The Bat Cave

I must note that I grew up on the Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street franchises, starting my fascination with the horror genre as early as five or six years old. I can even remember my dad taking my brother and I to see Jason Goes To Hell when we were 9 and 8 years old, respectively. So Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees were like my Leonardo and Raphael growing up. With that said, I still have a weakness for my old favorites, at a time in my life when all other horror films generally don’t interest me. I’ll be sad the day they stop making films for these horror icons, but weaknesses aside, I’m not interested in seeing these sons of bitches in space or Manhatten.

This remake thankfully takes the series back to its roots: Jason Vorhees, alone, slaughtering a bunch of promiscuous young adults at Camp Crystal Lake. This film is more of a reboot than a remake, however, as it takes concepts from the first three Friday The 13th movies and rolls them into one. We see Pamela Vorhees (Jason’s mother) decapitated before the opening credits are finished and Jason sports a bag over his head for the first 40 minutes or so before finding his trademark goalie’s mask. It was a shrewd business move to pay homage to the story and get to vintage Jason as soon as possible since no one really gives a damn about his mom or a pre-hockey mask Jason.

Friday The 13th gives you pretty much what you expect. We have Jason Vorhees stalking teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake and dispatching each of them systematically, trying to outmatch his last murder via uniqueness, weapon choice, and gruesomeness. Along with the standard mayhem, Friday The 13th doesn’t disappoint in the female nudity department either. It goes without saying that we (males) want to see boobs and death in these flicks and Friday The 13th delivers.

One thing that stood out about this remake is how fast and agile Jason Vorhees is. Jason has always been depicted as a lethargic and stupid monster relying on unexplained ubiquitousness and the stupidity of his victims to get his kills. In the update, Jason is seen sprinting, tossing and aiming objects with pinpoint accuracy, and generally outsmarting his competition. However, he’s still dumb enough to fall for the classic “I’m your mother” bit.

I’m not going to dive into the script or the acting in this film because if you’re watching the 12th installment in the series and expect quality in these departments, you probably walked into the wrong theater. Friday The 13th is yet another solid horror remake from producer Michael Bay and should satisfy fans of the series. I thought it was a notch below the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (also a Bay-produced film), but much better than Rob Zombie’s Halloween. I’m looking forward to more Jason flicks and for the upcoming A Nightmare On Elm Street reboot, another horror remake Bay is involved with. I can’t wait to see who they cast as Freddy Krueger.

Score: 6 out of 10 (Recommended)