Friday the 13th - Recap *Spoilers for the series*

I have finished watching and reviewing the franchise and wanted to summarise my thoughts on the overall series and this will contain some series spoilers.

From the highs of the first film when Mrs Vorhees is the killer to the low of Jason taking Manhattan when he sort of waved at Manhattan and decided in a city of probably more than 10 Million people he is just going to try and kill the 2 people he randomly followed all the way from Crystal Lake for no apparent reason. This is an awesome series of films that are there to be enjoyed in the context they were designed for and in the form of a Marathon it is a lot of fun.

The Jason as a killer is awesome he really encapsulates the slasher genre, the biggest issue is that they try to come to some conclusion as to why he is a killer and why he has to go after teens and people when just making him a zombie killer that has to be stopped would probably be enough. I think that as a series of films they are all worth watching some more than others but over all a worthwhile series to invest your time in if you enjoy films especially from this era and genre.

I will give the overall series a 4 star pass mark, the weaknesses in the film being certainly 8 and 9 but think that with Jason x and Freddy vs Jason the series is redeemed, I think that we can honestly say though that the remake does nothing for the series and hopefully if they do produce another sequel they decide to take it along a different route from the Michael Bay story line. 

Friday the 13th Remake (2009)

So Michael Bay decided to remake one of the most famous horror films, and he sucked at it. This is a major disappointment apart from the fact that it is a remake, why not just continue the series, there has been no continuity so far so why not just ignore from 3 or from 7, whatever he chooses but they decided to remake the original. Now this is more an amalgamation of the first 3 films apart from the fact that they have Jason break his MO by taking a prisoner and they have a story about someone searching for the captive person.

They looked at the franchise and decided that it was all very silly so they decided to make it up as they went a long and they could of actually done a lot with the set up and the characters but decided to ignore it all and they made a slasher film that sort of paid homage to the 80's classics in a modern setting.

This film is not okay it would be fine if it was not linked to the Friday 13th Series and would probably be 3 stars but as a remake it only gets 1 star as it does nothing new for the franchise and should only be watched as part of the marathon, my recommendation though is do not watch it last as it will leave a bitter taste from the series.

Freddy Vs Jason (2003)

The film so many fans of both series wanted to see after is first raised as a possibility in the late 90's and the highly anticipated film of the genre. And to be honest it did not disappoint me, I had my doubts on it working however it worked in so many ways. It covers the best parts of both series and has an interesting battle between Freddy and Jason and some interesting uses of their respective weapons and strengths.

They have an interesting story and you do not need to know the full history of either franchise to enjoy this film, it does help if you have an understanding of the mythology of the franchises. They still struggle to create characters outside the bad guys that you care about enough to not want them to die but it is part of the fun of both series.

This is a 4 star film it goes up if you enjoy the genre and either of the franchises, I will say that it is more Jason in a Nightmare on Elm Street than Freddy at Crystal Lake but well worth checking out. 

Jason X (2001)

Now we are getting to the point where the series has gone to the outer limits of weirdness and it works so well because the makers know this and really push the boundaries of the series. This is a comedy with horror elements but the main focus of the film is definitely comedy and there are one liners thrown out with abandon.

The performances from Jason and the 'victims' are all very good and to watch this and give a spoilerific review would simply be to go through all the jokes and repeat the one liners. It is funny and given the right atmosphere then there would be raucous out loud laughing.

This is 4 stars of Space bound horror comedy for me, there is an excellent cameo at the start from David Cronnenberg who comes from nowhere and there are some excellent jokes in this film. If you watch 2 Friday films, watch the first one and this one.

Friday the 13th Part 9 - Jason Goes to Hell the Final (1993)Friday - Review

So watched this film as part of the marathon and suddenly from no where in the series there is a family link to Jason through a sister, we get 9 films to get here. We also have the real unbelievable supernatural element kicking off in this film with the start going the way it does. This is just more of the same with Jason killing people but now he has a different level of reasoning behind who he is going after and why.

I was really getting quite bored of doing the marathon by the time I got to this film, there were a couple of high points though with a real element of supernatural goings on you had a different level of what could and did happen and what they did with it was actually quite good and enjoyable.

This is worth 3 stars and in all honesty 1 of those stars goes to the very last scene of the film which i will not spoil, as part of the series it fits in but can be a bit draining if you have sat through the previous 8 instalments of the franchise before getting to this film, worth seeing if you like the genre.

