Welcome everyone to the newest feature here at Coming Soon. ‘5 Reasons Why’ is dedicated to featuring — and defending — a controversial topic that is sure to spark a healthy debate among readers. Per the advice of our legal department (which is really just one guy who probably doesn’t even have a degree in law, but he dresses nicely) I am required to state that the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of this writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Comingsoon.net, Mandatory.com, Crave Online or any of its other subsidiaries.
In the summer of 1980, Sean S. Cunningham directed a film that would change the way the world watched horror movies. Films like Halloween, Psycho, and Black Christmas came out first, but it was a little film called Friday the 13th that would truly usher in the “slasher boom” of the ’80s. Friday the 13th would spawn 9 sequels, a crossover film with Freddy Krueger and a sequel that was released in 2009. It is that film we want to discuss now, as there is actually a lot to love about it, which isn’t usually the norm when it comes to remakes of fan-favorite films. The Friday the 13th remake hit all the right notes. It was an homage to the spirit of the original films, but it told its own story as well. Out of the 3 “major” boogeymen (Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees), it was Jason who remained relatively unscathed after the remake. The Friday the 13th remake is a thousand times better than either the Halloween reboot or the Nightmare on Elm Street one. In fact, Friday the 13th might just be on the extremely short list of ‘Best Horror Movie Remakes Ever”.
5) It Had 3 Films in One
Anyone who has seen the original Friday the 13th series knows that it contains a lot of changes and retcons. At first, Jason was a boy who drowned in the lake. Then he came back as an overgrown man-child wearing a sack over his head. Then he found a hockey mask and realized he liked that better. In between was the death of his mom, some kidnapping and more. Somehow, the filmmakers behind the remake were able to include most of Jason’s mythology in this film. The prologue started with a girl, who we’ll assume is named Alice, battling Mrs. Voorhees and decapitating her. Following that, the film shifts gears to focus on a group of teenagers in the woods, on the hunt for sex, drugs and rock and roll. Jason, clad in a burlap sack, takes care of them fairly quickly, and then the ‘actual’ movie begins, which shows Jason donning his famous hockey mask for the first time. It’s a lot to pack into just one movie, but director Marcus Nispel pulled it off pretty seamlessly.
4) The Characters Were More Likable
This is nothing against the 40-year-olds playing ‘teenagers’ in the first film, but most of them were pretty bland. We remember Alice, the prodigal ‘final girl.’ We remember Kevin Bacon, because he’s Kevin Bacon. And we remember Steve because, well…we remember Steve because he was pretty creepy. Those shorts and that mustache absolutely did not do him any favors. There were more characters in the original, we just don’t remember them. The ones we do remember, we just don’t like very much. Except maybe Alice. Comparatively speaking, almost all of the characters in the remake were at least semi-memorable/likable. Whether they were boozed up floozies, strung out stoners or Jared Padalecki, every character in this film had their own unique charm about them. Even the especially douchey ones (there’s a character in the film named Trent, which should tell you all you need to know about him), were somewhat likable, even if we only liked to hate them. Regardless of liking them or hating them, we certainly remember them. That’s more than we can say for the original.
3) This Guy
We’re gonna go out on a limb here and say that Trent (played by Travis Van Winkle) is the unsung hero of the Friday the 13th Franchise. He’s somehow a combination of a villain in a John Hughes movie and a super annoying millennial. And ya know what? We love him for it.
2) The Villain Was More Formidable
Spoiler Alert: Jason’s mom, Pamela Voorhees was the real killer in the original Friday the 13th. Did you forget that? Mrs. Voorhees was the one killing all the boring teenagers in the original Friday the 13th film, which was fine from a dramatic perspective, but let’s talk reality for a second. Even with the element of surprise, there is no way a geriatric old woman (seriously, Mrs. Voorhees looked about 60 in this film) could be a formidable foe, for teenagers or for grown men like Steve. If she stuck to hiding in places and killing people from behind (or below, RIP Kevin Bacon), we wouldn’t take as much umbrage. But there are parts where she full on gets in fights with people, and we take a lot of umbrage with that. A lot of umbrages. And hey, speaking of…
1) It Actually, Ya Know, Had Jason In It
Jason was actually in this one!! We’re not talking about the bulbous-headed, creepy-in-his-own-way little boy version of Jason, either. This one was the real deal Jason. We’re talkin’ the hockey mask wearin’, kinda-patchy hair-in’, life-stealing, machete-wielding Jason that we all know and love. While Mrs. Voorhees did get her time in the sun, or rain, or whatever, Jason was the main villain of this film. For that reason alone, this film is better than the original. Betsy Palmer did a fabulous job as Mrs. Voorhees in the original film, but she wasn’t Jason. Only Jason can be Jason. Oh, and Roy. Roy can be Jason too.
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