friday the 13th retrospective: part 2

If you missed them: Retrospective intro, part 1, part3, part 4, part 5, part 6

So what’s worse than an overprotective mother? Her son rising from his lake gave to avenge his mother’s death. Jason doesn’t waste any time starting his rampage. The movie starts off two months after the original. He ties up the loose ends and disposes of Alice.

Fast-forward five years. Paul Holt decides to open up a new camp. Don’t worry it isn’t at Camp Crystal Lake. Jason’s favorite summer spot has now been condemned. So Paul just opens his camp farther down the lake (still within walking distance of Camp Blood). Right away, you notice that there are a few more councilors for Jason to prey upon. This works well for the audience. We know that part two will just be more of the same, but the larger cast adds a mystery to who will die. That’s pretty much where the excitement ends.

The fun POV shots of the killer from the first movie don’t seem as potent. The reason we watched the movie was to see Jason. What did he look like? How old was he? These are the things we wanted to know. We can tell pretty early that he is more man than boy, but we don’t get to see his head for a good chunk of the movie. Then we see it, he’s got a pillowcase over his head. WHAT? Lame, not scary. From there they go back to not showing Jason’s head, but his feet just aren’t scary anymore, we want to see how crazy messed up his face is.

At this point, half of the councilors have left the camp to booze it up. Jason’s pickings are pretty slim now, and he makes quick work of the six left. Paul and his assistant Ginny head back to camp and find the aftermath of Jason’s handiwork. Paul gets beat down pretty good. Then there’s a nice little chase scene Jason vs. Ginny, that leads to Jason’s cabin. Ginny stumbles upon Jason’s shrine to his mother, including her decapitated head and her favorite blue sweater. Putting her child psychology to good use, Ginny puts on Mrs. Voorhees sweater and tricks Jason into thinking she is his mother. Jason isn’t fooled when his sees his mother’s head and blocks Ginny’s fatal blow.  Lucky for Ginny, Paul isn’t dead and comes to distract Jason long enough for Ginny stick Jason in the shoulder with a machete. Paul helps Ginny to her cabin and they think they are out of the woods until Jason makes a surprise appearance, mutilated mug and all.

Ginny wakes up, while she is being carted off to and ambulance. It isn’t clear if the cabin scene was a dream or not. Nether is the fate of Paul. Although some people think he is dead so I don’t give credit here. Jason, if you want me to count it they have to be fatally wounded or dead on screen.

Overall, this doesn’t hold up well to the original. There are a couple of redeeming factors. There is a shot where one of the female characters is at a dresser with her back to the camera. She ducks out of frame momentarily, and reemerges facing the camera. The shot gives off a creepy weird feeling. Another great moment is where we see the dog, Muffin, walk up to Jason’s feet, then the camera cuts to a close up of hot dogs on a grill. Finally, the best part of the movie takes place during the Jason/Ginny chase. She finally gets away from him and hides under a bed. Jason comes in the cabin and starts looking around. A rat scurries under the bed, to give Ginny some unwanted company. This is a great moment of suspense that is one of the best moments the series.

Rating: 4 Bloody Machetes (Out of 5)
Body Bags Needed: 9
Survivor(s): Ginny, maybe Paul, and all the other councilors who were smart enough to go get drunk instead of staying around to have sex.

friday the 13th retrospective: part 1

If you missed them: Retrospective Intro, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

Here it begins, Camp Crystal Lake. Steve Christy thought it would be a good idea to open back up the family camp. What he failed to tell the new help was that back in the late fifties, two councilors were killed there. Also, every time someone starts the camp back up, more people die. So guess what happens now, more people die.

This will go down as one of the greats in the slasher sub-genre. The strength of the moves is its tone. In the beginning, the characters (including good ‘ole Kevin Bacon) give it a carefree tone, but once the killing starts its all business. When horror movies are driven from scare to scare, they tend to ease off of the audience. This Friday never gives you that safe feeling. Even after countless viewings of the movie I always feel as if the killer is in every scene waiting, watching. For the first two-thirds of the movie we only see point of view (POV) shots of the killer. Once the killer is revealed the POV shots can be seen through the victim’s eyes. These shots are what make the climax of this movie so great.

Back to the plot, it seems that the year before the two councilors were killed a young boy named Jason Voorhees drowned. Guess who also had a crazy over protective mother, Jason Voorhees. Pamela Voorhees decided that she would punish anyone at the camp, from that point on. In the end, Alice lops Mrs. Voorhees head off ending the camp terror, hopefully. Not surprising, that’s the only plot point you need to know.

Rating: 5 Bloody Machetes (out of 5)
Body Bags Needed: 10
Survivor: Alice

Friday the 13th Retrospective

Ok, so I’m a closet horror fan. There were many nights in High School where I would get off of work and dash over to Blockbuster. I would grab a couple of old horror films to finish the night. I had a good fill of 80’s horror in those days. Over the years, I have become more and more disappointed with the state of the horror genre. My excitement mostly comes from other countries or from 3D. When it was announced that Friday the 13th was due for a reboot, I pushed up the bridge of my glasses and smiled. Little did I know that Michael Bay was going to give me one of the best birthday presents ever and release it on MY birthday!

To celebrate the return of Jason Voorhees I’m going to re-watch the series and give you a quick refresher of the Friday story. Spoilers are in full, but if you haven’t seen these movies yet, you probably aren’t going to. The rating system will only include these movies. They will be ranked from one to five bloody machetes. So don’t get your panties in a bunch when I give any of these moves the same rating as your beloved indie/cult film.

Part 1, Part 2, part3, part 4, part 5, part 6

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Due to award season, there are several high content/high quality films that are coming out in theater’s all at once.  Alas, with expensive ticket prices, I am lucky enough to have only seen one over the holidays (and it was a free ticket paid by my awesome brother-in-law).  It was THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON directed by David Fincher.  The basic premise is of a man who is born old and he ages backwards.  He falls in love with a woman and must make important decisions based on his unique predicament.  Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett pair a second time (after BABEL) to deliver subtle and nuanced performances.  David Fincher (FIGHT CLUB, SE7En, ZODIAC) crafts the fairy tale that plays very much like a short story.

What’s good about it: It is a fascinating idea.  I was very interested in what would be revealed placing a man in such a unnatural process of aging while the world around him proceeds along as normal.  I have to say that the special effects do what they should and you hardly even notice that they are “effects”.  You really believe you are seeing a 60 year old Benjamin Button instead of a CGIed gimmick.  Another interesting point is that the story is centered on Pitt and Blanchett, so the mood and style of the film is very personal and intimate to their relationship.  There performances are not Oscar worthy in my book, but they have a wonderful chemistry together and I am continually interested in how they interact.  Honestly the best acting comes from the supporting cast.  They develop the world of the film and create unique characters with power.  I feel that Fincher does a great job directing with beautiful sets, costumes, CGI, and cinematography.  These can be tough elements to wrangle all at the same time, but I see a cohesive film that due to strong direction.

What’s not so good:  My biggest complaint is the screenplay.  I really don’t think they explored the material enough.  Instead of asking tough questions about mortality, history, human perspective, and memory, it simply revolves around a tortured love story.  This is fine, but the whole concept of the character of Benjamin Button aging backward is more of a side note to the love story and thus it becomes merely an obstacle that must be overcome.  What is Benjamin Button’s perspective on the world around him?  What does he learn and how is that different from a normal human who ages forward?  An example: he learns piano from a woman, and then we never see how music effects him in his life.  It is a footnote that is thrown in the mix, much like everything that he encounters accept the love story.  Pitt is not challenged enough, nor is he given any scene in which he really must grapple with what he thinks of this world around him (what an interesting idea to have a “teenager” in the twilight of his life, what would he have to say to us that is different?  Instead Benjamin Button just putters off to the grave).  Instead of truly diving into the mystery of the characters predicament, Benjamin Button could just as easily have been a man dying from some ailment and the story would not change that much.

An impressive chapter for Fincher (and I hope the film does well at the box office purely because I like all the people involved in the film).  Honestly, you could rent this one when it comes out on DVD.  No need to rush to see it.