Friday the 13th Part 8 - Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Now you are getting to the point in the series where it has gotten really very silly, the start with the resurrection scene with the power cable to bring Jason back is tenuous but fair enough then for some reason he follows a group of graduates as there was a girl who was once thrown in the lake. Anyway it is ridiculous an really not worth seeing again, though this is at least the second time I have watched it as part of a marathon.

I would say that if you are a completest or doing a marathon watch it to see how low the series goes and how silly they get. The biggest issue is that continuity which was never that important has gone completely to the point that in New York one of the biggest cities in the world Jason can find the 2 people he wants to kill and track them down to the point of predicting where they will be. The writes just seem to have had loads of ideas and they shoehorn them in however. I will say that Jason has some sort of character in this episode with some comedy moments, like with the mask on a billboard and raising his mask to show the thugs.

Really it is a 1 star film that was just churned out to meet an annual want to have a Friday the 13th film in cinemas, I can imagine the disappointment of paying full price to see this nonsense in the cinema.

Friday the 13th Part 7 - New Blood (1988)

You can really see the progression of the films as they get to part 7 and you have the resurrection scene or release scene depending what you want to believe performed by a psychic. So you know from the off there is basically going to be the same plot concepts as the last film. This does not make it a bad film but it is nothing new or original in the series or the genre.

You have your new group of partying teenagers and a rampaging Jason who has to be beaten again at the end, it is all quite predictable. I have to say that again there are some good death scenes and some interesting and funny jokes in this film but nothing to startling.

So 3 stars for this, not the worst in the series by a long shot but certainly not the best and not worth watching out of context of the Friday the 13th series.

Friday the 13th Part 5 - A New Beginning (1985)

Now we are on to part 2 of the Tommy Jarvis story, this time he is played by John Shepherd, Tommy has been in mental care since he killed Jason and he is having visions of Jason Vorhees or is he. It starts out interestingly and has a nice we twist on the Friday the 13th series and is actually done quite well.

Now I have heard that there are people who do not like this film due to the way that it plays out and the final outcome. I have to say that as there are now 12 films in the series on a first watch through it makes this film a bit different and worth a watch.

I will give this 4 stars as a different and worthy part of the series and is an interesting instalment in the series.

Friday the 13th Part 4 - The Final Chapter (1984)

Part 4 of the series introduces us to Tommy Jarvis, played in this film by Cory Feldman he was at the height of his child acting fame with The Goonies and Gremlins coming out about this time as well. He played the part well and you are actually left wondering about his character at the end of the series. You have another group of teens setting off to Camp Crystal Lake or Camp Blood as it is known within the series, and the usual deaths and excitement occur.

This is actually a step up in the series from part 3 and is enjoyable fair as Jason is now in full flow, he has his mask and likes his machete, there are some cool deaths in this film that sort of define the series. It is also the start of the parts being named and the name having almost no reference on the series by the end.

I give this film 4 stars, there are some good performances and a good role played by Crispin Glover of Back to the Future fame which is always nice to see.

Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)

The 3D film that started it all? Not really but it is funny as I have never seen this film in 3D and not that interested either. The film in 2D is fun, the effects of the 3D are there to be seen with poles flying out and yo-yo's coming down to the screen, again and again. This film is not to bad, there are some pretty cool scenes in it and it has Jason getting his iconic mask so has some good history for fans of the genre.

To me this is the start of the generic sequels, there is no real continuation from the previous films even though they have a flash back at the start of the film there is no real need for the continuation. There is a thing where they introduce a character that you have never seen before but they were traumatised by Jason or the lake years ago.

This is 2 stars it is a low point in the franchise, not the lowest it goes but still only a few high points for true fans of this series.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Firstly I have seen this film several times now and this was the first time I had seen it on the BluRay, the film itself is an awesome classic with the cliches in film that are now almost standard in the slasher genre. The only down side to the BluRay was that it is so clear and excellent quality that the Tom Savini practical effects lose some of their impact as the transfer is so clear, you can see the flaws. This was a disappointment as the practical effects in this film are awesome and seeing them for the first time must have been fantastic.

I love these films as genre and a piece of cinema history, while there are far to many of them they define an era and started a genre. The sequels to this original go to far and in a strange direction and the original film in the series set a mark that was hard to beat. The only issue I have with the film and slight spoilers there is that the killer is never seen in the film until the end, so as a murder mystery which some people regard this, it is hard to go with as the killer is unseen.

I would recommend that as a film fan you see the original anyway, the sequels can probably be missed but the original is a 5 star film that is worth watching, also you get to see a young Kevin Bacon which is pretty cool.