Friday the 13th (2009 film)
Encyclopedia
Friday the 13th is a 2009 American slasher film
directed by Marcus Nispel
and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series, which began in 1980 and the twelfth Friday the 13th film in total. Nispel also directed the 2003 remake
of Tobe Hooper
's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
(1974), while Shannon and Swift wrote the screenplay for the 2003 crossover
Freddy vs. Jason
. Friday the 13th follows Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki
) as he searches for his missing sister, Whitney (Amanda Righetti
), who while camping in the woods at Crystal Lake is taken by Jason Voorhees
(Derek Mears
).
The concept for the 2009 film originally started as an origin story, but the film evolved into a reimagining of the first four Friday the 13th films. Along with bringing the film back to its tonal roots, Jason was designed as a leaner and faster killer, with a backstory that could provide a little sympathy for the character, but not enough that he would lose his menace. Although this film reboots the continuity, Jason's iconic hockey mask, which was not introduced until the third film in the series, is acquired through the progression of the film. In keeping with the tone of the film, Jason's mask was also brought back to its roots, created from a mold of the original mask used for Part III; though there were subtle changes. Friday the 13th incorporated some of Harry Manfredini
's music score from the original Friday the 13th film series, as the producers recognized its iconic status.
The film was released on Friday, February 13, 2009, to the most theaters of any of the Friday the 13th films. Although the film was met with primarily negative reviews, it earned approximately $19 million on its opening night and $40 million for its opening weekend. With its opening weekend, Friday the 13th broke two records, having the largest opening day for the film series and the largest opening weekend for any horror film. It is currently the second-highest grossing film in the Friday the 13th franchise with $65 million, and has earned over $91.3 million worldwide.
(Caleb Guss) witnesses his mother
(Nana Visitor
) being beheaded by a camp counselor (Stephanie Rhodes), who was trying to escape Mrs. Voorhees's murderous rampage around Camp Crystal Lake. Approximately 30 years later, a group of vacationing friends—Wade (Jonathan Sadowski
), Richie (Ben Feldman
), Mike (Nick Mennell
), Whitney (Amanda Righetti
) and Amanda (America Olivo
)—arrive at Crystal Lake on a camping trip to find some marijuana that was planted in the woods. As Mike and Whitney explore the abandoned Crystal Lake camp, an adult Jason (Derek Mears
) begins to kill the rest of the group one by one. Jason also kills Mike, but he spares Whitney and decides to kidnap her because she resembles his mother at a young age.
Six weeks later, Trent (Travis Van Winkle
), along with his girlfriend Jenna (Danielle Panabaker
) and their friends Chelsea (Willa Ford
), Bree (Julianna Guill
), Chewie (Aaron Yoo
), Nolan (Ryan Hansen
), and Lawrence (Arlen Escarpeta
) arrive at Trent's summer cabin on the shore of Crystal Lake. The group is unaware of the events that occurred a few weeks prior. Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki
) arrives in town to search Crystal Lake for his sister Whitney, whom he believes to be alive. Clay eventually makes his way to Trent's cabin, where Jenna agrees to help him look for his sister on the other side of the lake. As Clay and Jenna search for clues, Jason kills Chelsea and Nolan, who are wakeboarding
on the lake. Clay and Jenna reach the old Crystal Lake campgrounds, where they witness Jason hauling a dead body into one of the abandoned camp houses.
The pair run back to warn the others about Jason, who soon arrives and cuts the power to the cabin. After killing Chewie and Lawrence, who ventured outside the house, Jason sneaks inside the cabin and kills Bree. Trent, Clay, and Jenna escape the house, but Trent is killed when he reaches the main road. Jason then chases Clay and Jenna back to the campgrounds, where Clay discovers Jason's lair and finds his sister chained to the wall. Clay frees Whitney, and all three attempt to escape as Jason arrives. The trio find an exit, but Jenna is killed before she can get out. Jason comes after Clay and Whitney, but Whitney, by pretending to be Mrs. Voorhees, uses Jason's love and memory of his mother to distract him long enough to stab him in the chest with his own machete. Afterward, Clay dumps Jason's lifeless body into the lake. Before he and Whitney can leave, Jason bursts through the wooden dock and grabs Whitney.
's Toby Emmerich
approached Platinum Dunes
producers Michael Bay
, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form about restarting Friday the 13th in the same fashion that they had done with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. They agreed, and spent over a year securing the film rights from all the involved parties: Paramount Pictures
, New Line, and Crystal Lake Entertainment. Crystal Lake Entertainment is run by Friday the 13th creator Sean S. Cunningham
. Paramount executives approached the Platinum Dunes producers and gave them license to use anything from the original films, including the title; Paramount was given the rights to distribute the film internationally. Fuller and Form said they did not want to create Friday the 13th Part 11 or 12, but wanted to put their own spin on the mythology. The pair acknowledge that there were elements from the first four films that they liked and were going to use in the 2009 film, like how a particular character is killed or story points that they appreciated and wanted to reuse, and once Paramount was on board they were able to do that. Fuller said, "I think there are moments we want to address, like how does the hockey mask happen. It’ll happen differently in our movie than in the third one. Where is Jason from, why do these killings happen, and what is Crystal Lake?" The producers initially expressed an interest in using Tommy Jarvis, a recurring character who first appeared in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
, but the idea was scrapped.
Though the producers decided that Friday the 13th would not be an origin story, they said that they wanted to work out a logical origin story for Jason that would provide a sense of history as the film progressed. Form and Fuller explained that the audience gets to see how Jason attains his famous hockey mask, and is given a reason for why he puts it on. Jason would transition from wearing a bag over his head—similar to the one seen in Friday the 13th Part 2
—to finding and wearing his hockey mask, whereas in Friday the 13th Part III he obtains the mask off-screen and comes out of a barn already wearing it.
Unlike The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (2003) and the The Amityville Horror
remake (2005), both of which were produced by Bay, Form, and Fuller, it was decided that Friday the 13th would not be a period piece. As Form and Fuller explained it, the film was not a remake in the strictest sense, so there was no reason why they could not tell the story in modern times. In October 2007 Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, the writers of Freddy vs. Jason
, were hired to write the script for Friday the 13th. Jonathan Liebesman
was in negotiations to direct the film, but because of scheduling conflicts Fuller and Form went with their second choice, Marcus Nispel
. Nispel was apprehensive about taking the job, primarily because he would be taking over another film franchise, but Fuller eventually convinced him. Principal photography
began on April 21, 2008, in Austin
, Texas
, and wrapped on June 13, 2008.
was hired to portray Jason Voorhees at the recommendation of special makeup effects supervisor Scott Stoddard. Before the producers contacted him, Mears had already heard about the production of a new Friday the 13th and decided to start physical training so that he could pursue the role on his own, unaware that Stoddard and other industry professionals were suggesting him to the producers. Mears's pleasant demeanor had the studio worried about his ability to portray such a menacing character on screen, but Mears assured them that he was up to the role. Mears has stated he always related to "Jason the victim" when he was growing up as a child, and that was how he wanted to portray Jason in the film. To Mears, Jason represents all those individuals that were picked on in high school for being outcasts, specifically those with physical deformities. Jason is unusual in that he exacts his revenge on those trying to take over his territory at Crystal Lake.
