25 years and 8 films after Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Jason Vorhees returns for one last swansong…
Jason employing his trademark look.
When the Friday the 13th remake hit in 2009 it was always likely to be criticised by long time fans especially as largely hated director Michael Bay was on production duties. What people are loath to admit however is that the original Friday the 13th is no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, indeed it was widely dismissed as a Halloween rehash on release back in 1980.
It is easy to groan at the cringe inducing antics of the teenage cast and to tut at the gratuitous sex scenes and the violence but these are staples of the franchise. Again if you go back to the original movies and follow the series you will not find much more artistic merit than what is on show in Marcus Nispel’s remake.
Friday the 13th was a nasty but iconic horror film and Jason Vorhees became a legend of the genre as his mythology became more fleshed out as the series went on. This 2009 remake has some plain bad moments but it is also respectful towards the series as a whole and introduces some positive things such as the utterly brilliant opening 25 minutes.
Michael Bay aside it would be churlish to suggest that this latest entry in franchise is anything other than a success.