In the spirit of spooky season, I have decided to take this hallowed time (see what I did there?) to review three horror or horror-adjacent films that should be overlooked no longer. Considering that writing about three films in a ridiculous amount of detail would give me arthritis and you lethal eye strain, I am splitting this into three parts, the first two being online and the third debuting in the flesh (aka in our print edition on Oct. 31).
With that small introduction out of the way, it’s time to take a wholesome little camping trip to Crystal Lake where I will talk about the fifth most important date on a calendar, Friday the 13th.
No, I’m not calling the 1980 slasher trailblazer underrated because it’s actually quite the opposite case. Instead, I’m talking about the criminally underestimated 2009 reboot of the franchise, which also counts as the 12th film in the franchise. This was the third classic horror reimaging supported by Michael Bay’s production company, Platinum Dunes, after 2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and 2005’s The Amityville Horror (which was both Chloe Grace Moretz’s screen debut and Ryan Reynolds’s first dramatic role).
There would be two more horror remakes in addition to Friday, 2006’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, a prequel to the 2003 reboot (respectfully, a really stupid idea) and 2010’s Nightmare on Elm Street starring Jackie Earle Haley — the less said about that literal boiler fire, the better.
Directed by Marcus Nispel (who also did 2003’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Friday the 13th would take the elements and lore of the original quadrilogy and combine most of them into one film, almost like a “greatest hits” of Jason Voorhees. We get the little big-headed child who couldn’t swim, the potato sack-wearing young man on a revenge spree fueled by mommy issues, and finally the evolution to the hulking, hockey-mask sporting, machete-wielding slasher icon we all know and fear.
However, this Jason was not the unkillable, blind-swinging rage monster from the original films; this Jason was basically if John Rambo went to Camp Wawanakwa.
He’s merciless, calculating, always prepared, and armed to the teeth with various weapons (machete, ax, a freakin’ bow and arrow, etc.), making him a much smarter foil to the dumb teens that paraded on his mother’s old stomping grounds. Stuntman Derek Mears plays this new iteration of Voorhees and with his intimidating stature, standing at 6 ‘5, and wearing an incredibly impressive full head and torso prosthetic created by effects artist Scott Stoddard, his performance pleasantly surprised many fans and critics.
While the plot itself is so by-the-numbers, you can almost count out the fractions, and the teen characters don’t even try to act like they’re going to last past the half-hour mark (despite the two main ones being played by very likable actors, Jared Padalecki and Danielle Panabaker), the film adds a much deeper layer to its real main star, Jason, expanding on the amount of guilt and trauma he has from losing his mother and the hell that was his childhood. 2009’s Friday the 13th redefined the character of Jason Voorhees for a modern audience, and for a brief period of time, almost got the franchise back on the market for more sequels.
Sadly, lawsuits happened, and a rights war over the Friday name has been going on for a while now, with a new film constantly being in and out of production (even LeBron James had his name attached to produce at one point).
However, I digress. This film is still very much worth watching just for the kills and character work, but believe me when I say all those two things are truly killer to see in action.
Spooky Score: 3.5 / 5
Stay tuned for Chapter 2 of my recommendations, same Cat-horror, same Cat-channel!
