You Can't Keep a Good Psycho Killer Down: Danny Steinmann's Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

Jason took a machete through the head at the end of The Final Chapter, an indicator the series should indeed be coming to a close. On the flip side, the introduction of Tommy Jarvis offered the opportunity to develop a whole new character, not to mention one who's childhood traits mirrored Jason's. The opening of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is the first since the original not to be comprised completely of flashbacks. It's the studio's way of letting the audience know they are trying to make a fresh start, and what better way to do that than with a dream sequence? The pre-teen Tommy watches a couple of idiots dig up Jason's grave, which in turn brings the finally put down monster back to life and after Tommy. Of course, he wakes in a cold sweat, only for us to discover that quite a few years have passed.

This is the first jump in time the series has taken so far and by the looks of it, the years have not been good to Tommy (John Shepherd). After killing Jason, he got shipped to a mental institution but apparently made enough progress that now he's eligible to go to a "youth development center." The bulk of the picture takes place there, with Tommy being surrounded by an assortment of nutty residents. A New Beginning somehow manages to have sillier characters than Part 3 and believe it or not, they're not limited to Tommy's house mates. The gold medal goes to a backwoods bumpkin and her grown son, who still acts like he's eight. Like the bikers in Part 3, they exist to provide some easy laughs.

The changes in Tommy are brought front and center early on. The nightmares lead us to wonder if his violent tendencies are still intact (a dream he has late in the movie more or less says yes). Once he moves into the house, we see that, even after all those years, he's held onto all his homemade masks, a sign that he's still keeping his true self hidden. Most surprising are Tommy's fighting skills. There's an early scene where one of the house mates messes with him and Tommy proceeds to beat the tar out of him. It's an interesting character trait because it makes us wonder if he learned self defense in case Jason ever did come back to find him.

Aside from the youth center owners, no one else there is likable or sympathetic at all. Most of them act as if they have mental defects, so their behavior is annoying and often cruel. The movie's first kill isn't even committed by Jason. An overweight slob named Joey (Dominick Brascia), who apparently just wants to help around the house but makes a mess, pisses off one of his house mates and gets chopped up. At first, the scene doesn't make much sense. Once the big twist is revealed (I'll get to that shortly) and you think back over the events of the movie, it fits it in as it should. True, it's a gimmick, albeit a worthy one of this series.

Jason's first victims are a couple of greasers whose car won't start. They're the atypical Friday the 13th characters in that they talk horribly about women and the size of their dick is measured by how loud their engine revs. Appropriate then that victim number three also has a sports car and only cares about getting laid. In his case, we meet the girl he's hoping to get it on with, and even watch her get ready, a strange ritual that includes flashing her boobs. If this feels unnecessary, it's not; the needless exposure of flesh is an invitation for the flesh to later be penetrated (it's brought up again later at the youth center when a girl inexplicably goes to bed topless, only to be stabbed a moment later from under her bed).

Jason penetrates quite a bit of flesh in the movie, bringing back in Alex Jackson's idea of "rape by steel." There are quite a few in the movie, the most severe ones happening to female characters. Despite the familiarity of these murders, there's plenty of evidence to prove the real Jason is not at work here. First off, we never actually see him resurrected. Secondly, the style of the killings does not fit the pattern shown in The Final Chapter. Yes, some of them are quite brutal (a road flare to the mouth takes the cake), but others feel more in tune with the earlier entries in that the killer wants the victims to die quickly. Strangely, this Jason has a brief obsession with eyes and mainly reserves it for the two characters in the movie who have sex. The girl loses her sight to hedge trimmers while the guy is strapped to a tree with his eyes covered. Punishment for sex is not uncommon, especially after the last movie, but for the first time, the killer is showing his disapproval of the couple's visual lust for one another.

Most of the graphic violence happens off screen. We see the weapon rise into the air and often see the aftermath, but there are only several instances where we see contact made. I would think this was a decision made by the MPAA, who was notorious for picking on all the movies in the series. And yet, the lack of actual onscreen carnage doesn't hurt the picture in the long run. It almost feels more appropriate since we're not really witnessing Jason doing his worst; you could say the movie is mocking the fact that someone dared to act as a copycat. One tidbit I noticed is that this is the first entry in the series where Jason does not run. I'm not sure if that was the filmmaker's way of letting the audience know this is not the real Jason, but I'd buy that theory.

