Friday The 13th

[Captain Eo]

I went to buy tickets for a 5:40 showing at 4pm, and the theater that was playing it was sold out until the midnight show. We went to that showing, and even though my eyes hurt and I had a headache for half the movie, I still thought it was pretty good. It wasn't amazing, or anything, but I was entertained throughout. I loved how they did the intro. My personal theory is

Spoiler: Click here to view

Jason set the weed bushel there as a trap for stupid teenagers.

Spoiler: Click here to view

And then posted it's GPS location onto Craigslist?

To elaborate on what I said previously in my exhausted and disappointed state. It's the first film I've watched in a long time where I wasn't left in a state of awe at it's exceptional quality or just shitfaced at it's complete lack of. It falls squarely in the middle. The kills were awesome, but half the time I really had to squint to know exactly what had happened.

I haven't watched a lot of the previous films, but do they all end the way this one did?

[Wrath of Kane]

Personally i think this is the best Slasher movie ever made. thats my opinon though. i've already seen it thrice. i saw the midnight opening with my girlfriend, a showing yester with some old teammates, then i saw it this mourning with my brother.

[zero]

Never judge a film on a review

I do when people whose opinions generally mesh with mine give it a "meh."

People should possibly look at the positive after the last pile of shit they put out in Jason X.

But Jason X was ridiculously entertaining, as was Freddy vs. Jason. From what I can tell, this is just going back and starting over, trying to give the movie a serious tone, but without really drifting away from the standard slasher formula. That's when you're left with a movie that makes people go "oh... okay." Halloween got people riled up. You loved it or you hated it - that's the kind of movie I'll want to rush out and see to see what side of the fence I'm on. Rob Zombie took the franchise and made it his own and if it pissed off some people, so be it.

This is my problem with remakes/reboots/whatever - they're great when people just don't make the same movie again. But with something like Texas Chainsaw, they just remade the movie with a sexier cast and that's why I hated it. Again, I'll see this eventually, I was just hoping for a lot more.

[IDOL]

This movie beat the steaming piles of crap Jason X and Freddy vs Jason - - to hell. No questions about it.

[Wrath of Kane]

Wow, i must be the only person alive that actually likes Jason X then. i love that movie. i even sorta like Jason vs Freddy

[GhostMachine]

Wow, i must be the only person alive that actually likes Jason X then. i love that movie. i even sorta like Jason vs Freddy

No. I like Jason X.

Don't care for Jason vs Freddy, though.

[zero]

This movie beat the steaming piles of crap Jason X and Freddy vs Jason - - to hell. No questions about it.

Freddy vs. Jason is the epitome of campy horror. It didn't take itself seriously and neither should its audience. This movie takes itself seriously, but all it does is take the genre back 30 years... the same genre that was dead until 1996 when Scream came out and then spawned a legion of imitators who completely missed the point.

[Wrath of Kane]

Wow, i must be the only person alive that actually likes Jason X then. i love that movie. i even sorta like Jason vs Freddy

No. I like Jason X.

Don't care for Jason vs Freddy, though.

I didn't overly like it though, Freddy vs Jason. I pretty much like everything Jason has been in. I liked Jason X alot to tell the truth.

[I Don't Mind]

I loved Freddy vs. Jason, I think it was one of the first DVDs I ever bought with my own hard earned money. I won't say it was a great movie, mind you, but I just love it - Freddy fucking the Camp Crystal Lake counselor, Freddy's pinball effect on Jason in his dream, and the ending. Everything just tied itself together wonderfully.

As far as quality though, I'd probably put this Friday The 13th on par with Freddy vs. Jason. I agree on the sentiment of liking the beginning characters far more than the later characters. It felt like they realized they had little time to develop personalities so they condensed things perfectly, but for the later characters they didn't pace themselves on how to develop anyone. And the kills were fine by me. Their great in theater with the really loud suspenseful music but I wouldn't get this on DVD as it loses its effect big time.

[Wrath of Kane]

All i know is i'm buying this movie the second it comes out to BluRay, or if it is awhile then as soon as it hits DVD.

[IDOL]

This movie beat the steaming piles of crap Jason X and Freddy vs Jason - - to hell. No questions about it.

Freddy vs. Jason is the epitome of campy horror. It didn't take itself seriously and neither should its audience. This movie takes itself seriously, but all it does is take the genre back 30 years... the same genre that was dead until 1996 when Scream came out and then spawned a legion of imitators who completely missed the point.

But you haven't seen it yet :/ All I'm saying is don't have such a strong opinion against it before you watch it.

Oh, and from Matt Hardy's blog:

I watched the new Friday the 13th tonight with a bunch of friends-LOVED IT! I've always been a Jason fan, but the new take on Jason was very cool and up to date. If you're a fan of the old Friday the 13th movies, I highly recommend you catch the new one.

Matt Hardy says it's good, so it is!

Edited February 15, 2009 by SantIdol Marella

[zero]

Again, I know I haven't seen it, these are just the thoughts I've collected from various opinions I've read.

You will agree that it doesn't reinvent the wheel, correct?

[Maxx]

Agreed, but no one really ever promised it would.

