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     John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.48.69 |
Warning: Spoilers in this review Another Warning: I am in an incredibly good and therefore forgiving mood at the moment. I’m not a huge fan of the original Friday the 13th, or of its sequels. In fact the antics of Jason and his mum were considered pretty much laughable by me and my friends when we were oh-so-mature 15 year olds, and some of the moments when I laughed hardest in my cinemagoing youth were when I viewed the hilariously hopeless antics of Parts 5 & 6. So I suppose it was unlikely that I was going to be offended by Marcus Nispel’s refashioning of all those jolly antics up at Camp Crystal Lake. To give the man his due I was far from offended, and in fact I ended up having a really good time. The Friday the 13th remake is really good! Or at least really good in terms of existing in its own little slasher universe. Fans of the originals will love this updated, overhauled revision that comes with as many murders and far more sex and nudity than the originals. The plot? Well, Nispel & the gang cleverly realise that there was never really enough in a single F13 movie to make a decent plot, so here they remake Parts 1-3 in one handy condensed package, taking all the best bits and adding loads of atmosphere and decent photography (the original F13s all tended to look pretty drab – here the forest, littered with ruined shacks and weird tree stumps, is genuinely scary in itself). The very first thing the audience experiences is Harry Manfredini’s hissing theme noises, which gave me a pleasurable shiver of recognition before the film had even started. The first film is remade as an intertitle sequences (and Mrs Voorhees is played by Deep Space Nine’s Nana Visitor to save anyone scratching their head until the end titles). By the time we get to the director credit she’s lost her head and Jason’s out for revenge. Then Part 2 kind of gets remade in a sex and murder-filled twenty minutes (with Jason sporting Part 2’s ‘Bag-au-Tete’ look) that serves as a precursor to the main action, where Jason finds his hockey mask and hacks his way through a plot which packs in all the old favourites (the harpoon gun to the head sequence is so beautifully executed I jumped) and doesn’t lose momentum for a second. I really really enjoyed this and can recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys seeing attractive teenagers murdered gleefully and cruelly in the grand old tradition of proper horror movies. Far more enjoyable than it has any right to be, this is far and away the best of the current crop of slasher remakes. And finally: Is it me or are the tiny remaining droplets of joy being drained out of the cinemagoing experience? I know many on the board here prefer not to venture to their local multiplex anyway, but be warned if you do don’t expect adverts for Butterkist (Butterkist Ra Ra Ra) popcorn or those obscenely wonderful Cornetto ads featuring giant phallic ice creams being assaulted by pretty girls’ tongues. Today all I got was an advert for a support group for people suffering from depression as a result of infertility, abortion or other child-related disasters and then some information on how the local Chlamydia-screening clinic. No wonder the film seemed so jolly. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.157.91.133 |
This sounds bloody excellent! | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
I'm SO envious! I wish I could have seen it too, but I'll probably have to wait for DVD. It does sound like jolly good fun, though. I saw the original in the cinema when I was very young and it scared me to death (though I wanted to play Alice - and every subsequent Final Girl). Speaking of which, I think it's entirely appropriate to precede a slasher film with dire public safety warnings about the dangers of sex. It's why the Final Girl always survives, after all: she never has sex. Hmm... Are those footsteps I hear? And what is that weird ch-ch-ch-hah-hah-hah sound? | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.48.69 |
Note I didn't mention anything about if the 'Final Girl' survives. Or the final boy for that matter. Tch tch tch tch Ha ha ha ha ha |