Reviews: Friday the 13th (2009) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Serial Killers
Subgenres: Slasher, Maniac, Supernatural Serial killer (Top Supernatural Serial Killers in Movies), Teens
Where does Friday the 13th (2009) stand among horror films? Our review examines the scares, pacing, and what makes it unique in the genre.
Friday the 13th (2009) is an American slasher horror movie that is the twelfth installment in the franchise and is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series which began with Friday the 13th (1980). Friday the 13th (2009) was first supposed to be an origin story but later became a re-imagining of the first four Friday the 13th films. The character Jason Voorhees was changed and is now smarter, a leaner killer with a backstory so that viewers can feel a sympathy for him but his menacing side was kept, so his killer side is also shown. Our new Jason also sets traps for his victims now instead of stalking them and mindlessly killing them. Friday the 13th (2009) had an estimated budget of $19 million and grossed over $91.4 million in the box offices. Director Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Conan the Barbarian (2011), Pathfinder (2007)) did an incredible job executing a marvelous screenplay that did justice to the Friday the 13th franchise.
Friday the 13th opens with a similar scene to the ending of the first Friday the 13th (1980) where we see a camp counselor (Stephanie Rhodes) beheaded Pamela Vorhees (Nana Visitor) head with a machete. Young Jason (Caleb Guss) saw his mother being murdered on June 13, 1980, and runs away with the machete that was used to killed his mother. Thirty years later at Camp Crystal Lake, a group of friends is camping in while two of the five friends are secretly searching for the marijuana so that they can take it home and sell it for a lot of money. Jason (Derek Mears - Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Predators (2010), Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)) began killing people from the group. He kidnaps Whitney (Amanda Righetti - The Mentalist (2008), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Role Models (2008)) untouched because she resembled his mother thirty years ago.
Whitney’s brother Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki - Supernatural (2005), House of Wax (2005), Gilmore Girls (2000)) arrives at the lake about six weeks later to search for Whitney. Clay met several people vacationing in a cabin who mainly just wants to get drunk and high off of weed, but two of those people agree to help Clay look for his sister. The two individuals Trent (Travis Van Winkle - Transformers (2007), Accepted (2006), Meet the Spartans (2008)) and Jenna (Danielle Panabaker) helped Clay as Jason kills two of their friends.
All of the actors gave a good performance except for Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki (Clay) and
Derek Mears (Jason) killing spree which was excellent. It felt as though I was in a trance as I was looking at Jason Vorhees beginning his reign of terror on the friends, killing off members of the group. The movie contains graphic s**ual content, strong bloody violence, bad language, drug use, suspense, thrills and gory kills. I would recommend all Friday the 13th fans to give this film a try because it was an amazing watch for me. There were major goofs that will be noticed by most fans, but it is nothing that will ruin your movie experience.
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Friday the 13th Rating Scores
- Our Score: 7/10
- Overall Score: 4.92/10
- IMDB: 5.5/10
- MetaCritic: 3.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 2.5/10
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