When Mears went in to audition for the role he was asked, "Why do we need an actor as opposed to just a guy in a mask?" Mears explained to them that portraying Jason is similar to Greek Mask Work, where the mask and the actor are two separate entities, and, depending on the scene, there will be various combinations of mask and actor in the performance. Mears feels that if an actor is thinking something, then the energy from those thoughts will transfer to what the camera picks up. Mears compares his experience behind the camera to a NASCAR
race: he is the driver and the effects team is his pit crew
. As he performs, the effects team provides subtle suggestions for ways that he can give the character more life on camera.
Amanda Righetti had not read the script when she was offered the role of Whitney Miller. Wanting to be a part of the Friday the 13th franchise from the start, Righetti said that she was completely sold on acting in the film after she did read the script. Jared Padalecki describes Clay Miller as a real hero because he sets out "to do the right thing" the moment his sister goes missing, and goes about it as the "lone wolf" who wants to take on this responsibility by himself. Adjustments had to be made to the filming schedule to accommodate Aaron Yoo, who portrays Chewie. Yoo had his appendix removed
shortly before filming began, and could not film his scenes right away. As soon as he was ready for filming, Nispel immediately hung him upside down in some rafters, exposing the staples over his surgical wound, for the character's post-death shot.
Fuller and Form admit that the casting process was more difficult for Friday the 13th than it had been on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as Friday the 13th had more young actors to contend with. The producers had thirteen young actors in Friday the 13th, whereas in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre they only had five. The pair had to continually recast parts to find the group that worked best together. This recasting process extended all the way to the start of film. Hostel Part IIs Richard Burgi
, who was cast as Sheriff Bracke, did not sign on until twelve hours before he had to start filming his scenes.
cliché where it's a bunch of kids trying to figure something out". The writers also wanted to step away from the self-referential slasher films—such as Scream
—and take the film back to a grittier, more 1980s feel that had been lost in recent films; they wanted to create a faster, looser Jason. The writing team decided to create a version of Jason "who was actually in the woods surviving off the land", and whose killings are presented as a way of defending "his turf" rather than simply randomly murdering whoever came along.
The writers did not want to spend a lot of time covering Jason's childhood experiences, as they felt it would take away from the mystery of the character. They attempted to craft scenes that would lend realism, like the audience coming across a deer carcass lying on the ground as they followed Jason through his underground tunnels. At a cost of $100,000 a carcass, Fuller informed the pair that they would have to do without that particular element. Because of budget constraints, certain character deaths and the ending of the film also had to be scaled down from what Shannon and Swift had originally envisioned.
The writers had originally written a scene where Willa Ford's character, Chelsea, is stranded out on the lake for hours after she spots Jason standing on the shore. Eventually, the girl would tire and drown, which Shannon and Swift felt was something they had not seen in this genre of movies. Ultimately, they decided to make the death quicker and more "visceral". A similar incident occurred with Danielle Panabaker's character Jenna. As Panabaker reveals, Jenna was scripted to survive longer than she did in the final version of the film; Jenna was supposed to make it out of Jason's lair and recite a "cute line" about a second "date" with Clay, before an elaborate fight sequence that ends in her death. The writers wanted to strike a balance between finding new and interesting ways to kill the characters while paying homage to popular death scenes that have appeared in previous installments of the series. To accomplish this, Shannon and Swift included the presence of a wheelchair in Jason's tunnels—the character of Mark (Tom McBride
) was a paraplegic who was killed by Jason in Friday the 13th Part 2—and the sweater that Mrs. Voorhees wore in the original Friday the 13th.
The pair also put their own spin on Jason's characteristics. Mears describes him as a combination of John Rambo
, Tarzan
, and the Abominable Snowman from Looney Tunes
. To Mears, Jason is similar to Rambo because the audience sees him setting the other characters up to fall into his traps. Like Rambo, he is more calculating because he feels that he has been wronged and he is fighting back; he is meant to be more sympathetic in this film. However, Fuller and Form said they learned from their experience with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
not to make Jason too sympathetic to the audience. One of the reasons they decided against an origin story was because they did not want to put focus on Jason being tormented as a child, as the producers felt that would "demystify" the character in an unhelpful manner. As Fuller explained, "We do not want him to be sympathetic. Jason is not a comedic character, he is not sympathetic. He's a killing machine. Plain and simple."
One of the first scenes Asylum was given was the death scene for America Olivo's character, Amanda. In the scene, Jason ties Amanda up in her sleeping bag and hangs her over the campfire. As the risk to the actress was too great, as well as the risk to the surrounding woodlands, Asylum had to create a composite of two different shots in order to show Amanda burning in her sleeping bag. Instead of creating a computer generated
(CGI) model of the campfire, a real campfire was filmed, and Asylum compositor John Stewart blended the that footage and shots of the hanging sleeping bag into a single image. Stewart altered the flames digitally in order to keep continuity between frames. Another composite shot was used when Ford's character is hit by a speedboat
. As it would be too dangerous for even a stuntperson to attempt, Asylum digitally combined footage of Willa Ford reacting as an imaginary boat runs over her with shots of the actual boat to create the effect.
Asylum also had the chance to enhance some of Jason's signature kills with his machete. In multiple instances, Asylum used a computer-generated machete to kill a character, as Nispel wanted to be able to keep the characters' deaths all in one shot, as opposed to cutting from the act of killing them to the aftermath of their death. In one case, Jason kills Ben Feldman's character, Richie, by slamming a machete into his head. Instead of using a real machete with a fake head, Nispel had Feldman pretend to be dead with Mears pulling a handle—with only a portion of the blade attached—away from Feldman's head. Then, Asylum went in and digitally created the rest of the machete blade to complete the effect. For this scene, Asylum adjusted the facial expressions of the actor to create a more "post mortem" look: the special effects team used the computer to digitally droop one half of the actor's face to give the impression that the nerves had been severed by Jason's machete.
Asylum digitally created entire weapons for use in various scenes. In the scene where Ryan Hansen's character Nolan is killed suddenly—he is shot in the head with an arrow by Jason—Asylum had to create the entire arrow in post-production. Another scene involved Jason hurling a hatchet at actor Arlen Escarpeta, as he is running away, striking him in the back. As the image of a hatchet flying through the air, and in one instance in the same frame as the actor, would be too difficult to achieve practically, Asylum rendered a complete 3D model
of the hatchet. Asylum then inserted the model into the frames leading up to where the digital image hits the character in the back. One of the final images added by Asylum was for the death of Travis Van Winkle's character, Trent. Here, Asylum was required to create a digital metal spike which bursts through Trent's chest as Jason slams him onto the back of a tow truck.
's work in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Stoddard's vision of Jason included hair loss, skin rashes, and the traditional deformities in his face, but Stoddard attempted to craft Jason's look in a way that would allow for a more human side of him to be seen. Mears was required to wear full body makeup from the chest up while performing as Jason. The actor wore a chest plate with fake skin that would adjust to his muscle movement; he wore a fake hump on his back to give the impression that Jason had scoliosis
. A prosthetic eye was glued to Mears's face to allow for more realistic movement. Stoddard initially spent three and a half hours applying all of the makeup to Mears's head and torso. He was eventually able to reduce the required time to just over an hour for scenes where Mears was wearing the hockey mask. When it came time for the scenes that involved Jason's face to be revealed, it took approximately four hours to apply all of the makeup.
For his wardrobe, Mears was given a pair of combat boots and a "high priced t-shirt" that allowed the special effects makeup to be seen through holes in the shirt. The jacket Jason wears in the film was created by combining a hunting jacket and a military jacket—Mears wanted the hunting jacket, but the creative team liked the way the military jacket billowed as he was making his "kill movements". The top of the hunting jacket was removed and placed over the top of the military jacket. Mears characterizes it as a "giant Frankenstein
jacket". He describes Jason as being leaner in this film, given the rationale that the character does not eat much. A "leaner" Jason was deemed more functional, and allowed more emphasis to be placed on the hump on his back. Stoddard took inspiration from the third and fourth films when designing Jason's hockey mask. Using an original mold that he was able to acquire, Stoddard crafted six new versions of the mask. As Stoddard explained, "Because I didn't want to take something that already existed, there were things I thought were great, but there were things I wanted to change a bit. Make it custom, but keep all the fundamental designs. Especially the markings on the forehead and cheeks. Age them down a bit, break them up."
for their 2009 film. Even though they secured the license for Manfredini's score, they did not plan on using it in its entirety. Instead, they brought on Steve Jablonsky
, who had worked with Form and Fuller on previous films, to compose a score that was reminiscent of Manfredini's while creating the atmosphere that was wanted for the 2009 film. Nispel contacted Jablonsky to do the score for Friday the 13th after having worked with him on the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Nispel explained to Jablonsky that he wanted him to create something that Nispel could "whistle when [he] left the theater", but was subtle enough that it would not immediately register while watching the film. As Nispel explained further, "I don't believe that, when you watch a Friday the 13th film, you want to feel like John Williams
is sitting next to you with the London Symphony Orchestra
."
. It was released in nearly three times as many theaters as the original 1980 film, and edged out Freddy vs. Jason
by 91 theaters. Friday the 13th also saw release in 2,100 theaters throughout 28 foreign markets. The film was released on DVD
, Blu-ray, and Apple TV on June 16, 2009. The DVD and Blu-ray releases contain both a theatrical release and an extended cut of the film.
(1989), Jason Goes to Hell
(1993), and Jason X
(2002), which earned $14,343,976, $15,935,068, and $13,121,555, respectively. From February 14–16, the film took in an additional $24,292,003, to round out its 4-day President's Day
weekend with $43,585,449. By the end of its 3-day opening weekend it was already the second highest grossing Friday film in the series with $40,570,365, and just barely beat out The Grudge
(2004) for the best 3-day weekend opening for any horror film. When comparing the 2009 film's opening weekend to that of its 1980 counterpart, in adjusted 2009 US dollars, the original Friday the 13th only brought in $17,251,975. Although the 2009 film made more money, when factoring in the number of theaters each film was released in, the 1980 film earned more per theater with $15,683, compared to the 2009 film's $13,066.
Friday the 13th saw a significant drop in attendance in its second weekend. On its second Friday, the film took in only $2,802,977, which was an 85.5% decrease from opening Friday. By the end of its second weekend, the film brought in $7,942,472, an 80.4% overall decrease from the previous weekend. As a result, the film went from first place to sixth place in the weekend box office. By its third weekend, Friday the 13th had dropped out of the top ten, earning $3,689,156, which was a 53.6% decrease from its second weekend. By the end of its box office run, Friday the 13th earned an estimated $65 million at the United States box office, but failed to regain a top ten spot after its third weekend.
The 2009 film sits in fifth place for all-time President's Day weekends with $45,033,454. It is eighth in highest-grossing weekends in the month of February, as well as eighth in highest-grossing weekends for the winter season, which is defined by the first day after the New Year weekend through the first Thursday of the month of March. Friday the 13th finished as the fourth-highest grossing film of the month of February, with $59.8 million, just behind Taken
with $84.3 million, He's Just Not That into You
with $77.2 million, and Madea Goes to Jail
, with $60.9 million.
It is the fifteenth-highest grossing R-rated film of 2009. Because of the significant decrease in box office gross in its second weekend, the film sits in sixth place for the largest second-weekend drop; it is the seventh-largest drop for a film that opened as the number one film in the United States. With its $65 million in domestic box office, Friday the 13th is the highest-grossing film among the recent slasher
remakes, which consist of When a Stranger Calls
(2006), Halloween
(2007), Prom Night
(2008), and My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009). The film is ranked seventh overall when compared to all horror remakes, as well as seventh place for all slasher films in general, in unadjusted dollars.
In addition to its North American box office gross, Friday the 13th earned over $9.5 million in foreign markets on its opening weekend. The film's biggest markets were the United Kingdom
, Russia
, Italy
, Spain
, and Germany
. Friday the 13th took in approximately $1.7 million in both the United Kingdom and Russia, an estimated $1.1 million in Spain, and $1 million in Italy and Germany. According to Paramount, this was the largest foreign opening of any of the Friday the 13th films. The film finished its North American box office run with $65,002,019; coupled with its foreign take of $26,377,032, the film has accumulated $91,379,051 in worldwide box office.
, Friday the 13th has a 26% overall approval rating from critics, with an average
score of 4.2 out of 10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an approval rating of 19%. Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 34, based on 29 reviews. CinemaScore
polls reported that the average grade cinemagoers gave the film a "B-minus" on an A+ to F scale, with exit polls showing that 51% of the audience was male, and 59% was at least 25 years old or older.
Alonso Duralde
wrote that the film should please slasher fans, but concluded that it added nothing new to the genre or the franchise, and thus will not appeal to people who already did not like slasher films. Duralde went on to chide the film for adding a black and an Asian character in an attempt to "update the movie for the new millennium", but noted in the end that the prospect of another Friday the 13th—crafted by the film's "sequel-friendly" ending—did not leave him with a feeling of dread. Along the same lines, Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic
stated that the film accepts the "ridiculousness" of what it is trying to accomplish, which is primarily the "death and dismemberment" of "party-hungry kids", and that audiences would enjoy it if they recognized that as well. Although Goodykoontz acknowledges the unique touches the film brings to certain characters' deaths, he was unimpressed with the acting and noted that Padalecki's presence gave the film a "less-good episode of Supernatural
" vibe.
The Washington Post
s Dan Zak wrote that the film fails to provide the laughs, scares, suspense, or gore. Zak also suggested that the film failed to provide the quintessential nudity that is expected of horror films that cannot deliver on the previously listed criteria. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times
felt that Nispel managed to capture the despair that he created with his Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, but agreed that the film failed to provide the "giddiness", "teenage lust", and "rambunctiousness" that made the previous Friday the 13th films work. Wesley Morris
believed Friday the 13th did have humor. He noted that the characters continually act the clichéd role of would-be-victim, which made it hard to fear for their safety. In his opinion, the 2009 film lacked the "psycho-social" aspect—a mother killing out of revenge for her son's death—crafted by its 1980 predecessor, and ultimately the film is "more hilarious than terrifying".
The New York Post
's Kyle Smith
felt that Nispel made no attempt to create a movie beyond blood and guts, and even those attempts were "forgettable". Smith noted that, apart from Clay and Trent, the rest of the cast were merely "faces in the crowd" with no attempt provided to give them any sort of backstory. USA Today
s Claudia Puig wrote that the 2009 entry keeps to the same formula as its predecessors, with a story that adds little to nothing to the franchise. However, Puig noted that Padalecki and Panabaker filled their lead roles well enough, and that Aaron Yoo's comic relief made him one of the most likable characters on screen.
