Reviewed by: Steve Warburton
CONTRIBUTOR
Moral Rating: | Extremely Offensive |
Moviemaking Quality: |
|
Primary Audience: | Adults |
Genre: | Horror |
Length: | 1 hr. 37 min. |
Year of Release: | 2009 |
USA Release: |
February 13, 2009 (wide—3,000) DVD: June 16, 2009 |
About murder in the Bible
Fear, Anxiety and Worry… What does the Bible say? Answer
How do I know what is right from wrong? Answer
VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer
Every time you buy a movie ticket or rent a video you are casting a vote telling Hollywood “That’s what I want.” Why does Hollywood continue to promote immoral programming? Are YOU part of the problem?
Featuring | Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle, Aaron Yoo, Derek Mears, Jonathan Sadowski, Julianna Guill, Ben Feldman, Arlen Escarpeta, Ryan Hansen, Willa Ford, Nick Mennell, America Olivo, Kyle Davis, Richard Burgi, Chris Coppola, Rosemary Knower, Bob King, Nana Visitor, Stephanie Rhodes, Caleb Guss, Travis Davis, Kathleen Garrett |
Director | Marcus Nispel — “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Pathfinder” |
Producer |
Crystal Lake Entertainment MTV Films See all » |
Distributor |
New Line Cinema, division of Warner Bros. Pictures |
“Welcome to Crystal Lake”
I kinda hate to admit this, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the “Friday the 13th” movies.
When I was in grade school, those movies had this awesome aura about them. There was a rumor going around that Katie McGregor, a little girl in grade 4, had snuck out of her bed one night to watch a few minutes of “Friday the 13th” on the late show. It was so scary that she allegedly had to be hospitalized and had nightmares for weeks.
I remember the original “Friday the 13th” being praised for its “imaginatively grotesque murder sequences.” We’d see throats slit, heads lopped off, machetes thrust through chests… all kinds of yuckiness. And there was one constant thread…. the kids who got murdered were all bad kids. The kids who drank and did drugs and fornicated were all killed by Jason. Only the moral ones, the ones who said no to premarital sex and weed, survived to fight another day.
This new movie opens with five kids hiking into the woods for a weekend of sex and drugs. They’re also there to steal some marijuana that some drug pushers had planted in the woods. The kids all get killed. Well, maybe they don’t. There is a twist. It’s an impressive twist, too, and I admired how the screenwriters pulled it off and…
…and what?
I’m supposed to be reviewing this for a Christian audience, right?
Well, it’s a “Friday the 13th” movie. What do you expect?
There’s a lot of gratuitous nudity, way too much foul language, and, of course, over the top violence.
What saddened me the most though was that I saw this movie in Cornwall, Ontario, and right behind me there was a lady who was watching the movie with her seven-year-old son. The kid was right into the movie, too. Cheering Jason on with every teenager he killed.
That was more offensive than anything else I saw on the screen.
Violence: Extreme / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Heavy
This movie is not recommended.
Learn about DISCERNMENT—wisdom in making personal entertainment decisions
Every time you buy a movie ticket or buy or rent a video you are in effect casting a vote telling Hollywood, “I’ll pay for that. That’s what I want.” Read our article
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
For a good month and a half or so, I was adamant about seeing this slasher, knowing full well it’d be loaded with superfluous extras like carnage and illicit sex. They are unfortunate gimmicks of the slasher genre. The former is bread ‘n butter; the latter has never made any sense. Its draw is its livelihood… well that and the longtime running gag that those misguided young adults always end up face-to-face with Norm McDonald’s scythe. “Friday the 13th” gets bogged down in this area. There are too many nude scenes and just enough sex scenes to sour Friday’s only shot at replayability. Shame, too, ‘cause this reboot of the Jason lineup isn’t half bad rolling with the backwoods redneck get-off-my-property angle: capricious sociopath systematically picking off intruders, one by one. Such an angle gives less an old school horror bent and more of a gritty, bare-knuckles action beatdown. But even subtracting the racy content wouldn’t salvage Sam Winchester’s quasi-horror pictee (the main reason for seeing this film—Jared Padalecki, ol' homeboy from my favorite TV show—“Supernatural”). Heck, even throwing out the gd’s wouldn’t answer Friday’s mournful S.O.S. The film loses its sense of reality by constructing this otherwordly man supposedly made of flesh and bone. Jason doesn’t slow down, doesn’t pause to rest, dump, or eat; he certainly doesn’t die, and he is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Effortlessly. Flawlessly. He’s a resurrected *cash cow* the writers are afraid to nail the coffin shut on. After all, they want sequels because sequels generate more money… usually. Let’s hope not with this one.
“My Bloody Valentine 3D” came out 4 weeks ago. Bloody and Jason’s one man parade both feature one of each of the onscreen brothers Dean and Sam (respectively) from the CW’s “Supernatural” (hence my patronage to these films). Just as with the show, where I prefer Dean’s cocky and oftentimes irreverent attitude to Sam’s more reserved demeanor, I stand by Dean ol' boy for cranking out the better film. Both movies followed in their predecessors' footsteps (as both 2009 titles are reboots) with some redundant horror/thriller cliches, but at least 3D strived to incorporate new with the old. There’s no such advance with Friday. My Bloody Valentine 3D is a visual treat between the tacky, 3D protruding, exploding or otherwise screen-filling objects and more importantly depth of field. Streetlights and buildings have a freakishly surreal sense of distance, as well as everything between the foreground and beyond. Plus, the psycho in 3D is a man leading a double life. Suave and amiable half the time, and not so buttery the other half. Moreover, the antagonist boasts no extraordinary abilities beyond his burning ire. With Jason, the laws are bent. The mystery is linear, and there’s nothing truly horrifying about his methods, unlike his fellow genre icon Leatherface—a man who mutilates and wields a chainsaw like a 100 ft pine tree crashed through his roof. To come full circle, Jason is too Rambo-like. Defensive. A creature of instinct. Part time Superman. Frighteningly so.
Note: Don’t be those parents, single or otherwise, that takes your 10 year old boy and his three friends to this show. Have you lost your mind???
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3