[zero]

Understood, but all I'm saying (again, I know I haven't seen it) is it seems like squandered potential.

I hope I'm wrong. I'm sure I'll enjoy it in the way that I always enjoy slasher flicks, but Halloween set the bar pretty high for me.

[EndOfAnEra]

It was good, but the way he was "finished" off ruined it for me. Personally, I liked Halloween better.

[HeartlineTwist]

It was good, but the way he was "finished" off ruined it for me. Personally, I liked Halloween better.

What bothered you about his "death"?

[Red Devil-Taker316]

I love the Friday the 13th series, the Halloween series, the Nightmare Before Elm Street series. There's no doubt that generally, as far as the term "good movies" are concerned, most of the entries in these three films aren't.

This movie, compared to the Friday the 13th series, is solid. It's an excellent reimaging of Parts 1, 2, and 3. Ranking the movies (with Freddy vs. Jason) I see it like this.

1. Jason Lives (Part 6)

2. Part 2

3. Part 3

4. Freddy vs. Jason (I'm actually surprised at the the hatred toward this one)

5. Part 1

6. Friday the 13th 2009

7. Final Chapter

8. Jason Takes Manhattan (Part 8)

9. New Blood (Part 7)

10. Jason Goes to Hell (Part 9)

11. Jason X (surprised at the amount of love this one has gotten in this thread)

12. A New Beginning (Part 5)

I do think this can be the Batman Begins to the Dark Knight. It was a solid setup movie, and now that the premise has been set and the background is all there, they could spin the sequel whichever way they feel like it would work. I wouldn't even be surprised if they could make some Tommy Jarvis stuff work. I think the potential is there for a very good sequel. It's good to see Jason taken so seriously again.

[Wrath of Kane]

I Rank them like this for me

1. Friday The 13th 2009

2. Jason X

3. Jason Takes ManHattan

4. A New Beginning

5. Jason Lives

6. New Blood

7. Final Chapter

8. Part 3

9. Jason vs Freddy

10. Part 2

11. Jason Goes To Hell

12. Part 1

[TGC]

I want zero to see this movie, and I am offering to pay for it. I will buy you two tickets via Fandango if you go see it this weekend. If you love it, pay me back, if you hate it, consider it a gift, albeit a shitty one. I want my friend to experience it on the big screen with people of like minds so that the full effect is there, not on his couch via Netflix. So the offer is presented.

As for me, I went to see it last night and after two sold out showings, waiting in line outisde for tickets, being sent back outside a few minutes before the trailer aired because someone's fucing 3 year old pulled the fire alarm, and generally waiting another thirty minutes for the inept fire department to reset the fucker I finally saw the movie last night at almost 10pm. And I liked it. I didn't love it by any means, but it was a good movie. It does not reinvent the wheel by any stretch and I will ALWAYS prefer Jason Lives and Freddy vs. Jason to almost any other entry in the franchise, but as someone who grew up watching 80's slasher films (The Jason, Halloween, and Freddy series being the most popular clearly), this had a good feel to it. It felt like an 80's slasher Friday The 13th movie, and that is the biggest compliment I can give it. Some of the acting is abysmal, some of the characters are so one note that you almost cringe, and some of the deaths are pretty cheesy, but to me that is what made this series kind of fun.

Jason works better here than he has in most of the series. The last time Jason was scary and not just an iconic character was Part Two, and it was nice to find the creepy, scary, unsettling quality of the character again for the first time in nearly 25 years. He was much more human, as was said earlier, but that also made it a bit scarier. He wasn't being shot 200 times, set on fire, bulldozed, chopped to bits, set on fire again, and then blown up like in previous films only to sit up ala The Undertaker.

This is by no means a perfect movie, and I don't even think it is a perfect reboot, but it maintains the spirit of the earlier films in the franchise while setting itself up to be something new. Oh and there is some decent acting. Amanda Righetti (I think is correct spelling), Jared Padalecki, and the guy from Veronica Mars all did good jobs. The kids at the beginning of the film were very good, and of course the actor who played Jason captured him perfectly for this film.

I'd give it 6.5/10 on a normal scale, or 8.5/10 on my Friday The 13th Series sliding scale. As I said, kinda, Part 6, JVF, and Part 2 are better films in the franchise, but for what this one wanted to do and what it did do, this is clearly the fourth best of the series. Oh and Part 4 is also pretty fucking good minus the bald Corey Feldman.

Just my take though, and I wasn't sitting there trying to be a fucking real film critic taking notes of cinematography or the scoring of the film either. For those that did, you missed the fucking point. And for those that said the deaths were not brutal enough, I am sure the unrated DVD that will be released no later than May will have those unedited scenes that I am sure the MPAA made them cut and tone for an R Rated theatrical release, as well as the pussy shot I read they were forced to cut. Just saying.

[Maxx]

I Rank them like this for me

1. Friday The 13th 2009

2. Jason X

3. Jason Takes ManHattan

4. A New Beginning

5. Jason Lives

6. New Blood

7. Final Chapter

8. Part 3

9. Jason vs Freddy

10. Part 2

11. Jason Goes To Hell

12. Part 1

Oh that list is...oh wow.