Its Friday the 13th Again, Almost

Today is Friday the 13th, so lets celebrate with yet another horrible remake of classic American horror film. Of course, I'm talking about Friday the 13th. I'll admit right now that I haven't seen it yet, but it's still fair because I'm guessing the creators haven't seen the original. Why would I say such a thing? How about they concept, the shock ending, and the murderer that made the original so fantastic, as well as the best of the series, seems to be completely missing from the remake. All that remains is Jason, and Crystal Lake.

The films website features an introduction to the movie saying,

"Welcome back to Crystal Lake in a chilling re-imagining of of the classic
horror film 'Friday the 13th'"

If you move down the blood spattered scroll bar, which is really a little too gimmicky, you'll not only find descriptions of Jason Voorhees with his machete, but that Derek Mears will be taking over the role. *Spoiler ALERT for the original film* The reason this plagues fans of the original film, was that an adult Jason never even existed in the first film. Instead audiences were lucky enough to be completely surprised when Jason's mother the seemingly sweet Mrs. Voorhees, played by Betsy Palmer was the one killing all the kids at the lake. The film had an amazing ending which terrified audiences when the seemingly last survivor floated away on a canoe serenely on the lake, only to have the deformed presumed dead Jason pop out and attack at the films close! That was the introduction of his character as a murderer, and it was absolutely beautiful for effect it had on unsuspecting audiences. It seems that the creators have either completely forgotten or decided to erase this past.It seems a waste when you imagine how many members of the new audience also may not know, and could have been just as frightened as those seeing the original.

These days horror movies are not one picture deals. They either have two to four sequels like the Saw films, or if they are good enough they are eventually remade. This serves to show that as we mass produce horror films, along with all others, we should still pay attention to what made the original so brilliant. Some remakes and/or sequels are not only decent but good. Rob Zombie's 2007 Halloween remake was actually a good one, and mainly because he loved the original so much. He is a man who can be trusted to take over a horror film, because he will attempt to preserve what made it special. Next years Nightmare on Elm Street project is another remake that can go either way, whether it will live up to its predecessor or tarnish it's name will remain to be seen.