In contrast to the film's detractors, The New York Times
's Nathan Lee believed that the film managed to "reboot the concept" of the original films, and do so with style. Lee stated that the film takes pleasure in killing off each of its characters. Lee pointed out that there is a desire among cinemagoers for this type of material, and Friday the 13th satisfies that desire. Adam Graham, from The Detroit News
, remarked that the 2009 film is the most effective and scary film in the Friday the 13th series, praising the film's choice of allowing Jason to run after his victims—as opposed to slowly walking behind them, as had become prominent in later sequels—as it made him more "menacing". Graham further pointed out that the film does not "soften" Jason's scariness by providing a sympathetic backstory. Entertainment Weekly
s Clark Collis believed that director Nispel made a competent film that performs better as a whole than the previously released remakes of Prom Night (2008) and My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009), although it does provide a few too many unbelievable character moments.
Jason Anderson of the Toronto Star
felt that the film succeeded in adding freshness to the standard formula of the previous films by focusing on the chasing and killing aspects, instead of lingering on the prolonged suffering of victims like the Saw
films. Concurring with Puig's evaluation, IGN
's Chris Carle felt that Aaron Yoo stole the film with his comic timing and with what Carle saw as his "memorable death". Commenting on Derek Mears' portrayal of Jason, Carle noted that he brings more to the character than being simply a stuntman; Mears's subtle movements, athleticism, and physicality created an "imposing" image of Jason.
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
directed by Marcus Nispel
Marcus Nispel
Marcus Nispel is a German–American feature film director and producer, and formerly a director of television commercials and music videos. Many of his films have been remakes, all of which have met with a negative critical reception....
and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series, which began in 1980 and the twelfth Friday the 13th film in total. Nispel also directed the 2003 remake
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 2003 remake of the 1974 horror film of the same name. The 2003 film was directed by Marcus Nispel and produced by Michael Bay...
of Tobe Hooper
Tobe Hooper
Tobe Hooper is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in the horror film genre. His works include the cult classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , along with its first sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 ; the three-time Emmy-nominated Stephen King film adaptation...
's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, who cowrote it with Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen, who respectively portray Sally Hardesty, Franklin Hardesty, the...
(1974), while Shannon and Swift wrote the screenplay for the 2003 crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu. The film is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises...
. Friday the 13th follows Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki
Jared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax...
) as he searches for his missing sister, Whitney (Amanda Righetti
Amanda Righetti
Amanda Righetti is an American actress and film producer. She is best known for her roles in The Mentalist, Friday the 13th and The O.C. In 2008, Righetti was the winner of the Best Actress award at the New York International Independent Film Video Festival for the Short Film category.-Early...
), who while camping in the woods at Crystal Lake is taken by Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...
(Derek Mears
Derek Mears
Derek Mears is an American actor and stuntman, best known for his role as Jason Voorhees in the reboot of Friday the 13th.-Early life:...
).
The concept for the 2009 film originally started as an origin story, but the film evolved into a reimagining of the first four Friday the 13th films. Along with bringing the film back to its tonal roots, Jason was designed as a leaner and faster killer, with a backstory that could provide a little sympathy for the character, but not enough that he would lose his menace. Although this film reboots the continuity, Jason's iconic hockey mask, which was not introduced until the third film in the series, is acquired through the progression of the film. In keeping with the tone of the film, Jason's mask was also brought back to its roots, created from a mold of the original mask used for Part III; though there were subtle changes. Friday the 13th incorporated some of Harry Manfredini
Harry Manfredini
Harry Manfredini is an American film composer and jazz-soloist, who has scored more than one hundred films, most notably perhaps being the Friday the 13th film series. He has had years of classical training, as well as twenty years in the popular music scene...
's music score from the original Friday the 13th film series, as the producers recognized its iconic status.
The film was released on Friday, February 13, 2009, to the most theaters of any of the Friday the 13th films. Although the film was met with primarily negative reviews, it earned approximately $19 million on its opening night and $40 million for its opening weekend. With its opening weekend, Friday the 13th broke two records, having the largest opening day for the film series and the largest opening weekend for any horror film. It is currently the second-highest grossing film in the Friday the 13th franchise with $65 million, and has earned over $91.3 million worldwide.
Plot
On June 13, 1980, a young Jason VoorheesJason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...
(Caleb Guss) witnesses his mother
Pamela Voorhees
Pamela Sue Voorhees is a fictional character in the Friday the 13th films, and the antagonist of the original Friday the 13th film. She is a former camp cook and the mother of Jason Voorhees, the main character of the series....
(Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor , born Nana Tucker, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.-Early life:...
) being beheaded by a camp counselor (Stephanie Rhodes), who was trying to escape Mrs. Voorhees's murderous rampage around Camp Crystal Lake. Approximately 30 years later, a group of vacationing friends—Wade (Jonathan Sadowski
Jonathan Sadowski
Jonathan Sadowski is an American actor. He is best known for playing Viola Hasting's best friend Paul Antonio in the movie She's The Man, Trey in Live Free or Die Hard, and Blake in the 2009 film The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. In July 2010, he joined the cast of the CBS comedy $#*! My Dad...
), Richie (Ben Feldman
Ben Feldman (actor)
Ben Feldman is an American television and film actor. He has done stage acting, including the Broadway play The Graduate along with Alicia Silverstone and Kathleen Turner. He also played a leading character in The Perfect Man and portrayed Fran Drescher's son on the television series Living with...
), Mike (Nick Mennell
Nick Mennell
Nick Mennell is an American actor known for his roles in horror/slasher films like Halloween , and Friday The 13th .-Life and career:Mennell graduated from Juilliard School in 2005....
), Whitney (Amanda Righetti
Amanda Righetti
Amanda Righetti is an American actress and film producer. She is best known for her roles in The Mentalist, Friday the 13th and The O.C. In 2008, Righetti was the winner of the Best Actress award at the New York International Independent Film Video Festival for the Short Film category.-Early...
) and Amanda (America Olivo
America Olivo
America Olivo is an actress and singer most notable for her membership in the Spanish- & English-language band Soluna. Born in Los Angeles, she has multiple citizenships: US, Canadian, and Italian. Born to father Nello Olivo and mother Danica d'Hondt...
)—arrive at Crystal Lake on a camping trip to find some marijuana that was planted in the woods. As Mike and Whitney explore the abandoned Crystal Lake camp, an adult Jason (Derek Mears
Derek Mears
Derek Mears is an American actor and stuntman, best known for his role as Jason Voorhees in the reboot of Friday the 13th.-Early life:...
) begins to kill the rest of the group one by one. Jason also kills Mike, but he spares Whitney and decides to kidnap her because she resembles his mother at a young age.
Six weeks later, Trent (Travis Van Winkle
Travis Van Winkle
-Early life:Travis was born on November 4, 1982, in Victorville, California, the middle of three children of Sally and Charles Van Winkle. He remained in Victorville until he was two years old, and then moved to Oscoda, Michigan...
), along with his girlfriend Jenna (Danielle Panabaker
Danielle Panabaker
Danielle Nicole Panabaker is an American actress. She was a cast member in the CBS drama Shark, and appeared in the films Mr. Brooks, Sky High, The Crazies and Friday the 13th, among other projects...
) and their friends Chelsea (Willa Ford
Willa Ford
Amanda Lee Modano , known professionally as Willa Ford and often as Mandy Modano, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model, television personality and film actress. She released her debut album, Willa Was Here, in 2001...
), Bree (Julianna Guill
Julianna Guill
Julianna Guill is an American actress. She best known for role as Bree in Friday the 13th and Scarlet Haukkson in the webisode series My Alibi. She also co-starred in the TBS series Glory Daze as Christie.-Early life:...
), Chewie (Aaron Yoo
Aaron Yoo
-Personal life:Aaron Yoo was born in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey to Korean parents. He has an older sister. He played the cello for the East Brunswick High School orchestra and ran track...
), Nolan (Ryan Hansen
Ryan Hansen
Ryan Hansen is an American actor, best known for having portrayed Dick Casablancas on Veronica Mars and Nolan in Friday the 13th...
), and Lawrence (Arlen Escarpeta
Arlen Escarpeta
Arlen Alexander Escarpeta is a Belizean actor. He is best known for his roles as Lawrence in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th and as Mike in the 2010 drama Brotherhood...
) arrive at Trent's summer cabin on the shore of Crystal Lake. The group is unaware of the events that occurred a few weeks prior. Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki
Jared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax...
) arrives in town to search Crystal Lake for his sister Whitney, whom he believes to be alive. Clay eventually makes his way to Trent's cabin, where Jenna agrees to help him look for his sister on the other side of the lake. As Clay and Jenna search for clues, Jason kills Chelsea and Nolan, who are wakeboarding
Wakeboarding
Wakeboarding is a surface water sport which involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water. It was developed from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques....
on the lake. Clay and Jenna reach the old Crystal Lake campgrounds, where they witness Jason hauling a dead body into one of the abandoned camp houses.
The pair run back to warn the others about Jason, who soon arrives and cuts the power to the cabin. After killing Chewie and Lawrence, who ventured outside the house, Jason sneaks inside the cabin and kills Bree. Trent, Clay, and Jenna escape the house, but Trent is killed when he reaches the main road. Jason then chases Clay and Jenna back to the campgrounds, where Clay discovers Jason's lair and finds his sister chained to the wall. Clay frees Whitney, and all three attempt to escape as Jason arrives. The trio find an exit, but Jenna is killed before she can get out. Jason comes after Clay and Whitney, but Whitney, by pretending to be Mrs. Voorhees, uses Jason's love and memory of his mother to distract him long enough to stab him in the chest with his own machete. Afterward, Clay dumps Jason's lifeless body into the lake. Before he and Whitney can leave, Jason bursts through the wooden dock and grabs Whitney.
Development
New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
's Toby Emmerich
Toby Emmerich
Toby Emmerich is an American producer, film executive, and screenwriter. He was born in New York City, the son of Constance , a concert pianist, and André Emmerich , a Frankfurt-born gallery owner and art dealer...
approached Platinum Dunes
Platinum Dunes
Platinum Dunes is a production company created in 2001 by filmmakers Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form. The company specializes in horror films, particularly remakes.Their website is part of Bloody Disgusting's site....
producers Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form about restarting Friday the 13th in the same fashion that they had done with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. They agreed, and spent over a year securing the film rights from all the involved parties: Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, New Line, and Crystal Lake Entertainment. Crystal Lake Entertainment is run by Friday the 13th creator Sean S. Cunningham
Sean S. Cunningham
Sean Sexton Cunningham is an American film director, producer, and writer. He is best known for creating the Friday the 13th series of horror films, which introduced the fictional killer Jason Voorhees...
. Paramount executives approached the Platinum Dunes producers and gave them license to use anything from the original films, including the title; Paramount was given the rights to distribute the film internationally. Fuller and Form said they did not want to create Friday the 13th Part 11 or 12, but wanted to put their own spin on the mythology. The pair acknowledge that there were elements from the first four films that they liked and were going to use in the 2009 film, like how a particular character is killed or story points that they appreciated and wanted to reuse, and once Paramount was on board they were able to do that. Fuller said, "I think there are moments we want to address, like how does the hockey mask happen. It’ll happen differently in our movie than in the third one. Where is Jason from, why do these killings happen, and what is Crystal Lake?" The producers initially expressed an interest in using Tommy Jarvis, a recurring character who first appeared in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is a 1984 slasher film. It is the fourth film in the Friday the 13th film series. Though it was billed as "The Final Chapter," there have been many further sequels in the franchise. The popularity and financial success of the film, which grossed over $32 million,...
, but the idea was scrapped.
Though the producers decided that Friday the 13th would not be an origin story, they said that they wanted to work out a logical origin story for Jason that would provide a sense of history as the film progressed. Form and Fuller explained that the audience gets to see how Jason attains his famous hockey mask, and is given a reason for why he puts it on. Jason would transition from wearing a bag over his head—similar to the one seen in Friday the 13th Part 2
Friday the 13th Part 2
Friday the 13th Part II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Steve Miner, who also directed its sequel, Friday the 13th Part III and several other popular horror films. A sequel to Friday the 13th , it is the second film in the Friday the 13th film series. It was a moderate box-office hit, opening on...
—to finding and wearing his hockey mask, whereas in Friday the 13th Part III he obtains the mask off-screen and comes out of a barn already wearing it.
Unlike The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (2003) and the The Amityville Horror
The Amityville Horror (2005 film)
The Amityville Horror is a 2005 horror film directed by Andrew Douglas. It is a remake of the 1979 film of the same name which itself was based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Jay Anson, which documents the alleged experiences of the Lutz family after they moved into a house in Long Island...
remake (2005), both of which were produced by Bay, Form, and Fuller, it was decided that Friday the 13th would not be a period piece. As Form and Fuller explained it, the film was not a remake in the strictest sense, so there was no reason why they could not tell the story in modern times. In October 2007 Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, the writers of Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu. The film is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises...
, were hired to write the script for Friday the 13th. Jonathan Liebesman
Jonathan Liebesman
Jonathan Liebesman is a South African film director.-Personal life:Liebesman was born in Johannesburg, South Africa...
was in negotiations to direct the film, but because of scheduling conflicts Fuller and Form went with their second choice, Marcus Nispel
Marcus Nispel
Marcus Nispel is a German–American feature film director and producer, and formerly a director of television commercials and music videos. Many of his films have been remakes, all of which have met with a negative critical reception....
. Nispel was apprehensive about taking the job, primarily because he would be taking over another film franchise, but Fuller eventually convinced him. Principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began on April 21, 2008, in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and wrapped on June 13, 2008.
Casting
Stuntman Derek MearsDerek Mears
Derek Mears is an American actor and stuntman, best known for his role as Jason Voorhees in the reboot of Friday the 13th.-Early life:...
was hired to portray Jason Voorhees at the recommendation of special makeup effects supervisor Scott Stoddard. Before the producers contacted him, Mears had already heard about the production of a new Friday the 13th and decided to start physical training so that he could pursue the role on his own, unaware that Stoddard and other industry professionals were suggesting him to the producers. Mears's pleasant demeanor had the studio worried about his ability to portray such a menacing character on screen, but Mears assured them that he was up to the role. Mears has stated he always related to "Jason the victim" when he was growing up as a child, and that was how he wanted to portray Jason in the film. To Mears, Jason represents all those individuals that were picked on in high school for being outcasts, specifically those with physical deformities. Jason is unusual in that he exacts his revenge on those trying to take over his territory at Crystal Lake.
| "They were like, 'You're really nice...are you going to be able to switch over, right?' I was like, 'I cage fight and I've got a lot of dad issues. So yeah.'" |
| — Derek Mears's response when questioned about being able to portray Jason. |
When Mears went in to audition for the role he was asked, "Why do we need an actor as opposed to just a guy in a mask?" Mears explained to them that portraying Jason is similar to Greek Mask Work, where the mask and the actor are two separate entities, and, depending on the scene, there will be various combinations of mask and actor in the performance. Mears feels that if an actor is thinking something, then the energy from those thoughts will transfer to what the camera picks up. Mears compares his experience behind the camera to a NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
race: he is the driver and the effects team is his pit crew
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...
