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Nearly 30 years after the Friday night killing spree that claimed the lives of all but one of the counselors at Camp Crystal Lake, the legend is little more than a ghost story, told late at night by teenagers as they sit around their campfires.
But when five kids set up their tents near the old, abandoned camp (two of them searching for the massive marijuana field they’ve heard about), they soon discover that the story of Jason—the disfigured monster who haunts the forest, seeking revenge for his mother’s murder—isn’t just a ghost story.
Six weeks later, another group of kids arrives at the lake—this time, for a weekend at rich kid Trent’s (Travis Van Winkle) posh lake house. On the way into town, they run into Clay (Jared Padalecki), who’s looking for his missing younger sister. And before long, Jason (Derek Mears) crashes both the search party and the house party.
While most recent Hollywood horror “remakes” have sought to do more—to be bigger and bolder and bloodier while exploring more of the killer’s psyche—director Marcus Nispel wisely chose to keep it simple and stick with what works for the Friday the 13th franchise. As a result, there’s nothing especially philosophical—or psychological—about it. It doesn’t waste a lot of time on exposition. It doesn’t try to explain why Jason feels so compelled to kill so many people in such nasty ways (he watched his mother’s murder, and he’s still pretty ticked off about it—what else does he need?). And there aren’t any long, elaborate, or drawn-out torture scenes, either. In fact, much like the original, it isn’t all that graphic or gory. Instead, the kills are quick and to-the-point—and plentiful.
For the most part, the new Friday the 13th is exactly what you’d expect. A bunch of horny kids—lots of busty (and often topless) blondes and doped-up dudes—find themselves stuck in the woods with a crazed killer. They drink beer and smoke pot, they have sex, and, one by one, they die in gruesome (and sometimes surprising) ways.
After a dozen or so Friday the 13th movies, it’s no surprise that there’s really nothing new to see here. It’s pretty much the same formula: the same suspense, the same creepy music, the same corny dialogue, the same cliché characters, the same quick, murderous flashes. But, hey—it’s worked for the last 29 years; why change it now?
Sure, Friday the 13th is no work of cinematic genius. It’s predictable and cheesy, and the story is pretty much non-existent. But, as far as horror remakes go, it does a pretty good job of keeping the classic Friday the 13th style and giving it a few 2009 updates. So for fans of those simply suspenseful old-school horror movies, the new Friday the 13th is a whole lot of campy, blood-soaked fun.
