Happy Friday The 13th!
Today is a special occasion here at the MSX. No, it isn't some kind of anniversary or milestone or anything like that. Instead, yours truly is celebrating that special day known as Friday the 13th. As someone who has been a fan of horror movies since grade school, Friday the 13th is always kind of a big day to me. Not as big as Halloween, but still. It's kind of a bummer that Friday the 13th is starting to lose part of its notoriety, especially since most cable channels don't really show the Friday the 13th movies anymore. Sure, Chiller is showing a marathon of Friday the 13th: The Series, but the day belongs to Jason, not some two-bit TV show that nobody remembers. Back when USA Up All Night and MonsterVision were in my regular viewing regimen, they would air two or three of them on every Friday the 13th. But alas, those days were years ago. Yeah, I own them all on DVD, but it just isn't the same.
Actually, I take that back. I own them all but one. And that brings me to my main topic of discussion for this post. Not only is today another Friday the 13th, but it's another notch in the belt of Jason Voorhees, thanks to today's release of the remake of Friday the 13th. And naturally, I had to make sure I saw it tonight. Normally, I'd wait until Saturday or Sunday to see a movie, but seeing Friday the 13th on Saturday the 14th or Sunday the 15th just doesn't feel right. You have to see Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th. Some people might not get it, but I do, and that's what matters to me.
It was a pain in the neck to see this thing, though. With my dad along for the ride, I had planned on seeing the 7:30 showing at the theater over in Danville. But just my luck, every single showing had sold out. Yeah, happy Friday the 13th, alright. But I was absolutely committed to seeing the movie, it was decided that we would start Plan B: go to the theater over in Bardstown. So we piled back in the car and headed on our way to Bardstown, which wouldn't have been too bad if we'd started from home instead of Danville. But it's an hour's drive from Danville to Bardstown, so we ended up being on the road for all of ninety minutes just to see a movie. And since Bardstown's 7:30 showing had sold out too, so we were stuck waiting around until 10:00. So there was ninety minutes of driving and another ninety minutes of sitting around. Throw in another 35 minutes or so to come home, and I didn't get home until around 12:30 in the morning. (Yeah, I changed the date and time on this post so I could have it up on Friday night instead of Saturday morning. What're you gonna do about it, huh?)
Anyway, about the movie. I actually liked it, a lot. I thought it was a lot of fun, and totally worth the seven-dollar ticket price. I didn't feel let down or disappointed in the slightest. The movie plays up all of the franchise's stereotypes - sex, drugs, rock and roll, and an unstoppable killing machine - without becoming a crappy parody of Hatchet, which I felt made the movie a lot more entertaining. And folks, the new Jason is awesome. I know every Friday the 13th fan out there will sing the praises of Kane Hodder until the end of days, but Derek Mears did a fantastic job behind the mask. If and when they make a sequel, I hope they bring him back.
The rest of the cast all play the clichéd one-dimensional character constructs, but they all do the work that's asked of them and I can't complain about them. The kills are really well done, and I especially liked how writers Damien Shannon and Mark Swift have created a remake that also works as something of a sequel. Not only is it a good starting point for new fans to the series, but you could honestly watch the original Friday the 13th from 1980 and the remake back to back, and the remake would actually serve as an effective Friday the 13th, Part 2. Something like that could be used to rope in the anti-remake crowd, I guess.
But for what it's worth, I'm all for the Friday the 13th remake. I doubt my opinion will be a deciding factor in whether or not you'll be seeing it, since you probably already have your mind made up one way or the other by now. But I'll definitely give it my seal of approval with three and a half stars and a thumbs up. And here's hoping that we don't have to wait another five and a half years to see good ol' Jason again.
Actually, I take that back. I own them all but one. And that brings me to my main topic of discussion for this post. Not only is today another Friday the 13th, but it's another notch in the belt of Jason Voorhees, thanks to today's release of the remake of Friday the 13th. And naturally, I had to make sure I saw it tonight. Normally, I'd wait until Saturday or Sunday to see a movie, but seeing Friday the 13th on Saturday the 14th or Sunday the 15th just doesn't feel right. You have to see Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th. Some people might not get it, but I do, and that's what matters to me.
It was a pain in the neck to see this thing, though. With my dad along for the ride, I had planned on seeing the 7:30 showing at the theater over in Danville. But just my luck, every single showing had sold out. Yeah, happy Friday the 13th, alright. But I was absolutely committed to seeing the movie, it was decided that we would start Plan B: go to the theater over in Bardstown. So we piled back in the car and headed on our way to Bardstown, which wouldn't have been too bad if we'd started from home instead of Danville. But it's an hour's drive from Danville to Bardstown, so we ended up being on the road for all of ninety minutes just to see a movie. And since Bardstown's 7:30 showing had sold out too, so we were stuck waiting around until 10:00. So there was ninety minutes of driving and another ninety minutes of sitting around. Throw in another 35 minutes or so to come home, and I didn't get home until around 12:30 in the morning. (Yeah, I changed the date and time on this post so I could have it up on Friday night instead of Saturday morning. What're you gonna do about it, huh?)
Anyway, about the movie. I actually liked it, a lot. I thought it was a lot of fun, and totally worth the seven-dollar ticket price. I didn't feel let down or disappointed in the slightest. The movie plays up all of the franchise's stereotypes - sex, drugs, rock and roll, and an unstoppable killing machine - without becoming a crappy parody of Hatchet, which I felt made the movie a lot more entertaining. And folks, the new Jason is awesome. I know every Friday the 13th fan out there will sing the praises of Kane Hodder until the end of days, but Derek Mears did a fantastic job behind the mask. If and when they make a sequel, I hope they bring him back.
The rest of the cast all play the clichéd one-dimensional character constructs, but they all do the work that's asked of them and I can't complain about them. The kills are really well done, and I especially liked how writers Damien Shannon and Mark Swift have created a remake that also works as something of a sequel. Not only is it a good starting point for new fans to the series, but you could honestly watch the original Friday the 13th from 1980 and the remake back to back, and the remake would actually serve as an effective Friday the 13th, Part 2. Something like that could be used to rope in the anti-remake crowd, I guess.
But for what it's worth, I'm all for the Friday the 13th remake. I doubt my opinion will be a deciding factor in whether or not you'll be seeing it, since you probably already have your mind made up one way or the other by now. But I'll definitely give it my seal of approval with three and a half stars and a thumbs up. And here's hoping that we don't have to wait another five and a half years to see good ol' Jason again.
posted by Matt Sutton at
11:53 PM
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