. As he performs, the effects team provides subtle suggestions for ways that he can give the character more life on camera.
Amanda Righetti had not read the script when she was offered the role of Whitney Miller. Wanting to be a part of the Friday the 13th franchise from the start, Righetti said that she was completely sold on acting in the film after she did read the script. Jared Padalecki describes Clay Miller as a real hero because he sets out "to do the right thing" the moment his sister goes missing, and goes about it as the "lone wolf" who wants to take on this responsibility by himself. Adjustments had to be made to the filming schedule to accommodate Aaron Yoo, who portrays Chewie. Yoo had his appendix removed
Appendicectomy
An appendectomy is the surgical removal of the vermiform appendix. This procedure is normally performed as an emergency procedure, when the patient is suffering from acute appendicitis...
shortly before filming began, and could not film his scenes right away. As soon as he was ready for filming, Nispel immediately hung him upside down in some rafters, exposing the staples over his surgical wound, for the character's post-death shot.
Fuller and Form admit that the casting process was more difficult for Friday the 13th than it had been on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as Friday the 13th had more young actors to contend with. The producers had thirteen young actors in Friday the 13th, whereas in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre they only had five. The pair had to continually recast parts to find the group that worked best together. This recasting process extended all the way to the start of film. Hostel Part IIs Richard Burgi
Richard Burgi
Richard William Burgi is an American film and television actor. He's best known for the roles of Det. Jim Ellinson on The Sentinel and as Karl Mayer on Desperate Housewives.-Personal life:...
, who was cast as Sheriff Bracke, did not sign on until twelve hours before he had to start filming his scenes.
Writing
When Shannon and Swift sat down to write the script for Friday the 13th, they decided to institute a few new rules for themselves based on lessons learned when they wrote Freddy vs. Jason. They wanted their teens to "sound normal". Shannon and Swift said they did not want the characters to even know Jason's name, or become what they saw as "the Scooby-DooScooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...
cliché where it's a bunch of kids trying to figure something out". The writers also wanted to step away from the self-referential slasher films—such as Scream
Scream (film series)
Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures...
—and take the film back to a grittier, more 1980s feel that had been lost in recent films; they wanted to create a faster, looser Jason. The writing team decided to create a version of Jason "who was actually in the woods surviving off the land", and whose killings are presented as a way of defending "his turf" rather than simply randomly murdering whoever came along.
| "We felt it was important to go back to the basics and put Jason back in the woods again." |
| — Mark Swift on conceptualizing a new Friday the 13th film. |
The writers did not want to spend a lot of time covering Jason's childhood experiences, as they felt it would take away from the mystery of the character. They attempted to craft scenes that would lend realism, like the audience coming across a deer carcass lying on the ground as they followed Jason through his underground tunnels. At a cost of $100,000 a carcass, Fuller informed the pair that they would have to do without that particular element. Because of budget constraints, certain character deaths and the ending of the film also had to be scaled down from what Shannon and Swift had originally envisioned.
The writers had originally written a scene where Willa Ford's character, Chelsea, is stranded out on the lake for hours after she spots Jason standing on the shore. Eventually, the girl would tire and drown, which Shannon and Swift felt was something they had not seen in this genre of movies. Ultimately, they decided to make the death quicker and more "visceral". A similar incident occurred with Danielle Panabaker's character Jenna. As Panabaker reveals, Jenna was scripted to survive longer than she did in the final version of the film; Jenna was supposed to make it out of Jason's lair and recite a "cute line" about a second "date" with Clay, before an elaborate fight sequence that ends in her death. The writers wanted to strike a balance between finding new and interesting ways to kill the characters while paying homage to popular death scenes that have appeared in previous installments of the series. To accomplish this, Shannon and Swift included the presence of a wheelchair in Jason's tunnels—the character of Mark (Tom McBride
Tom McBride
Tom McBride was an American photographer, model, and actor. He starred in the 1981 horror movie Friday the 13th Part 2 as Mark. He also starred in the 1985 movie Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. His only TV guest appearance was on the TV series Highway to Heaven...
) was a paraplegic who was killed by Jason in Friday the 13th Part 2—and the sweater that Mrs. Voorhees wore in the original Friday the 13th.
The pair also put their own spin on Jason's characteristics. Mears describes him as a combination of John Rambo
John Rambo
John Rambo is an iconic fictional character and the basis of the Rambo saga. He first appeared in the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell, but later became more famous in the film series, played by Sylvester Stallone...
, Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
, and the Abominable Snowman from Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
. To Mears, Jason is similar to Rambo because the audience sees him setting the other characters up to fall into his traps. Like Rambo, he is more calculating because he feels that he has been wronged and he is fighting back; he is meant to be more sympathetic in this film. However, Fuller and Form said they learned from their experience with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, a 2006 American slasher film, functions as a prequel to the 2003 remake of the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman and co-produced by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper , the film went into release in North America on October 6,...
not to make Jason too sympathetic to the audience. One of the reasons they decided against an origin story was because they did not want to put focus on Jason being tormented as a child, as the producers felt that would "demystify" the character in an unhelpful manner. As Fuller explained, "We do not want him to be sympathetic. Jason is not a comedic character, he is not sympathetic. He's a killing machine. Plain and simple."
Visual effects
Asylum Visual Effects was given the task of creating the digital effects for Friday the 13th. Although director Marcus Nispel is a proponent of practical effects, there were instances where Asylum had to digitally create various shots, in some instances to protect the safety of the actors, and sometimes to allow the director to achieve a specific look. Visual effects supervisor Mitchell Drain assigned ten crew members to work on the visual effects for the film, and the first thing they did was analyze the script in pre-production so they could get a sense of where digital effects would be needed. Ultimately, Asylum only worked on 25 shots for the film.One of the first scenes Asylum was given was the death scene for America Olivo's character, Amanda. In the scene, Jason ties Amanda up in her sleeping bag and hangs her over the campfire. As the risk to the actress was too great, as well as the risk to the surrounding woodlands, Asylum had to create a composite of two different shots in order to show Amanda burning in her sleeping bag. Instead of creating a computer generated
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
(CGI) model of the campfire, a real campfire was filmed, and Asylum compositor John Stewart blended the that footage and shots of the hanging sleeping bag into a single image. Stewart altered the flames digitally in order to keep continuity between frames. Another composite shot was used when Ford's character is hit by a speedboat
Powerboating
Power boating describes activities performed in a motorized boat. Generally, a power boat has a high power-to-weight ratio and a hull design that allows for easy planing, which allows for higher speed and improved handling. Also, the shape of the actual boat is usually very streamlined, which...
. As it would be too dangerous for even a stuntperson to attempt, Asylum digitally combined footage of Willa Ford reacting as an imaginary boat runs over her with shots of the actual boat to create the effect.
Asylum also had the chance to enhance some of Jason's signature kills with his machete. In multiple instances, Asylum used a computer-generated machete to kill a character, as Nispel wanted to be able to keep the characters' deaths all in one shot, as opposed to cutting from the act of killing them to the aftermath of their death. In one case, Jason kills Ben Feldman's character, Richie, by slamming a machete into his head. Instead of using a real machete with a fake head, Nispel had Feldman pretend to be dead with Mears pulling a handle—with only a portion of the blade attached—away from Feldman's head. Then, Asylum went in and digitally created the rest of the machete blade to complete the effect. For this scene, Asylum adjusted the facial expressions of the actor to create a more "post mortem" look: the special effects team used the computer to digitally droop one half of the actor's face to give the impression that the nerves had been severed by Jason's machete.