As noted, there are elements worth mentioning here, but in all honesty, the picture's most appealing aspect is brought in at the very end when Jason is killed and the mask comes off. When you scroll back through what's happened, the signs of who the knock off was were right in front of you the whole time. One of the paramedics who came to take Joey's body away was his father, and I guess the sight of seeing him in pieces drove the guy nuts. It may not sound like much of a concept, but when you compare Joey's father to Mrs. Voorhees, it takes on a whole new level of discussion. Unfortunately, we don't get the psychoanalysis that we did for Jason's mother; in this movie, it functions as more of a plot twist.

Danny Steinmann took the director's chair for A New Beginning, but sometimes it's hard to tell if he's making a horror movie or a comedy. There's a lot of violence all right, although it looks like there are twice as many attempts to earn a cheap laugh. I mentioned the bumpkins earlier, but in addition to them there is a machete/chainsaw duel, a goofy dance routine (it doesn't even come close to reaching the heights of Crispin Glover's from the last entry), a rabbit used as a false sense of security (echoes of Part 3), and a pre-teen character, this one named Reggie (Shavar Ross). The difference between he and Tommy is that Reggie is black and does not seem intimidated when Jason is in action. It's a thankless and stereotypical role, and frankly I'm not surprised Shavar Ross declined the chance to reprise it.

So, even though Friday the 13th: A New Beginning looks and feels like it belongs in the series, it doesn't contribute much without Jason. My opinion would differ if the picture had made real progress with Tommy's growing madness, which is there, but is kept off screen until the last five minutes. The decision to do so announces the fifth chapter as a companion piece with the first one, since it is basically all set up with no real payoff. Knowing already that Tommy is in Part 6 has me holding my breath in hopes that his character will not be left in vain. His introduction in the last movie was too crucial for it to be left in the dust.


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Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008

All Grown Up and Incredibly Pissed Off: Joseph Zito's Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

"God, I'm horny."

That line is the key to Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, since this is the first entry in the series where it looks like the characters are getting killed because of their obsession with sex. In Part 3, all the guys were randy, but by adding the girls to the mix, it makes for a lethal combination. It doesn't help that Jason is severely pissed off. The picture opens with the campfire scene from Part 2, in which a character tells the supposed legend of Jason Voorhees. The whole sequence is inner cut with the murders from the first three pictures, basically as a way of saying if this happens to be your starting point, now you'll be caught up. If you're watching the Friday the 13th movies strictly for the violence, you should be pleased. But if it's subtext you're seeking, then I doubt it will do much for you.

After the obligatory recap, the action moves to the farmhouse where Jason took an axe to the head. An ambulance ships him off to the morgue, and the scene ends with a lingering shot of the the setting, an ominous sign that Jason's life is far from over. It is in the morgue that the picture's key theme about the danger of sex is introduced. A doctor shamelessly pushes himself onto a nurse, all the while watching a cheesy women's workout program to help set the mood. As soon as they begin getting into it, Jason's hand twitches. It's as if their promiscuity brings him back so he can punish them for it, and punish them he does!

I talked in the last essay about why Jason kills. Is it fun for him, or is it a chore? It's hard to tell in The Final Chapter, because when Jason comes back, he's obviously not happy that a potential victim was able to get the upper hand. Convinced this will not happen again, he ups the stakes by killing in the most horrifying ways possible. While the first three pictures were all about quick kills, this time he makes them last so he can witness the victim's agony. The nature of what he's doing is so extreme if it ever was fun, it's probably past that point. At the same time, it feels like he doesn't want his role to be without enjoyment; all the kills in the picture are sneak attacks, except instead of saying "boo," the surprise is a sharp object. If you do happen to see him coming, you're not going to get far. Jason is finally on the fringe of becoming a completely unstoppable force (wait until you see him smash straight through a wooden door).

