I am in the mood to watch some slasher films so obviously I would think about someone near and dear to my heart. That happens to be Jason Voorhees! Maybe I am in this mood because of the music video by The Menzingers that I watched just recently. So why did I choose the newer remake first? For one it is newer and people like new things! For two I had been waiting years for them to make this movie.
I am gonna say the most obvious first and let people know that this isn't just a remake, but a re-imagining as Hollywood would like you to believe and that they are in fact different things. I on the other hand do not believe in the "re-imagining" because regardless of what you say it is still a remake. And remakes don't always mean "good". I do like some parts of this film but in my honest opinion this film loses the spirit of Jason. It does have the hockey mask and it does have the burlap sack. It kinda throws his mom at you in the first 5 minutes and anybody who is anybody knows that his mother, Pamela, was the killer in the original film. Jason didn't show up til the sequel and the hockey mask didn't make an appearance til Part 3. Hollywood, I guess, didn't want to remake the first one without Jason because his name has become synonymous with the Friday The 13th name. That is the only thing I agree with. Jason is my favorite and I don't think that having Pamela being the antagonist would have been a good decision in the long run, but obviously the way they did it didn't work either.
I will not delve into the acting very much other than to say that absolutely noone goes into a slasher film looking for great acting. So I am saying that all actors that appear in this film are par for the course. There are a few known people and a few that aren't. The one I noticed right off was that Kane Hodder was missing. That alone almost deterred me from watching this but I inevitably gave in because I love the character. And for those that do not know who Kane Hodder is, then shame on you. He has played other characters in the past where you see his face but none even compare to the machete wielding mongoloid. Hodder has been sorely missed by me I can tell you that much!
This picture is chock full of horror movie cliches from the interracial cast, to the nudity, to the drug use, to the attempt at a jumping cliffhanger ending. The ending, by the way, did not work at all seems how Hollywood is again rebooting the series and will most likely put more nails in the coffin. The franchise will never begin again to be better then the originals. Yeah, they are cheesy! But that was half the fun. See when Hollywood remakes a classic horror franchise they have to put as much shock value into them because people, as a whole, have become desensitized to movie violence. It isn't about trying to gross people out but how much fun you have while viewing the film that makes it memorable. If it takes you to another fantasy land for 2 hours then it did it's job. The original franchise has me rooting for Jason the whole time! Not that I'm a glutton for violence it's just that he is a deformed child in a man's body that watched his mother get beheaded on a beach. He wants revenge, as all people would want if they witnessed what he did.
If you love modern horror then watch this and introduce yourself to a legend, but watch the originals to see why the name Voorhees is well known. If you are a lover of classic 70's and 80's horror then you may want to skip this one unless you want to see how not to do a remake!
No comments:
Post a Comment