Michael Bay can’t leave the old classic horror movies alone. First he remade Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a music video director at helm, then the not so good Amityville Horror remake, like most people, I’m still trying to forget the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel, and The Hitcher was forgettable at best. I’m not a purist. I believe that old classic movies should be remade for modern audiences. But if you’re going to do it, you need to do it right. And more times than most, it isn’t.
Today Shock is reporting that Bay has hired Marcus Nispel to direct a revamp of Friday The 13th. Nispel directed the aforementioned Texas Chainsaw remake (which is the only film on the above list that I actually enjoyed. However, Nispel was also the one behind that god awful Pathfinder film. Maybe he just lacked a good producer?
The screenplay was written by Freddy vs. Jason scribes Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. The studio apparently went through another attempt before finalizing this latest draft.
But is Friday the 13th worth remaking? While the 1980 film is probably the most successful slasher of all time, it lacks the iconic character of Jason. If you remember, the first Friday the 13th film actually followed Jason’s mother Mrs. Voorhees as the killer. I’m sure it makes more sense to do a total revamp with the hockey masked killer as the antagonist.
November 14th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I’m undecided on whether this movie should be re-made. I guess they could amp up the special effects or something. But my thing is, what made the first movie good wasn’t special effects. It was the suspense of the whole setting and storyline.
November 14th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
My only concern is “written by Freddy vs. Jason scribes Damian Shannon and Mark Swift.” Sure, no one was winning Oscars for scripting the original Friday films, but there are lines of dialog in FvJ that are laugh-out-loud bad.
And I’m with entdex on the suspense. After the first four Fridays, they forgot to make them scary.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
I’m a fan of the originals but I’m not one of these people that hates remakes. I liked the remakes of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hitcher, and Amityville Horror. I must agree that Texas Chainsaw prequel was ridiculously unnecessary. The Friday the 13th movies were starting to get lost. That’s bad when meaningless horror movies have no continuity whatsoever except for the hockey mask. In one you have a zombie, the next he’s young again, then he’s said to be able switch bodies (friggin stupid), and then he’s in space. I liked Freddy vs Jason. If any of the older slasher flicks needs a reboot, it’s Friday the 13th.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Peter, this remake will in fact star the hockeymasked Jason, while his mother will not be central to this story and most likely won’t appear sans flashbacks. I’ve read this on numerous sites, and a friend in LA has confirmed it recently. So it is in essence a reboot and not a remake per se. While I am against remakes like the upcoming “The Birds” (all Hitchcock should remain Hitchcock’s), let’s face it:
Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, Pinhead, Chucky and Michael Myers will never die, because they are our modern day Frankensteins and they also continue to make money while never raising a fuss over their salaries. They will be making these films when we’re 50, so I find it highly regressive to argue against these films - which, on average, will always be terrible to critics and entertainment for the masses. Better Michael Bay and Nispel rescue the F13 franchise from the direct-to-DVD abyss than to have it linger there forever. Agree?
I love these films though, especially the F13 and NOES series. And I for one, was nearly offended by the net’s critics piling on Rob Zombie for his remake of Halloween, which was an original and fresh take on the character, a character that truly needed an origins story because after countless sequels, Myers had grown trite and without a purpose. And the film had a sense of dread and terror that was completely his own, and I prefer the argument that Zombie’s take on Michael, while not the definitive take of Carpenter’s (one of my fave directors btw), was akin to one of the many depictions of Batman or Wolverine’s origins “Weapon X” throughout the ages.
Bring on Jason! Jigsaw and the Hostel Torture Factory is no match, kiddies, for this dumb, masked slayer.
Also, Freddy vs Jason was downright awesome. I’d love to see a better script or a better film come out of that trivial, cheesy premise. Pure popcorn horror at its best, and I’m surprised no sequel to that one has been greenlit, as it made $80 million without effort.
November 15th, 2007 at 1:18 am
I’ve seen 3 of the 4 Platinum Dunes movies and have this to say: Marcus Nispel’s TCM is very overrated (it’s not the bad, but it’s not amazing) while Jonathan Liebesman’s TCM: The Beginning was vastly superior. There I said it. I don’t know why people attacked Jordana Brewster’s character for being stupid, as to me she seemed one of the most intelligent female characters in a horror movie, along with Camilla Belle in the also good When A Stranger Calls remake (yes, I said that too).
As for The Hitcher, it’s also a good, entertaining movie. Granted, they could have done a much better movie if th”ey’d wanted to, bet they chose not to, and the end result is just, well, entertaining.
Following Halloween, remakes of Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street are prett much inevitable. At least, Platinum Dunes has, I believe, capable hands.
November 15th, 2007 at 8:19 am
“I believe that old classic movies should be remade for modern audiences.”
Are you fucking kidding? This attitude is the primary reason the state of movies in shambles today. 99% of what is produced is today is worthless crap. NEW ideas are what is needed. Not hackneyed remakes and sequels. Jesus! I cannot understand this mentality at all, except that is must have to do with people so deeply entrenched in fast food culture that only want to gorge on more of the same shit over and over. I can’t believe any so called fan of movies can possess this attitude. Amazing.
November 15th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
I liked the plot for Freddy vs. Jason. They did a great job combining the moods of both series while expanding more on the Jason character and his motivations than any film since F13 Part II. But the dialog (except when it was Mrs. Voorhees or Freddy talking) was brutal. “Freddy died by fire, Jason died by water. How can we use that?” C’mon. Also, I am tired of the post-ironic horror dialog. That’s been all diminishing returns since Scream.
If the Friday the 13th remake has one hurdle to overcome, it’s this: do teenagers go to sleepaway camp anymore? Is Jason going to have to terrorize a soccer camp? an SAT prep camp?
I hope they make it scary and go easy on the CGI.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
“I’m sure it makes more sense to do a total revamp with the hockey masked killer as the antagonist.”
i respectfully dissagree - the fact that the killer was jason’s mother was a twist ending, and the ‘legend of jason’ became just that: a ghost story.
then, of course you have the famous last scene - where jason emerges from the water and attacks the person on the boat… was that real, or imagined?
a perfect horror film - no need to change it.
November 16th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Oh no…Please don’t remake this film. They are just going to ruin it i am sure. I have yet to see a remake that stays faithful to the original. I wouldn’t be so adverse to it if they didn’t totally butcher movies when they remade them…