It's clear to me that the adolescent phase is over for Jason. The clumsiness and lack of confidence he showed in the earlier movies has been replaced by sheer determination. He knows what he's alive to do and failure is not an option. What's interesting, though, is how his kills become a reflection of the sexual behavior of the people he's killing. Critic Alex Jackson describes it as "rape by steel," since the flesh is being pierced. There are number of scenes in The Final Chapter that display this idea to the fullest extent. The most sexually active character in the movie is shot in the crotch with a spear gun, an image that illustrates the parallel, but takes full context once Jason pulls the trigger. Equally as apparent is a murder where Jason stabs the victim over and over in heavy thrusting motions.

The girls are just as itchy in the pants as the boys this time out. Even so, the boys are still the ones that approach women as if they are nothing more than strange beings that exist just to fill sexual desires (notice how one male character equates treating a girl right to sexual satisfaction). Two of the guys have girlfriends already, but the other two are single and desperate. There's Ted (Lawrence Monoson), who thinks he's a smooth operator because he talks a lot of game; and Jimmy (Crispin Glover), the insecure loser who's meant to mirror Shelly from Part 3. Yeah, he mopes and complains, but Jimmy is not seen as pathetically as Shelly, even though Ted constantly makes fun of his libido by calling him a "dead fuck." Of course, the irony of all this is the fact that director Joseph Zito decides to reward the nice nerdy guy and humiliate the trash talking wannabe stud. To our surprise, Jimmy does get some action, and it's a good thing since we know his demise will be right around the corner. Same for Ted, who naturally gets overlooked by the girls, finds an old stag film, and has to get his rocks off by watching a series of unattractive women dance naked.

The pattern that has been consistent in all four Friday the 13th movies so far is that the sole survivor is the virginal teenage girl. They may not be sane when the whole thing is done, but they are still alive. The one in this entry is probably the least interesting thus far, although her character really bares little importance. Instead, the picture spends a good bit of time on her pre-teen brother, Tommy (Corey Feldman), who's interests show that he's somewhat of a kindred spirit to Jason. The early scenes with him fascinate; his mother comes off as a bit overbearing, which reminds of Mrs. Voorhees's behavior from the first picture. He makes his own creature masks, proving that, like Jason, what's normal lives within you and is not based on what other's can see. Interesting then that Jason hides his hideous face with a plain mask while Tommy covers his regular features with ugliness.

Tommy's connection to Jason comes full circle during the climax when he has to save his sister from being slashed. The way Tommy's retaliation is shot turns out to be quite chilling, as it shows him stabbing Jason over and over but the camera only focuses on the aggressor. Jason's demise in this picture is his most gruesome yet, appropriate given how uncompromising the rest of it is. This is the first movie in the series where I can say I found the violence genuinely disturbing. Tom Savini came back on board, only because he was told Jason was getting killed off for good (I wonder how he feels now), and his gore effects are top notch as expected (Savini and director Joseph Zito previously teamed up on the equally viscous The Prowler). You never feel truly sorry for any of the characters; how could you? If a Friday the 13th movie were to create sympathetic characters, it would defeat the purpose of watching it in the first place and in essence, Jason would have no reason to exist.

So, the movie was said to be "the final chapter" and yet, another surfaced soon after. I think Jason's hand continuing to twitch after he's taken down should be a good enough indicator that he's not ready to die. Having finally reached his peak (and having been killed twice), Jason's cynicism is certain to only grow deeper. What's more intriguing, though, is to see what the series will do with the Tommy Jarvis character. Being that he is the first pre-teen to come along, there's a lot of potential to continue the development of his and Jason's "relationship." And with the assumption that Tommy's mother is dead (she disappears and is not seen again), a whole other door of connections are opened with ways to push Tommy over the edge. The possibilities are as exciting as they are unpredictable, and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is the best entry the series has offered so far.


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Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008

On the Brink of Manhood: Steve Miner's Friday the 13th Part III

Due to the lukewarm box office success of Friday the 13th Part 2, the third installment was supposed to bring the series to an end. To go out with a bang, the studio figured they might be able to cash in on the 3D bandwagon. With Steve Miner back in the director's chair, you'd think the movie would follow in the footsteps of its predecessor when it came to style and tone. This does not turn out to be the case, though; strangely enough, Miner has a made a movie that is a true conundrum, and not all of it has to do with the corny 3D inspired shots.

As with Part 2, but thankfully without an over abundance of footage, the new movie opens by showing the final showdown between Jason and Ginny. News footage reveals she was taken to the hospital and that's the last we ever hear of her. At first, I figured Jason would be driven on finishing her off, but since she didn't kill his mother, he must have forgotten her quickly. Thanks (or no thanks) to Ginny, it's doubtful Jason will fall for someone pretending to be his mother again, since he clearly saw her severed head while being taunted. The movie's true opening scene involves a bitter couple who own a convenience store. The husband sneaks junk food off the shelves while his bitchy wife complains about his eating habits and the fact he won't help with the laundry. Like the classic scene at the end of Part 2 containing the dog, the new entry features a bunny rabbit whose meant to represent a false sense of security. This time, however, Miner makes it quite apparent no one will be safe by showing two shots of dead rabbits, one of which is roadkill.

That the couple gets it should come as no surprise, even though this opening is definitely not what I was expecting from a Friday the 13th movie. For the first time, the characters are quite cartoonish, and it doesn't stop there. The principal players are just as goofy and don't really look like they belong together. There are six teenagers (or early twenty somethings, take your pick) and two middle aged hippies. These are the horniest young people we've come across so far - even the nice guys seem to be itchy in the pants. In that sense, I guess you could say it makes them more deserving of Jason's wraith than the poor suckers from Part 2. While some of them were painted sympathetically, there's only one character this time we might even want to see survive (and she does).

The setting this time is a cabin the survivor, Chris (Dana Kimmell), lived in as a child. The build up to the kills has a few new elements, each of them centered around Shelly (Larry Zerner), a helpless nerd who gets set up with one of Chris's friends. He's insecure to say the least, trying to gain acceptance by faking his death with a phony hatchet to the head or sneaking up on someone while they're sitting at the boat dock. His real breakthrough comes when he stands up to a trio of bikers by running over one their motorcycles. When this happened, I wondered if Miner wanted us to like Shelly, but due to his annoying behavior, it's hard to tell. If anything, he's unquestionably the most original character to emerge in a Friday the 13th movie so far and the only one who looks like he has a good relationship with an adult (we get a quick glimpse of a photo in his wallet of him with his mother). Ultimately, he turns out to be just as disposable as the rest - the bikers are only in the movie to throw Jason a few more people to slash (and to provide some comic relief - it's amusing when one of them just happens to still be alive at the end).

The performances are the worst the series has offered so far. They were serviceable in the first two movies, so what happened this time? The tone is all over the map. It's as if Miner wanted to take his sense of fun from Part 2 and let it run haywire. If you don't believe me, just listen to the score during the opening credits. Instead of the classic theme, we get some discoesque concoction that sounds like it belongs on a '70s sci-fi program. Speaking of which, everyone in the movie acts like they're from another planet; even Jason, who's not quite as clumsy as he was in the last movie, slumbers around like he's just learned how to walk.

Jason seems to be more in tune with what he is once the movie starts rolling. It's as if the ending to Part 2 made him aware that his mother really is dead and he does not have to kill for her. He's simply doing it because that's the only thing he knows how to do. Critic Alex Jackson suggests it's his way of trying to connect with others, which is an easy idea to accept. When he tries to kill someone and they fight back, why shouldn't he think they're just trying to speak his language? It's no stretch either to say that Jason's sprees could be viewed as a kind of game. Look at the finale when he literally tears a barn apart trying to find Chris. It all plays like a psychotic version of hide and seek, especially since he knows there's no one left after her (it's as if he still doesn't know how to cope with running out of people to kill). The murders are pretty brutal, but any real shock value is sucked away by the attempt to have them work with the 3D gimmick. The biggest groaner is easily a scene where Jason squeezes a guy's head until his eye pops out and shoots straight at the camera. The non 3D murders are the most graphic the series has offered so far, suggesting, and we'll get into this more later, that Jason is either enjoying what he's doing or is treating it like a chore that needs to be marked off a list.

