Jason

To many of you who are around my age (27) you all know who Jason Voorhees is, and all love him! The hockey mask burned a lasting image in our minds since our 1980’s childhood. Admittingly, I am a huge HUGE fan of horror films and in particular Friday the 13th. It holds a special place in my heart and always will rank among my all time favorites. And not just ONE Friday the 13th stood out for me growing up. In all actuality the first 4 in the series are what I really enjoyed. Part 5 and Part 6 were enjoyable, but nothing I got excited about too much!

As soon as Jason went to Manhattan and then to Hell and then to Space (Jason X) I was sad to see the franchise slowly dying. Actually, it’s better to say it was being killed off slowly, like an old dog being put down but the meds just are working too slow.

I can remember being one of six people in the audience for Jason X opening weekend. And at Crossgates Mall, that’s saying something. It was at this point I realized that my favorite movie series of all time (with Nightmare on Elm Street coming in a close second, and Halloween in third) was a shadow of what it once was. We had directors who albeit may have had visions and a heart in the right place when sculpting these new inclusions, they failed almost as bad as Bush did in office (Jason, George W is living in Texas, just to let you know – wink, wink).

In 2003, Freddy vs. Jason came out and I thought really kicked ass. I was surprised and it created a buzz again and reminded us how much we adored these slasher films. The crowd reaction was exciting and only added to the experience. I had fun at that movie and was stoked at the possibility that they may re-boot the series. But although they did the movie justice, they didn’t hit the nail on the head so to speak. It wasn’t a home run, but a single. In fact I would compare it more to a single that someone tried to stretch into a double and got thrown out at 2nd. The reason I make that analogy is although this movie was good it still pigeon-holed Jason and Freddy has cartoon characters, which in my opinion, compromises the impact of the character.

Now I have read a ton of Friday the 13th fan sites, love them all and in particular fridaythe13thfilms.com (shameless plug). I’ve monitored this site for 3 years, loving the bits of information, the old pics, the EVERYTHING Jason. Love the site! I also know what kind of interactive fan community they have and the strong opinions of die-hards like myself. I can certainly sit here and entertain some opinions certain fans have about how this movie lacked certain details; but doing that makes me feel like I am punching myself in the face.

So with all this said I posted a comment on the sites blog the day of the opening (Feb 13), here is what I said PRIOR to going to check it out:

“I think people are missing the point here (the ones complaining). I plan on seeing the movie after work today, so I don’t have an opinion as far as how good or bad the movie was. With that being said I think people seem to be expecting some slasher-rehash of the 80s films. You need to take into account that they want to “re-invent” the series as opposed to “replaying” it. People pointing out details left out of this current movie from the original films have misguided expectations. They cannot go back to the old script, which is why these movies never stayed in theatres too long in the past (with some exceptions of course). They need to add something fresh and “new”, otherwise it’s just the same old film and that to me robs the fans.

I think if you go into the movie with a general idea of Jason (I’m a huge fan) as opposed to an already scripted out plan of what you think Jason has to be, then you will come away pleased. The reason Jason worked in the first place (much like ALL horror icons) is the shock value. Movies got stale when it got to be the “same old routine”, then we saw Jason in space and Jason’s ghost on a body snatching rampage.

I do have to say that I am VERY disappointed to hear that the score did not contain much of the original. The soft piano and the ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah are GOLD. So marketable and original. If they missed the OBVIOUS here, then I’ll be a little annoyed. They could mold the tune to be synonymous with Jason as the Halloween piano is with Michael Myers…”

Anyways, just a thought from this guineas perspective.

Stoked to see the film tonight”

I thought this was a good way to go into the movie. So me and my friend Patrick Murphy (Design Team 518Fever) went to the 7pm showing at Colonie Center. Our response: AMAZING!!!!

I do think they should have spent a little more time at making Ms.Voorhees a more prominent character, the opening was a tad quick for my liking (and might be for dedicated fans). So right off the bat I saw a flaw and thought; “Here we go”. But I was quickly thrust into modern day and introduced to a group of campers on a mission for a marijuana field at Camp Crystal Lake and Jason (with bag over head) makes his appearance. It hit hard, it hit fast, and the kills were pretty damn sweet. No this isn’t the gory stale Saw, there is a limit to the “gore” factory, but that adds to the movies effectiveness. The kills were quick and brutal. No more watching some idiot run and run, fall, go out the door, back into the bad house, hide in a dumb spot, or be completely oblivious for no apparent reason!

The movie then shifts to a new batch of college kids on a camping trip and these are the characters you get familiar with throughout the movie. Each of these characters has a personality and you are interested in the plot and…I never thought I would say this about a horror movie….the dialogue! The movie has a quick pace but does it in a way of not making you feel like you missed any details. There was hardly any chatter outside of the movie with questions like; I wonder what this meant? What do you think happened at this part? Or the dreaded; I didn’t get it!

There is a new Jason so to speak! Jason is angry, brutal, smart, human, and bad ass! You actually find yourself rooting for some of the college kids at some parts and truly recognizing the evilness of Jason.

There are shout outs to the classics here for all of us diehards (the wheelchair is one example) so I was happy to see that. I will say that some of the things that seemed to have bothered others really didn’t bother me one bit. The music wasn’t prominent enough to bother me, although I would prefer a lot more of the original score (as I stated above).

How he found the mask was fine with me. Let’s be real, it’s 2008, so where ELSE would he find an 80’s style hockey mask?!? Yes he did get it by killing Shelly, but that was mid 80’s and THIS is 2008!

The ending WAS quick but it was in perfect symmetry with the pace of the movie, so I had no issue with that. The kills were fast and hard hitting but that is the beauty of this film and works with the tone. It only added to the experience.

I think it is difficult to properly compare this with the original (or the first 4). They re-invented Jason and made him relevant to our time period. The great thing about that is the prospect of having a series again, which we have ALL been waiting for!

Personally, I found this to be one of the best movies I have seen in a long time! Worth every penny! Even though our seats happened to be in front of a group of people that seemed to think they were some urban version of Mystery Science Theatre 3,000, the crowd reaction was AWESOME! If you get a chance to see this in a packed theatre, TAKE ADVANTAGE! The crowd was into it! It got the jokes, it screamed, and at the end they applauded and cheered! They loved it and so did I. To be quite honest, this very well may go down as my all time favorite movie! And that is no lie!

I would love to hear all of your thoughts on this movie!

Here is to Friday the 13th Part 2! Kudos to Platinum Dunes, Marcus Nispel, and everyone who worked on this movie! As long as it stays in these hands, the series won’t go the route of the older ones. Hopefully they deliver 3 more (which was the original plan in the 1980’s) to complete a 4 part series.

Cheers!!

Here are some other fans thoughts: