Friday the 13th

Director - Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Frankenstein)

Starring - Jared Padalecki (Supernatural, House of Wax), Danielle Panabaker (The Flash, Sky High), Amanda Righetti (Captain America: The First Avenger, Deranged Granny)

Release Date - 2009

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Welcome to Crystal Lake"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I was in college I wasn't collecting movies like I once was.  I was on my own, working a full time job, and a student full time.  That doesn't mean I had cut horror completely out of my life.  I just was unable to spend the money on movies like I once was.  That didn't stop me from going out and watching the Friday the 13th remake when it was released.  I know I went to see it opening weekend but I didn't remember a damn thing about it.  I even picked up the DVD when it was released and watch it...yet I don't remember a damn thing about it.  While I was digging through this box set I went ahead and finished with this easily forgettable remake.

     The film opens with a woman killing counselors at a summer camp before she is beheaded by one of them.  We jump forward several years and the camp is now abandoned and falling in on itself.  A group of twenty-somethings are camping nearby when they are attacked by that woman's son, Jason.  A few months go by and one of the victim's brother arrives looking for her as another group of college students arrive to drink it up and party.  Jason once again crashes their party forcing them to fight for their lives or die by his hand.

     I genuinely love remakes.  John Carpenter's The Thing, Vincent Price in the House of Wax, Marcus Nispel's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Tom Savini's Night of the Living Dead are fantastic remakes that I've spent many hours enjoying.  I say this because I'm not one of these people that immediately hate on remakes without giving them a chance.  Friday the 13th is not a bad remake but it's painfully forgettable without bringing us something new to watch.  Honestly, it could have been a little more entertaining if I had not spent the last week watching the original series before this one.  The acting in this one is enjoyable but far from perfect.  I'm a huge Supernatural fan and I enjoy the second remake of House of Wax so it was awesome seeing Jared Padalecki in this one.  He is a bit of an odd duck in the film and doesn't really fit in but his Sam Winchester performance does oddly work here.  I also enjoyed Danielle Panabaker as the film's female lead.  She's not a strong final girl but the film mixes it up on us with her.  The supporting cast is solid as well but there is several characters that you just wont like.  The characters are written that way but the cast does a solid job at making them unlikable.  The story for this one blends the first four films of the original films into one while changing some of the characters around.  I kind of liked the meshing of the important moments from the first four films but it does make these aspects feel meaningless.  The pacing is fairly smooth and we get plenty of slasher action to break up some of the more slower scenes.  Finally, the film features some slasher inspired kills.  The practical effects are solid and the kills match the film but they are nothing we haven't seen before.  In fact, when compared to all the other films these kills are fairly easy to forget.  Overall, Friday the 13th is not a bad remake but its painfully bland and forgettable.  It's fun if you are wanting something different but if you are binging the Friday the 13th franchise I would stop before this one.