There are two things about the movie that stood out over everything else. One is the physical look of the women. In the past two, they've all been shown in skimpy outfits, tight jeans, or lingerie at some time or another; in Part 3, only one women is ever shown in a bikini and when she does get naked, the bare body shots are so quick you'll probably miss them (not to mention we discover she's pregnant, which could be an automatic mood killer). The other women are dressed in very unflattering clothes. Miner has more or less stripped all the sexual appeal out of the movie, which is fascinating because it makes the female characters more innocent and less deserving of their violent deaths. I also find it fascinating that so many people think Friday the 13th movies are only about camp counsellors getting picked off. From what I can tell, Jason does not discriminate, and has probably killed just as many middle aged folks as he has teens.

The second point I wanted to make was about Jason himself. I mentioned earlier how awkwardly he walks, but even more so, there's something odd about his whole demeanor. In this picture, he looks like nothing more than a big man, meaning that he's still developing. The more he kills, the more he'll evolve until eventually, he'll be a towering force. At this point, he feels pain and is vocal about it, not unlike a kid with a skinned knee. Jason bleeds too, and is himself killed at the end of the picture, at first leading us to believe he is dead. Taking a cue from the original movie, Chris wakes up in a canoe and thinks she sees Jason, unmasked, looking at her from an upstairs window in the cabin. It is at that point, Jason's dead and decrepit mother comes out of the water and grabs her. This could be read as a tacked on attempt to let us know the studio changed their mind about ending the franchise; I'd rather see it as a way of showing that now, Jason and his mother are one and the same.

Friday the 13th Part III is a bit disappointing in the long run. Maybe if Steve Miner had not come back, it wouldn't have felt that way. I just had hoped he'd push Jason's transition a little further than he does. Instead, too much time is wasted on the dopey 3D, a decision that gives the production a sloppy overall feel it probably wouldn't have had otherwise. Due to the 3D, the movie was shot in the scope aspect ratio (it's the only entry in the series that isn't matted), and it hurts the movie on a tension level. It's harder to build an environment of claustrophobia when there's so much open space. I'm relieved the series never used it again. There's plenty to chew on in Friday the 13th Part III; it's not quite as entertaining as Part 2, although it is pretty kick ass to see Jason with his signature hockey mask for the first time.


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Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008

How Fast Can You Swim?: Greg McLean's Rogue

Greg McLean's Wolf Creek is quite possibly the most underrated horror movie of the decade. Unfairly labeled as "torture porn" and dumped in theaters on Christmas Day(!) by those dastardly Weinsteins, the picture was terrifying, and it wasn't just because of the violence. McLean created real characters and put them in a place that was at once uncomfortable and dangerous. By doing this, throwing a madman into the mix felt like an added threat to the already apparent tension. McLean is a native Australian, so it's interesting that his movies make the viewer leery about wanting to visit.

Given my enthusiasm in regards to Wolf Creek, I couldn't wait to see what McLean would do next. The Weinsteins came back on board as producers for his follow up, Rogue, but as expected, the project got screwed over. Early buzz was exciting, which inexplicably wasn't enough for the former Miramax heads, so they gave the picture an almost invisible theatrical run and then dumped it on video. The fact I did not get to experience Rogue on the big screen is a shame to be sure, for like Wolf Creek, it features jaw dropping cinematography you don't normally see in a horror picture - especially one that revolves around a thirty foot crocodile.

Yep, it's true, Greg McLean has made a creature feature and at first, I can't say I was too crazy about the idea. What made Wolf Creek so effective was the way it championed genuine suspense over traditional horror tactics. My assumption (and you know what is said about those) was that since McLean was making a killer crocodile picture, it was going to be an excuse for him to have a bloodthirsty monster turn a bunch of frightened humans into lunch. Instead of taking the easy way out though, McLean has called my bluff and made a movie that works for many of the same reasons his last one did. It's not quite as strong as Wolf Creek, but still rather impressive.

The picture's greatest weakness is its characters. The main focus is on Pete (Michael Vartan), a travel magazine journalist who is in Australia for a couple of days and decides to take a boat tour guided by Kate (the gorgeous Radha Mitchell). The ten or so other tourists are your usual assortment of horror movie cutouts, automatically leading us to believe they're all going to end up devoured by the time the final credits roll. That they don't is to McLean's credit. He's more concerned with establishing a series of hyper tense moods based on the characters' fear of when the crocodile will strike. It's strange the way he throws in nice little moments for a few of the characters but never takes things further than that.