Asylum digitally created entire weapons for use in various scenes. In the scene where Ryan Hansen's character Nolan is killed suddenly—he is shot in the head with an arrow by Jason—Asylum had to create the entire arrow in post-production. Another scene involved Jason hurling a hatchet at actor Arlen Escarpeta, as he is running away, striking him in the back. As the image of a hatchet flying through the air, and in one instance in the same frame as the actor, would be too difficult to achieve practically, Asylum rendered a complete 3D model
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
of the hatchet. Asylum then inserted the model into the frames leading up to where the digital image hits the character in the back. One of the final images added by Asylum was for the death of Travis Van Winkle's character, Trent. Here, Asylum was required to create a digital metal spike which bursts through Trent's chest as Jason slams him onto the back of a tow truck.
Creating Jason
Effects artist Scott Stoddard described his particular look for Jason's face as a combination of Carl Fullerton's design in Friday the 13th Part 2 and Tom SaviniTom Savini
Thomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990...
's work in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Stoddard's vision of Jason included hair loss, skin rashes, and the traditional deformities in his face, but Stoddard attempted to craft Jason's look in a way that would allow for a more human side of him to be seen. Mears was required to wear full body makeup from the chest up while performing as Jason. The actor wore a chest plate with fake skin that would adjust to his muscle movement; he wore a fake hump on his back to give the impression that Jason had scoliosis
Scoliosis
Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...
. A prosthetic eye was glued to Mears's face to allow for more realistic movement. Stoddard initially spent three and a half hours applying all of the makeup to Mears's head and torso. He was eventually able to reduce the required time to just over an hour for scenes where Mears was wearing the hockey mask. When it came time for the scenes that involved Jason's face to be revealed, it took approximately four hours to apply all of the makeup.
For his wardrobe, Mears was given a pair of combat boots and a "high priced t-shirt" that allowed the special effects makeup to be seen through holes in the shirt. The jacket Jason wears in the film was created by combining a hunting jacket and a military jacket—Mears wanted the hunting jacket, but the creative team liked the way the military jacket billowed as he was making his "kill movements". The top of the hunting jacket was removed and placed over the top of the military jacket. Mears characterizes it as a "giant Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
jacket". He describes Jason as being leaner in this film, given the rationale that the character does not eat much. A "leaner" Jason was deemed more functional, and allowed more emphasis to be placed on the hump on his back. Stoddard took inspiration from the third and fourth films when designing Jason's hockey mask. Using an original mold that he was able to acquire, Stoddard crafted six new versions of the mask. As Stoddard explained, "Because I didn't want to take something that already existed, there were things I thought were great, but there were things I wanted to change a bit. Make it custom, but keep all the fundamental designs. Especially the markings on the forehead and cheeks. Age them down a bit, break them up."
Music
In addition to taking story elements from the first four Friday the 13th films, Form and Fuller recognized the iconic status of the music, which had been part of every film since the first one was released in 1980. The pair immediately had the studio attain the licensing rights to the music originally composed and performed by Harry ManfrediniHarry Manfredini
Harry Manfredini is an American film composer and jazz-soloist, who has scored more than one hundred films, most notably perhaps being the Friday the 13th film series. He has had years of classical training, as well as twenty years in the popular music scene...
for their 2009 film. Even though they secured the license for Manfredini's score, they did not plan on using it in its entirety. Instead, they brought on Steve Jablonsky
Steve Jablonsky
Steven Jablonsky is an American music composer for film, television and video games. He has been the music director for all the Michael Bay movies produced and directed since The Island...
, who had worked with Form and Fuller on previous films, to compose a score that was reminiscent of Manfredini's while creating the atmosphere that was wanted for the 2009 film. Nispel contacted Jablonsky to do the score for Friday the 13th after having worked with him on the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Nispel explained to Jablonsky that he wanted him to create something that Nispel could "whistle when [he] left the theater", but was subtle enough that it would not immediately register while watching the film. As Nispel explained further, "I don't believe that, when you watch a Friday the 13th film, you want to feel like John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
is sitting next to you with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
."
Release
On Friday, February 13, 2009, Friday the 13th was released in 3,105 theaters in North America. The 2009 film was given the widest release of any Friday the 13th film, including the crossover film with A Nightmare on Elm StreetA Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)
A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American horror franchise that consists of nine slasher films, a television show, novels, and comic books. The franchise began with the film series created by Wes Craven. The franchise is based on the fictional character Freddy Krueger, introduced in A Nightmare on...
. It was released in nearly three times as many theaters as the original 1980 film, and edged out Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu. The film is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises...
by 91 theaters. Friday the 13th also saw release in 2,100 theaters throughout 28 foreign markets. The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, Blu-ray, and Apple TV on June 16, 2009. The DVD and Blu-ray releases contain both a theatrical release and an extended cut of the film.
Box office
On its opening day, Friday the 13th grossed $19,293,446, and immediately surpassed the total individual box office grosses for Jason Takes ManhattanFriday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan is a slasher film released on July 28, 1989. It is the eighth film in the Friday the 13th film series, and deals with Jason Voorhees stalking a group of high school graduates on a ship en route to New York City, and was the last film in the series...
(1989), Jason Goes to Hell
Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday is a 1993 slasher film, the ninth—and, as the title suggests, intended final—installment in the Friday the 13th film series and the first sequel to be distributed by New Line Cinema....
(1993), and Jason X
Jason X
Jason X is a 2002 science fiction horror slasher film directed by James Isaac. It is the tenth in the Friday the 13th film series and stars Kane Hodder as the undead mass murderer Jason Voorhees, the film made $16,951,798 worldwide with a budget of $14 million...
(2002), which earned $14,343,976, $15,935,068, and $13,121,555, respectively. From February 14–16, the film took in an additional $24,292,003, to round out its 4-day President's Day
Washington's Birthday
Washington's Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day...
weekend with $43,585,449. By the end of its 3-day opening weekend it was already the second highest grossing Friday film in the series with $40,570,365, and just barely beat out The Grudge
The Grudge
The Grudge is the 2004 American remake of the Japanese film Ju-on: The Grudge, and the first horror film in the Ju-on series, Ju-on 1. The film is the first installment in the American horror film series The Grudge...
(2004) for the best 3-day weekend opening for any horror film. When comparing the 2009 film's opening weekend to that of its 1980 counterpart, in adjusted 2009 US dollars, the original Friday the 13th only brought in $17,251,975. Although the 2009 film made more money, when factoring in the number of theaters each film was released in, the 1980 film earned more per theater with $15,683, compared to the 2009 film's $13,066.
Friday the 13th saw a significant drop in attendance in its second weekend. On its second Friday, the film took in only $2,802,977, which was an 85.5% decrease from opening Friday. By the end of its second weekend, the film brought in $7,942,472, an 80.4% overall decrease from the previous weekend. As a result, the film went from first place to sixth place in the weekend box office. By its third weekend, Friday the 13th had dropped out of the top ten, earning $3,689,156, which was a 53.6% decrease from its second weekend. By the end of its box office run, Friday the 13th earned an estimated $65 million at the United States box office, but failed to regain a top ten spot after its third weekend.
