The Movie
Horror remakes, if you think about it, are a weird idea. Fear comes from the unknown, and who can forget the creepy mystery of not knowing who (or what) was offing the counselors of Camp Crystal Lake in Sean Cunningham's 1980 original Friday the 13th? Nevertheless, a new generation of talented young filmmakers has combined their talents with a bunch of guys in suits who see the huge potential of reinventing tried-and-true franchises for younger audiences, and discovering what they've chosen to keep and what they've changed is just as engaging as the scares.
The usual hormonal late-teen/early-20s party crowd ventures into the woods near the old summer camp, acting stupid and irresponsible this time in search of a secret patch of wild marijuana. Turns out that some unpleasantness years ago involving a drowned young boy and his vengeful mother has become the stuff of legend, but the danger today is very real. Jason, the drowned child, is actually a lot tougher to kill than anyone realized, and all grown up in his 2009 incarnation he is just as gruesome as his many previous movies have indicated, and he makes light work of this batch.
Six weeks later, the brother of one of the victims comes looking for his missing sib and meets up with another wave of young unfortunates--a.k.a. "fresh meat"--this time of the rich, obnoxious variety. The disc defaults to the "Special Extended Version" which is surprisingly R-rated as well (same as the theatrical cut, also included), with a bit more of everything, and a lot more nudity.
Don't be afraid to check out Mark Grady's take on Friday the 13th too..
From start to finish, the 2.4:1 image is strikingly clean, sharp and detailed, with natural blacks throughout. Even a thin veil of flowing smoke avoids that telltale digital look more often than not. There is only mild noise in the backgrounds of some scenes, and much of the film takes place at night or in heavy shadow. I marveled at the purity of the picture, and how effortless it all looked. Good thing too, because if these many nighttime sequences looked as noisy as on a typical disc, this movie would have been ruined. It's not always "perfect," but certainly impressive.
The Sound
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is the only option on the Special Extended Version (I assume this is the "Killer Cut" referred to on the front of the box), while the theatrical cut offers Dolby TrueHD plus a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track. As we would expect in a modern shocker, there are plenty of successful surround/bass jolts, claps of thunder, and an incredible boom of music as Jason appears for the first time. Hard, active rear-channel use is generous, and the high-pitched shrieks of the female victims in particular are appropriately piercing. Directionality is excellent as well, be it a car driving over the camera or an arrow whizzing from behind us to find its target.
The Extras
The bonuses here are quite well-produced, and in HD wherever possible. "The Rebirth of Jason Voorhees" tells all about the reinvention of the horror icon for this new movie, while in "Hacking Back/Slashing Forward" the new cast reflects upon the original film. (Each of these featurettes runs eleven-and-a-half minutes.) Three additional scenes total about eight minutes, while "The 7 Best Kills" takes us behind-the-scenes of Jason's most memorable handiwork, 22-and-a-half minutes with intro.
Picture-in-Picture with Trivia Track is available on the longer cut only, surely providing all the info we could ever want. I reviewed the disc past street date, and the BD-Live content is not really specific to this title, rather there is just a downloadable preview of the same-genre movie Trick or Treat. The second disc, a DVD, carries a Digital Copy of the film for iTunes and Windows Media Player.
Final Thoughts
In a genre so well-worn it has long since crossed over into parody, this reboot satisfies the core fans while delivering scares and even humor more smartly than expected. You probably already know if another Jason movie is your cup of tea or not, and if hockey masks and machetes are your bag, baby, don't wait 'til the next Friday the 13th to pick up this solid Blu-ray edition.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Movie | |
| Extras |