The early scenes of the movie are filled with unbelievably luscious aerial shots of Australia that, according to McLean, have never been seen on film before. Eventually, all the beautiful landscapes lead to an overhead view of the tour boat riding through a narrow path, a sure sign that something bad is on the horizon. As expected, the crocodile lets the tourists know they're on his turf by ramming the boat and causing a leak that leaves it shipwrecked on a small island. Land would normally be a welcome sight; that is, until someone notices that the tide is coming in and before sundown, there won't be a dry area left to stand on.

McLean has definitely studied his monster movies. The crocodile is kept well hidden for almost an hour, although there are a handful of appropriate teases pertaining to his actual size. The attacks are nicely spread out and amazingly, we don't see very many of them occur. This is certain to disappoint genre fans, but for those who like to put themselves in the characters' shoes, it makes the situation that much scarier. Even given the limited setting once the boat crashes, McLean still manages to keep the visuals appealing. The nighttime scenes are rather striking, mainly when pertaining to the long shots.

Naturally, a movie like Rogue needs a worthy monster, and I was quite taken with the one on display here. A combination of puppetry and CGI, the crocodile only looks fake during a couple of scenes. It's a good thing too, because otherwise, the Final Showdown (which may very well be the best act of the picture) would have zero chance of succeeding. I can understand why McLean wanted to make Rogue; what horror director wouldn't want to helm a creature feature? As I mentioned before though, if it's gore or elaborate kills you're looking for, you'd be better off renting Lake Placid, Alligator, or the dozens of low budget killer crocodile movies that are currently collecting dust on many a video store shelves. This picture is in a different league than the others (though I must confess Alligator is pretty fun), even if I can say it's a step forward for McLean. More than anything, it's further proof his career is one worth following.

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Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008

The Adolescence of Jason: Steve Miner's Friday the 13th Part 2

Paramount Pictures must have been overwhelmed with the success of Friday the 13th, given that the sequel was released almost exactly one year after its predecessor. Sean S. Cunningham handed the directing duties over to Steve Miner, who was obviously proud to be contributing to this growing franchise. Before the pre-credit sequence, there's a title card letting us know we're about to watch "A Steve Miner Film," so if we enjoy it there's no question who we should thank. My guess would be that Miner was excited about making Friday the 13th Part 2 because he got to give us our first glimpse of Jason in action. The result is not quite what I was expecting.

The pre-credit sequence is so overdone it's exhausting. Alice (once again played by Adrienne King), the lone survivor of Mrs. Voorhees's reign of terror, is having a nightmare made up of footage from the first movie. A few refreshers would be sufficient, but for some reason, Miner feels the need to assault us with about a dozen clips. By the time the actual movie starts, I was relieved and a bit weary about what I was getting into. It's a frequent rule in horror sequels that the survivor from the last movie is not allowed to live in this one, and shortly after Alice's flashbacks of torment, Jason finds her. He's all grown up now and living in the woods near Crystal Lake, complete with his mother's severed head and the sweater she wore while avenging his death.

The set up is very similar to the one from the first movie. The counselors arrive at camp a few days early in order to get things ready and are eventually the victims of an unstoppable killing force. What sets this entry apart from the last chapter is the approach to the material. Miner has a lot of fun playing with the conventions, and actually builds some real suspense in ways I would not have anticipated. I mentioned in the last review how the most likable character, the one I expected to live to the end, was the first one taken out. I had a similar vibe this time when an attractive blond named Ginny (Amy Steel)is introduced. She arrives late, and when the head counselor scolds her, she responds by saying she is sorry and she will not be late again for the rest of her life. It seems like this should be a red flag, but sure enough, Ginny, who certainly comes close to getting slashed on a number of occasions, is still alive once the end credits roll.

The voyeuristic POV tactic felt ripped off from Halloween in the first movie, so instead of simply duplicating the style, Miner uses it as an opportunity to make the audience uncomfortable. The camera stalks the characters even when Jason isn't around, which leads to some truly surprising shots. The most impressive aspect of it is the fact he's able to get mileage out of doing this throughout the whole movie. It could have worn out its welcome really fast, but every so often, Miner will find a way to wink at the audience to give us some relief (like when a character who has been skinny dipping throws her towel over the camera).

