Friday the 13th

In honour of todays date (Friday the 13th of May 2011) I am going to write about the original Friday the 13th and its 2009 remake. This blog will contain spoilers.

Friday the 13th was released in 1980. The film was directed by Sean S. Cunningham. The film centres around a bunch of young camp counsellors that are reopening Camp Crystal Lake, but then on Friday the 13th the counsellors are picked off one by one by a murderous mother who is angered that the camp is reopening after her son, Jason, died there years earlier. The film is famous for its twist ending, the fact that is Jason's mother killing the counsellors and not Jason.

Friday the 13th undoubtedly came about after the success of John Carpenters 1978 Halloween which opened the door for many slasher films. Friday the 13th has since become a successful franchise spanning 11 films (12 including the remake) numerous novels, comic books and toys.

I love the original film, it's possibly one of my favourite films, but I often overlook it as the film that Halloween created. The way the killer is kept secret until the very end is brilliant. I think Friday the 13th follows the rules of a slasher film perfectly but it differs to the rest thanks to its clever twist ending.

Then 29 years later something horrific happened Michael Bay decided he would remake this legendary film. The remake was directed by Marcus Nispel. As it is a modern Hollywood remake, obviously everything changed.

The film, this time, centres around a bunch of young adults who find a boarded up Camp Crystal Lake, while on vacation.  Here lies problem number one, finding somewhere abandoned that isn't actually empty is very new, congratulations hollywood. (sense the sarcastic tone). The group then come across Jason Voorhees who picks them off one by one. Problem number two, Jason is the antagonist. So basically Michael Bay and Marcus Nispel have taken everything that made the original film so legendary and simply thrown it out of the window and opted for masked man kills horny teenagers. Problem number three is what Jason is wearing on his face. The famous hockey mask, which, if my memory serves me right, was not introduced until Friday the 13th Part 3 which was released in 1982.

 How did Michael Bay get away with this?

The remake doesn't work. At all. None of the remake's of classic horror films have worked recently. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween or Friday the 13th. I am yet to see the new A Nightmare on Elm Street, but if the other remakes are anything to go by, I don't really want to.
The remakes are taking the classic's and simply making them bloodbaths. This upset's me as a fan of the original film's.

Please director's of the future, please for the love of god, leave classic cinema alone. Think of your own dam films!