly likable but they weren't vile or reprehensible either.

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

I wouldn't worry too much about that. Sequels with numbers in the titles are rare these days (the Saw moves are they onlt ones I can think of that still do that) The next one will be like "Friday the 13th: Crystal Lake" or "Jason's Revenge" or something like that.


I don't know, If I had a daughter, I certainly wouldn't want her whoring it up like some of the female characters in this film, nor would I want a son of mine to be a drunken burnout who carried a bong in a briefcase.

I know these films are supposed to deliver the goods and it's a bit of a fine line between that and being gratuitous, but for example that sex scene...I've seen soft core porn that was tamer than that. It feels weird to refer to some of the original films as a character study but watching a few of them recently the cast of this film made the cast of some of those films look like the cast of "The Godfather" The original F13 was pretty good in this regard. That one had all the beats, drinking, pot smoking, some sex, but it was never gratuitious and few if any of that cast came across as generally unlikable or obnoxious. I think the cast of part 6 fared the best in that regard.

At the end of the day, I just felt that the film was too flawed and too off the path of a F13 film where I would recommend it. When I leave feeling like I could have done a better job making the film and keeping it more faithful to its roots, it's a problem.

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

It's funny how reviews are going on this one so far. Fans are split. Horror writers are loving it. Mainstream critics don't like it but most say it's better than any of the previous film. Even the "ban F13" Ebert gave it two stars.

Saying this is just like TCM isn't wrong but we could also say it's just like THE HILLS HAVE EYES and many other of the recent horror films. This fast, non-stop killing machine is what's scaring people today so I'd bet future remakes are going to take notes from the killers here. In that HIS NAME WAS JASON doc, the director of 7 called the previous Jason's nothing more than "Michael Myers-like" and that 7-10 at least featured a "real Jason". Countless post F13 slashers featured a killer like Jason or the murders were set up to look like Jason. I think this is just the name of the game when it comes to sticking to one thing and running with it.


Joe, I agree with you somewhat, although I do want a sequel and want it very soon. Jason hasn't been in the woods for quite sometime now so on that level I thought the film was rather refreshing. I personally don't count FvJ as "woods" at the end since it played very little into the actual film. We had the brief cyber thing in JASON X and it's not even Jason outside the opening sequence of JASON GOES TO HELL. Even part 8 is away from the woods so to me it was great fun seeing him back in the woods 100%.

When it comes to a sequel they could do so much with it. I hope the idea of FvJ is out of the question but I'd bet after the remake of NIGHTMARE comes we'll see another match at some point in time. They could remake parts 4-6 next and bring back Tommy's character. They'd probably go with a new actor but I personally wouldn't mind them bringing back Feldman for something. They could also try to make this next one in 3-D but since this thing beat the shit out of MBV at the box office, producer's might not want to add the extra money. They could actually send him to NYC if the budget would allow.

Back to this film, I agree the "part 1 remake" could have been handled a tad bit better. Perhaps show some of the mom's murders but the remake of 2 was great. I loved the look of his mask and I'm sure many people will be watching the film and not knowing why he has a sack on his face. I'm not sure how you felt about the "part 2" stuff here.

I also don't know if you caught it but the scene in Jason's underground chamber featured a few props from the previous series murder victims. There was a wheelchair (from part 2) that I caught as well as a murder weapon, which I believe was in part 4.

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

I don't think girls having sex with their boyfriends (it wasn't like any of them were prostitutes or getting involved in an orgy) or people smoking pot qualifies them as reprehensible or vile.

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Come on, Travis. You're forgetting about the hillbilly pot farmer. Buy maybe that's intentional.

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Actually, yeah I did forget him (and that certainly wasn't a high point of the movie). But yeah, I'll give you that he was a stereotypical dirtbag too.

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

I agree with Will here. I mean, these characters rubbed me the wrong way.

The really pissed me off what how just about every line was either about how awesome sex or pot was. In the past films sex and pot were a part of it, but they weren't the driving force of each and every character scene.

And you know what? Maybe I'm just coming off like a grumpy old man, but these people rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn't get past it. But the Jason stuff wasn't much better. The gore was lacking and the kills weren't all that creative.

The more I think about this movie the more underwhelmed I am.

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Yeah, I'd heard all this hoopla about how the kills were going to be wilder than ever, and of course now it seems that the MPAA is much more tolerant, so I was expecting a lot more. The kills were good, but nothing special. I'd rate the girl under the dock as the best in this one.

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

Man, I have *ALWAYS* rooted for Jason and the teenagers (with a couple of notable exceptions) have always been one dimensional archetypes.

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I get what Matt is saying because I've always thought that liking the characters that Jason was going after makes things more suspensful than, say F13 Part V, when the characters are so poorly drawn and unlikable that you want them to die immediately.

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I don't think he was even sincere about it. His review doesn't really go into much detail; it's like he's trying to go with the flow a little more than he used to, but he probably still has no use for splatterfests.


I'll have to see if my feelings change as time goes on. Right now I feel it's just kind of nowhere.


Feldman said he wanted to come back as the character in the box set interview. I think it would be an interesting crowd pleaser, but not quite the same as it would have been if this was the previous series. If it's not a direct "25 years later" sequel to THE FINAL CHAPTER (1984), then I don't think Feldman's presence would be as iconic. To just have him playing a "new" version of Tommy Jarvis out of nowhere wouldn't be the same as taking off from when he was the 12 year old kid.


But with a much larger hungry core audience for FRIDAY, a new 3-D verson of F13 would take in a lot more than MY BLOODY VALENTINE did.


It was good to see the sack back for a little while -- though I think the hooded Jason looked more eerie in the original PART 2. We never really got a great look at it this time.


I missed all that.

Re: *** Official FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) Discussion Thread

I'm not necessairly saying vile or reprehensible. But most of them were definatey unbecoming. Was the girl who had sex with the guy who's house it was actually his girlfriend? I can't remember. I think of my wife. As a married couple and before we were married, we obviously had our sex life. But she's not an exhibitionist like at least a couple of the women in this film were. I certainly couldn't see her rubbing baby oil all over her tits in the woods with another person right there. These women in the film were pretty much glorified strippers. I'm not necessairly complaning about seeing it in the film (on a side note, at the theater last night I was shocked to see at least a few people come with children that couldn't have been more than 10 years old) but the way they acted and behaved doesn't exactly endear them to me either. In contrast, I watched Part 6 last night and I actually did feel bad for some of those characters when they were offed.

I don't know what the movie was trying to go for. Was it supposed to be self parody? Were we supposed to be on rooting for Jason? Or was it supposed to be a legitamate horror film. I say if it's the latter, they failed. In that case, a little bit of good characterization goes a long way. Countless slashers quote "Halloween" as inspiration. It's amazing how after all this time, few, if any get that right.