Robin PottratzReview: "Friday the 13th" is an awesomely bad remake ** stars out of 4
March 17th 2009 03:04
The population of drunk, high, and horny teenagers is sure to decrease with the return of Jason Voorhees in the new "Friday the 13th"
Ok I admit it...in my younger days I loved watching the Friday the 13th movies. I got a sense of blissful glee when I saw the hocky masked Jason Voorhees slice and dice his way through hoards of unsuspecting teenagers who only wanted to have a sinful weekend at the lake. As I have gotten older, my tastes have been more refined for film viewing, but when I heard that there would be a remake of Friday the 13th, I regressed to age 12 and was wonderfully excited.
When I entered the theatre to see Director Marcus Nispel's re-imagining...I had to take the film with a grain of salt. I wasn't expecting a Scorsese achievement...but I was hoping to have some fun at the movies. What I got was a movie that was so bad that it was almost good. The plot of the film is completely irrelevant...we are all really seeing the movie in order to see Jason run amok across Camp Crystal Lake.
The death scenes range from campy fun (former pop star Willa Ford is stabbed in the skull while hiding underneath a dock and is lifted just high enough so that the audience can get one last look at her boobs before she falls into the lake), to cringe inducing (a naked coed burns to death inside a sleeping bag while her sexmate is forced to watch after his leg is destroyed with a bear trap)...to the downright perplexing (apparently Jason took up archery...as he kills a boater from afar with an arrow...maybe he took night classes or something).
What enables this remake of Friday the 13th to enter the "so bad its good" territory are the instances where the movie is completely self aware and accepting of what it is...an ultraviolent breastfilled campfest designed to kill a couple of hours.
When two young men talk about how much money they are going to make when they sell a whole bunch of weed...we all know that they're gonna die.
When a hottie begins randomly rubbing her perky, naked breasts with baby oil...we all know that she's gonna die.
When the preppy douchebag cheats on his innocent girlfriend with a skanky brunette...we all know that they are both gonna die.
That, in a nutshell, is the biggest flaw and strength in Friday the 13th. You secretly hope for something more...but you are satisfied with what you have. Keeping with the tradition...the ending sets up a sequel...as a fan of campy horror films such as the Jason Voorhees saga...I wouldn't have it any other way
| 39 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog