Friday the 13th (2009)
directed by Marcus Nispel
starring Jared Padalecki, Derek Mears, Danielle Panabaker, Willa Ford
Arrow Video
The aughts were reboot crazy, with numerous horror franchises being resurrected with varying degrees of commercial and artistic success. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dune production company was culpable for several of them, including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Hitcher (2007), A Nightmare on Elm St (2010), and The Amityville Horror (2005), but the one that managed to stick the landing was 2009’s soft reboot of Friday the 13th. The film should have injected new life into the franchise that had already been to New York City and to outer space, but the sequels never materialized and the long running legal battle over the character of Jason Voorhees has stalled the series for an entire generation.
The new Friday the 13th directed by Marcus Nispel released to, at best, mixed reviews from critics and audiences but solid box office success, Today the film has become a divisive subject among fans with little middle ground, but time is proving the naysayer to be wrong, as it is one of the better entries in the series and should have been the launch point for a new run. Arrow Video has released a 2-disc 4K HUD set for the film featuring the theatrical and “Killer Cut” of the film, complete with a ton of bonus features, interviews, and three audio commentaries from the director, screenwriters, and a rollicking track by film critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson.
Friday the 13th (2009) opens with a brief reimagining of the climax of the original film with Pamela Vorhees’s decapitation, before catching up with a group of backpacking youths 20 years later. The group of backpackers isn’t just out for a good time, but is trying to locate a hidden pot farm to steal some crops to sell back in the city. They get lost and stray too close to the abandoned Camp Crystal Lake, where Jason Voorhees (wearing the baghead look from Part 2) dispatches the group with brutal intensity and efficiency. After this nifty pre-title sequence which could easily function as a standalone short (with more plot and character development than some slashers provide), we get the main story started with a new group of protagonists, including a group of college students headed to rich snot Trent’s family cabin for the weekend. Also in the area is Clay (Jared Padalecki, Supernatural) who is looking for his missing sister, Whitney, who was part of the doomed trip at the beginning. Once at the cabin the debaucherous party begins, but soon Jason Voorhees crashes the bash, and a night of terror and bloody mayhem ensues.
Opinions on this film amongst fans are rather divided, with many taking umbrage with the portrayal of Jason Voorhees as a kind of supernatural doomsday prepper who utilizes a bow and arrow, animal traps, and even a complex network of subterranean tunnels under Camp Crystal Lake. Granted, this portrayal may seem quite different from earlier incarnations, but as Alexandra Heller-Nocholas discusses in her audio commentary on the film, the Friday the 13th movies are basically modern folk tales. They are scary campfire stories, and some of the specifics are naturally going to change as each teller of the tale gives their own embellishments. This read on the films goes a long way in explaining the enduring fascination with such a basic premise as camp counselors getting slaughtered. Despite initial reactions,(much of which were driven by the involvement of Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company), fans seem to be warming to the film, and it is often in the top tier of people’s rankings for the series.
I find it to be a surprisingly forward-thinking slasher that was a bit ahead of its time, and it works much better in 2024 than it did in 2009. Many features of the Jason Vorhees character from this film also managed to work their way into the overhyped but compelling 2024 slasher In a Violent Nature, with the killer in that film also being a supernatural doomsday prepper with hunting skills and some degree of technology. The killers in both films are also being driven in part by the trespass onto their territory and the theft of the mother’s locket.
It seems Jason still lives in his own universe and has the power to inspire others in creating their own. ◼
