I have to admit, I had my doubts about a remaking of Friday the 13th, and I’m not even a fan of the franchise (hell, I can barely show a passing knowledge of Jason Vorhees and family). Those doubts were lifted a bit with the Friday the 13th panel at Comic-Con, which featured producers Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, and cast members Jared Padalecki, Amanda Righetti, and the man behind the hockey mask, Derek Mears, who was described by the producers as the “nicest big man [they’ve] worked with.”
The panel kicked off with a look at the teaser poster, featuring Jason’s iconic mask on a black background and the film’s release date. After showing audiences that treat, Form and Fuller showed the teaser trailer for the movie, which made its debut at Comic-Con.
The trailer went a long way into easing my doubts. It starts out slow, with a young couple stumbling upon Camp Crystal Lake and the Voorhees house. They’re looking around, shining flashlights around when the guy thinks he sees something in a hole in the wall. He reaches in and it’s a disembodied head (presumably Jason’s mom’s). The doors pull shut and the young couple is trapped as the historical Friday the 13th theme starts up. The kids try to escape, only to find themselves trapped by Jason, and the boy is pulled through the floor, leaving the girl screaming. The trailer then moved to a fast sequence of action shots, including characters being ripped through walls and culminating in a shot of Jason leaping toward a girl with his machete blade coming down. This is a Jason to be deeply afraid of.
Following the teaser, the cast and crew entertained questions from the audience, with some good information revealed. For instance, does Jarad Padalecki die? The answer, (yes, someone in the audience was that blunt with a question, and yes, they answered it): he doesn’t know, leading me to believe several alternate endings may have been shot. Fuller and Form asked if the audience wanted him to live (responded to with a resounding yes), and that they’d take that into consideration. Yeah, right.
Even those passively aware of Friday the 13th like me might find the use of Jason’s mask and the appearance of the big galoot in the trailer surprising. After all, this is a remake of Friday the 13th, and in the original movie the killer was Jason’s mom, who we already know will be played by Nana Visitor. The producers explained why they chose to move straight to Jason, stating that they didn’t think they could make Mrs. Voorhees into a believable killer… that and they figured most of the fans prefer Jason. I guess that makes sense. After all he’s been the big threat in most of the movies. We will see Jason’s mom though.
Some elements of the trailer reminded me more of Platinum Dunes’s remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre than the supernatural figure Jason evolved into over the later movies, and that’s with good reason. The filmmakers stated they tried to plant the character firmly in the real world, “rooted in reality” was a commonly heard phrase. Don’t expect a lot of supernatural elements, bringing the best parts of Friday the 13th 2-4 according to Mears, and making the character realistic; a smart Jason who sets people up, and even a sympathetic character according to the filmmakers. Fans looked a little concerned over this. After all, Rob Zombie went out of his way to base his Halloween remake in reality, and look how that turned out. Form and Fuller even stated we would see some of Jason’s childhood as well as how he acquired his infamous hockey mask, but assured fans that this wasn’t an origin story.
The last piece of news worth reporting on as a bit of a contradiction from the filmmakers. When asked about plans to turn this into a long-term franchise like the original series, it was stated that this movie has a finite ending and is designed as a stand alone picture (despite Padalecki’s attempts to get into a prequel - Thursday the 12th - or a sequel - Saturday the 14th). In fact, Fuller and Form went as far as saying they’d have to rack their brains to come up with a way to continue the story if a sequel was desired. That being said, the duo also said later on that they would love to return to Crystal Lake for future projects. So which is it - finite story or ready to go back?
Friday the 13th just finished wrapping eight weeks or so ago, and the trailer was thrown together for Comic-Con, but both that and the teaser poster should be making their way to theaters soon, announcing Friday the 13th’s February release date.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Comic-Con-Friday-The-13th-Panel-Reveals-Poster-Teaser-And-More-9655.html
