Another Friday the 13th, This One Not So Bad

Friday the 13th (2009)
Director- Marcus Nispel
Starring- Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Derek Mears

Years after the original slayings at Camp Crystal Lak,e, five teens explore the area, looking for a rumored marijuana crop growing wild, hoping to cash in. That night, after some gratuitous sexual play, Jason Voorhees (Mears) stalks them. One by one, they fall prey as he mercilessly (and creatively slaughters all but one.

Fast forward six months later. Clay (Padalecki) is searching for his sister, Jenna (Panabaker), who was one of the five from that night. He has a run in with a group of rich kids, led by Trent (Travis Van Winkle in an utterly convincing role), on their way to his parents' vacation home for a raucous weekend party. Trent's girlfriend feels sorry for Clay, and eventually agrees to help him look for his sister.

This might lead to a love interest. but that darn maniacal slasher is on the loose!
Keep in mind, this is a reimagining of the original. What's the difference? A remake is virtually a scene-for-scene reproduction, updated to a current genre. A reimagining takes an existing origin and throws a new story into it as though it was the first. Jason starts off with only a cloth bandage covering his face. We find out he was into hockey as a kid from little tidbits around his room. When he sees the hockey mask for the first time, we think, of course he gravitates toward that, it stirs up a memory from his childhood, and it hides his "ugliness".

I can't help but compare this a little to Rob Zombie's reimagining of Halloween from 2007. Is this movie good? Yes. But is it rob Zombie good? No. Zombie set the bar pretty high for making a strong horror movie that just sticks with you long after seeing it, and Nispel's reimagining of the Voorhees legend doesn't quiiiiite measure up to that. Regardless, it is still an excellent slasher flick. It's not very difficult to predict who gets killed, but it's harder to figure out how they get killed. Jason proves himself more human in this movie by actually running after his prey, as well as going into a silent rage every once ina while rather than acting stoic. He still never talks, so that has a pretty good effect altogether.

The ending is classic Firday the 13th, but still felt like it belonged more than any other ending that could have been dreamed up.

Rating: 4 Bonedaddies.

An Un-Botched Story

Botched (2007)
Director- Kit Ryan
Starring- Stephen Dorff, Jaime Murray, Edward Baker-Duly

Ritchie (Dorff) ends up being blamed for a heist gone wrong. To make things right, his boss, Mr Groznyi (Sean Pertwee), sends him to Russia to steal a priceless antique cross. With the help of two brothers, one of whom is psychotic and the other weak-willed, Ritchie manages to get stuck in an elevator with a small group of people on the 13th floor of th building. When they do get out of the elevator, their hostage situation takes turns for the worse when a maniac makes his presence known. The burden falls on Ritchie to find the cross (and figure out why his boss would want it so badly) and get out with all his parts.

I intentionally left out some key details here, no spoilers allowed in this particular review. Why? Because I actually thoroughly enjoyed it, and there are other parts to the plot that make themselves revealed further in the movie. It's the type of movie that's best left for the viewer to figure out for themselves.

Dorff delivers his lines with the deliberate grace of Kiefer Sutherland. Much of the humor is deadpan, which makes it funnier given the horror the characters face. The acting from the others is a tad overdone, but this is okay, given the fanaticism revealed down the line.

The music is the most entertaining part. Hearing the Red Elvises made me nearly jump out of my seat with excitement (I'm a fan)! It also at times takes a hilarious turn to the 1980's, broadening already eccentric horizons. It was very imaginative and well-put-together.

Rating: 4/5 Bonedaddies.

Sunrise On a Strange Relationship

Sunrise (1927)

Director- F.W. Murnau

Starring- George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston

A farmer's affair with a city girl (Livingston) has strong repercussions when, after having lured him once again from his home for a lakeside tryst, she pleads with him to live with her in the city.

Anses (O'Brien) is tempted but reluctant, so the city girl suggests he murder his wife, Indre (Gaynor) and make it look like an accident. Anses agonizes over the decision all night, deciding by morning to carry out the grim deed. He offers to take his wife for a boatride, and though she seems weary of his demeanor, she agrees in the hopes that he's trying to salvage their relationship.

Once out far enough on the water, however, she realizes his intentions as he lunges at her. He gets close enough to strangle her, then sees by the fear he's inspired what a monster he's become. Once back on land, Indres flees back into town with Anses close behind, pleading for her forgiveness. It isn't until they find themselves crashing a wedding in progress that she finally forgives him, and everything afterward becomes honky-dory. They hit he town, enjoy a fair, then take a boat ride home.

During the ride home, a storm hits, and Indres is thrown from the boat. Anses believes her dead, and when he hears the familar whistle of the city girl he once thought he loved, he goes crazy and tries to strangle her. Thankfully he's informed his wife is still alive and runs to her, and the two live happily ever-after.

The scripting was presented on screen very creatively (like the letters 'drown her' waving across the screen into the water), the music had an ominous tone, and the movie itself is impressionistic--something Murnau was a master at in his movies. Having the 'villian' whistle a mysterious tune (though you can't hear it in this movie) is something he would employ in M just a few years later. The characters used facial expressions well, and I was surprised to see that even hairdressers in the 1920's were effeminate.

I could have done without the second half, however. I understand how well the movie came together by the end, especially showing Indres floating on the very reeds Anses had tied together to use himself when he killed her. I just didn't like the super-happy second half and ending.

Despite the second half, though, I loved the movie for Murnau's talent for setting a disturbing mood.

Rating: 4/5 Bonedaddies.