Friday The 13th

Viewer Rating:fredgarven has rated Friday The 13th rating: 1 Star

Nispel had used the same formula that made his rehash of the classic Texas Chainsaw massacre a watchable affair to try and breath some life into the Friday the 13th franchise. But this time he has given the die hard fans of the series nothing to get their teeth into and the curious will be just plain bored with this very basic stalk and slash film. The original Friday the 13th centered around an unknown killer at a summer camp. It turns out to be the cook, who is out for revenge for the death of her son Jason.The sequels(all 10 of them) feature Jason as the 'star'. This remake gives a quick mention to Mrs. Voorhees in the opening credits and leaves it at that. The rest of the movie is a re-telling of the 'how Jason got his hockey mask' story which incorporates(kind of) two of the original sequels(he acquires the original mask in part 3). There is a basic plot of 5 kids go on a search for a patch of free growing weed. They all go missing and one of the girls brothers goes in search for her a few weeks later. Aside from that it's another bunch of kids going for a weekend away with drink, drugs and sex on the brain. Jason kills them, the end. It sounds like each one of the original movies but the problem with this is it doesn't feel like a Friday the 13th. It just feels like any big production horror cliche coming out of Hollywood with a big bloke in a hockey mask thrown in the mix. Even the iconic Harry Manfredini theme is only used at the beginning and end credits. The cast are your typical horror movie gang, hot girls, hunky blokes and a few geeks thrown in for comic relief. Acting is ok considering the material but you never care about any of the cast so their deaths almost comes as a relief. As a fan of the series I gave this a go. The thought of a remake horrified me. But it's not really a remake, and it's not really a sequel. The movie feels like it doesn't know what it's supposed to be and just turns out to be a very average slasher flick. Do yourself a favour and buy the original boxset and enjoy the original and a few of the sequels and leave this in the 'bad remake' pile along with Halloween, The Omen and The Wicker Man

Review published on the 14 February 2009 13:01