The 2009 film sits in fifth place for all-time President's Day weekends with $45,033,454. It is eighth in highest-grossing weekends in the month of February, as well as eighth in highest-grossing weekends for the winter season, which is defined by the first day after the New Year weekend through the first Thursday of the month of March. Friday the 13th finished as the fourth-highest grossing film of the month of February, with $59.8 million, just behind Taken
Taken (film)
Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
with $84.3 million, He's Just Not That into You
He's Just Not That into You (film)
He's Just Not That Into You is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis, based on the self-help book of the same name by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, which in turn was inspired by a line of dialogue in Sex and the City...
with $77.2 million, and Madea Goes to Jail
Madea Goes to Jail
Madea Goes to Jail is a 2009 comedy-drama film adaptation written and directed by Tyler Perry, which was based on Perry's 2006 play of the same name. The play and the film deal with Perry's recurring character Madea Simmons going to jail for her uncontrollable anger management problems...
, with $60.9 million.
It is the fifteenth-highest grossing R-rated film of 2009. Because of the significant decrease in box office gross in its second weekend, the film sits in sixth place for the largest second-weekend drop; it is the seventh-largest drop for a film that opened as the number one film in the United States. With its $65 million in domestic box office, Friday the 13th is the highest-grossing film among the recent slasher
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
remakes, which consist of When a Stranger Calls
When a Stranger Calls (2006 film)
When a Stranger Calls is a 2006 American horror film and a remake of the 1979 horror film of the same name based on the urban legend "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs"...
(2006), Halloween
Halloween (2007 film)
Halloween is a 2007 American slasher film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie. The film is a remake/reimagining of the 1978 horror film of the same name, the first in the rebooted Halloween film series and the ninth Halloween film in total. The film stars Tyler Mane as the adult Michael...
(2007), Prom Night
Prom Night (2008 film)
Prom Night is a 2008 horror film from Screen Gems directed by Nelson McCormick and starring Brittany Snow. The film is a re-imagining of the 1980 Canadian horror film of the same name.-Plot:...
(2008), and My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009). The film is ranked seventh overall when compared to all horror remakes, as well as seventh place for all slasher films in general, in unadjusted dollars.
In addition to its North American box office gross, Friday the 13th earned over $9.5 million in foreign markets on its opening weekend. The film's biggest markets were the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Friday the 13th took in approximately $1.7 million in both the United Kingdom and Russia, an estimated $1.1 million in Spain, and $1 million in Italy and Germany. According to Paramount, this was the largest foreign opening of any of the Friday the 13th films. The film finished its North American box office run with $65,002,019; coupled with its foreign take of $26,377,032, the film has accumulated $91,379,051 in worldwide box office.
Critical reception
Based on 157 reviews collected by Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, Friday the 13th has a 26% overall approval rating from critics, with an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 4.2 out of 10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an approval rating of 19%. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Normalization (statistics)
In one usage in statistics, normalization is the process of isolating statistical error in repeated measured data. A normalization is sometimes based on a property...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 34, based on 29 reviews. CinemaScore
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.-Background:...
polls reported that the average grade cinemagoers gave the film a "B-minus" on an A+ to F scale, with exit polls showing that 51% of the audience was male, and 59% was at least 25 years old or older.
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde is an American writer and film critic.Duralde was the Artistic Director at the USA Film Festival/Dallas for five years. He was also the former Arts and Entertainment Editor at the national gay and lesbian magazine The Advocate...
wrote that the film should please slasher fans, but concluded that it added nothing new to the genre or the franchise, and thus will not appeal to people who already did not like slasher films. Duralde went on to chide the film for adding a black and an Asian character in an attempt to "update the movie for the new millennium", but noted in the end that the prospect of another Friday the 13th—crafted by the film's "sequel-friendly" ending—did not leave him with a feeling of dread. Along the same lines, Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic
The Arizona Republic
The Arizona Republic is a daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. It was ranked tenth in US daily newspapers by circulation in 2007.-Early years:The newspaper was founded...
stated that the film accepts the "ridiculousness" of what it is trying to accomplish, which is primarily the "death and dismemberment" of "party-hungry kids", and that audiences would enjoy it if they recognized that as well. Although Goodykoontz acknowledges the unique touches the film brings to certain characters' deaths, he was unimpressed with the acting and noted that Padalecki's presence gave the film a "less-good episode of Supernatural
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
" vibe.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
s Dan Zak wrote that the film fails to provide the laughs, scares, suspense, or gore. Zak also suggested that the film failed to provide the quintessential nudity that is expected of horror films that cannot deliver on the previously listed criteria. Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
felt that Nispel managed to capture the despair that he created with his Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, but agreed that the film failed to provide the "giddiness", "teenage lust", and "rambunctiousness" that made the previous Friday the 13th films work. Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris is a film critic at The Boston Globe where he reviews films alongside Ty Burr. Morris and Burr also make regular appearances on NECN to discuss the latest films and do the weekly Take Two film review video series on Boston.com...
believed Friday the 13th did have humor. He noted that the characters continually act the clichéd role of would-be-victim, which made it hard to fear for their safety. In his opinion, the 2009 film lacked the "psycho-social" aspect—a mother killing out of revenge for her son's death—crafted by its 1980 predecessor, and ultimately the film is "more hilarious than terrifying".
The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
's Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith is an American critic, novelist and essayist. He is a staff film critic for the New York Post. His film reviewing style has been called "an exercise in hilarious hostility" by Entertainment Weekly....
felt that Nispel made no attempt to create a movie beyond blood and guts, and even those attempts were "forgettable". Smith noted that, apart from Clay and Trent, the rest of the cast were merely "faces in the crowd" with no attempt provided to give them any sort of backstory. USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
s Claudia Puig wrote that the 2009 entry keeps to the same formula as its predecessors, with a story that adds little to nothing to the franchise. However, Puig noted that Padalecki and Panabaker filled their lead roles well enough, and that Aaron Yoo's comic relief made him one of the most likable characters on screen.
In contrast to the film's detractors, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
's Nathan Lee believed that the film managed to "reboot the concept" of the original films, and do so with style. Lee stated that the film takes pleasure in killing off each of its characters. Lee pointed out that there is a desire among cinemagoers for this type of material, and Friday the 13th satisfies that desire. Adam Graham, from The Detroit News
The Detroit News
The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
, remarked that the 2009 film is the most effective and scary film in the Friday the 13th series, praising the film's choice of allowing Jason to run after his victims—as opposed to slowly walking behind them, as had become prominent in later sequels—as it made him more "menacing". Graham further pointed out that the film does not "soften" Jason's scariness by providing a sympathetic backstory. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Clark Collis believed that director Nispel made a competent film that performs better as a whole than the previously released remakes of Prom Night (2008) and My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009), although it does provide a few too many unbelievable character moments.
Jason Anderson of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
felt that the film succeeded in adding freshness to the standard formula of the previous films by focusing on the chasing and killing aspects, instead of lingering on the prolonged suffering of victims like the Saw
Saw (film series)
Saw is a horror franchise distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment and produced by Twisted Pictures that consists of seven films and two video games, published by Konami. The franchise began with the 2003 short film which was created by Australian director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell...
films. Concurring with Puig's evaluation, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Chris Carle felt that Aaron Yoo stole the film with his comic timing and with what Carle saw as his "memorable death". Commenting on Derek Mears' portrayal of Jason, Carle noted that he brings more to the character than being simply a stuntman; Mears's subtle movements, athleticism, and physicality created an "imposing" image of Jason.