Trailer Watch: ‘Friday the 13th’ Can’t Come Soon Enough

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 5, 2008

When I first heard of the Friday the 13th reboot, I was pretty interested and mildly concerned. On one hand, I loved the franchise – on the other, many of the movies are pretty terrible. Once things started coming together, like director Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon (the surprisingly good Freddy vs Jason), I shifted over to excited. Then I met the people behind it, producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, actors Amanda Righetti and Derek Mears, I switched to pumped. After watching this recently released trailer, I flipped the toggle to “Hell yes!” Take a look and see if you’re as pumped as me.

“We got the guy who’s killin’ everybody!” Pretty bitchin’ right? Starts a little slow, but don’t all horror trailers? They’ve got to show us the fresh meat, ready for the slaughter. Speaking of meat, I picked up on at least two scenes in the trailer that are going to feature boobies, so that’s a plus already. The real fun comes when our man Jason Voorhees (Derek Mears) starts flexing some newly acquired athletic muscle. The old Jason was often the slow walking, borderline clumsy, machete swinging monster.

This new Jason is fast on his feet and stylish. I dug his Olympic style hatchet toss, the jump off the roof-face stab with a machete combo, and the running momentum filled downward hack. This guy is out to cut some kids up and nothing could make me happier. If you want more than just awesome kills (of which I am now assured there will be many), how about the glimpse at about 2:00 that looks like a throwback to the “sack” mask of Friday the 13th Part 2? Also, as a big fan, the final scene of Jason coming through the window reminds me very much of the climax of the original film. So these guys didn’t leave it all behind – they brought with them the best of the old tricks, like the hockey mask, machete, and some cool scenes, but packed in a lot more. I’m really loving the look of Derek Mears as Jason. I’ve stood next to the man, and he is a giant. On screen, he looks even more intimidating. Also, Amanda Righetti is ridiculously hot.

I know when a franchise is faltering – and Friday the 13th was on its last, broken leg. So they dumped the old body and rebuilt it, stronger. I’m a big fan of the Marcus Nispel’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for its great look and style and brutality. All of that has seemingly transferred over to this reboot as well and things are looking good. I don’t care what the girl says, we’re either seeing Friday the 13th on Friday, February 13th (the day before Valentine’s Day) or I’m dumping her on the street and taking up a center seat for what promises to be a hardcore, brutal, adrenaline fueled awesome time.

Friday the 13th hits theaters on February 13, 2009. You can also view the trailer in High Definition at Yahoo Movies.

What are your reactions to this trailer?