Friday the 13th

By Ashley Hillard

A legend is reborn.

“Friday the 13th” is, of course, the remake of the classic 1980s series of films. Marcus Nispel helms this picture, following up his successful remake of “Chainsaw Massacre”. Good choice on the director, someone that knows horror and how to do a remake without butchering the concept. Michael Bay produced the film, along with Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, the same team that brought audiences “Chainsaw” and “Amityville Horror”. Also, the original “Friday the 13th” ‘s producer / director, Sean Cunningham, took part in the remake. It took a lot of cooks in the kitchen to create one tasty, bloody soup.

Audiences revisit Crystal Lake, home to Jason Voorhees (Derek Mears), who seeks vengeance for the death of his mother. Mrs. Voorhees blamed the drowning of Jason on teens that were too busy fornicating and doing drugs to notice the young boy had wandered out into the lake. Upon her death, Jason’s mother tells him to continue the quest to kill outsiders that come to Crystal Lake. A group of teens is unfortunate enough to encounter Jason in the first fifteen minutes of the movie and all die gory deaths, save one – Whitney Miller, played by Amanda Righetti (“The Mentalist”).

Another group of college students travels to their friend Trent’s (Travis Van Winkle) palatial family cabin. Along the way they encounter Whitney’s concerned brother, Clay Miller (Jared Padalacki – “Supernatural”) and Trent is a mega watt jerk to him. As Clay continues his journey, he encounters locals that warn him to stay away from the area. He ignores them and again encounters Trent and his more affable friends, including cast members Aaron Yoo , Willa Ford and Arlen Escarpeta . Trent’s girlfriend Jenna, played by Danielle Panabaker (“Empire Falls”) accompanies Clay during his search in the woods for signs of his sister. They find her alright, in Jason’s basement. They return to warn the others but Jason is already there and has taken out about half the group. Nispel and the writers find inventive ways to kill off the cast and the movie is both scary and funny in the delivery of the brutality. In the end, Whitney, Clay and Jenna make a break for it, but only Clay and Whitney survive long enough to kill Jason, or so they think. Will there be a sequel? Box office returns will tell.

Though fans may be skeptical of a remake, this team does a fantastic job of staying true to the myth of Jason Voorhees and giving a new generation a chance to get to know a classic slasher star. The acting is believable and the cast delivers fun characters to follow as they navigate Jason’s woods. Derek Mears makes a fantastic and imposing Jason and great VFX make up transforms him into a grotesque creature lurking in the woods and in your nightmares. If your up for a good scare, revisit Crystal Lake.

Four Stars from Me!