Surprisingly, the first counselor isn't offed until about the fifty one minute mark. There are a few murders before then, but I must say I hadn't really noticed how much time had passed because the movie was having such a good time toying with me. The killings, just as in the first movie, are not particularly scary but just as brutal. Jason apparently took a cue from his mother, as he prefers sharp weapons and his objective is for the victim to die quickly. Although while Jason's mother felt she was being "guided" by her son to kill, there's never any evidence (at least not until the end) that Mrs. Voorhees is asking Jason to avenge her death. During the climactic chase, Ginny finds Jason's hideout and puts his mother's sweater on, convinced that seeing it will be enough to fool him into believing she is his mother.

It makes sense because as far as we can tell, Jason has no perception of the difference between male and female. His entrance at the end of the first movie was technically his "birth" (he came out of the water, after all), so this would serve as his period of adolescence. Miner handles it with a great deal of awkwardness and bizarre humor. Jason, while super strong, is a bit of a klutz and gets caught off guard on several instances. My favourite has to be when Ginny is hiding under the bed and Jason decides to wait for her by standing on a chair. Once she begins to creep out, he lunges to stab her with a pitchfork and loses his balance.

As shown at the end of the first movie, Jason has a deformed face. Somehow he has become conscious of this, so he keeps himself disguised with a cloth sack that contains one eye hole. It is inevitable that we will see his face at some point, so at the tail end of the picture, when he flies through a window to let the audience know he's not dead, his grotesque features are displayed front and center. The set up to his reveal is priceless. Horror pictures love to create a false sense of hope at the end, especially when we damn well know the killer isn't dead (I don't know how the characters could have thought Jason was dead after slicing into his shoulder with a machete). Ginny and her boyfriend finally believe they are safe, and they rest easier when one of the other counselor's lost dog (named Muffin) wanders back to the cabin. Just as they are beaming over the tiny furball, Jason comes crashing in.

I mentioned in the last review how the first movie felt like all setup. Friday the 13th Part 2 should be the beginning of the payoff but interestingly, it still feels like more setup. Is this a weakness? Yes and no. Yes, because it's taking the series a long time to find a consistent rhythm and no because Jason needs time to get comfortable with what he is. I say "what" instead of "who" because there is no proof that Jason is human anymore. After drowning, he was re-born not as a man, but an instrument of destruction. This is an area I am looking to see explored more as the series progresses, and the fact Miner came back to make Part 3 gives me hope he will continue to find new ways to keep the same set up fresh. Let's keep our fingers crossed.


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Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008

Setting Up for an Extended Payoff: Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th

Film critic Alex Jackson suggests that the Friday the 13th series, as a collective whole, is one of the great cinematic experiences. This certainly came as a shock to me, as I have always been of the popular mindset that if you've seen one Friday the 13th movie, you've seen them all. Aside from that, it's not often you look at a horror series and are able to appreciate it as a large body of work. For instance, the Halloween series simply has good and bad entries, as does A Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. Sure, we could watch the whole series and separate the good from the bad, but I don't think I could step back and say the Halloween series is a great or even good cinematic experience. Collectively, it's decent at best.

Having not seen any of the Paramount Friday the 13th movies in many a moon, I decided I'd rise up to Jackson's challenge and see if I can share (or even detect) his enthusiasm for the series. The first picture, shot in 1979 and released in 1980, was Sean S. Cunningham's attempt to make his own version of Halloween. Having worked with Wes Craven on Last House on the Left, Cunningham wanted to put that experience behind him and make a straightforward popcorn movie. It's hard to know for sure if he planned on there being a sequel from the start. Naturally, the picture ends with an obvious opening, but the screenwriter, Victor Miller, didn't plan on the movie developing into a franchise. In fact, he was quite upset that Jason Voorhees became the killer in the future installments.

It makes sense the movie spawned a sequel; for it to have stood alone would have been really cheap, since the first picture feels like nothing more than an extended set up with no real payoff. Had Jason not been brought in as the basis for the next movie, the last third, in which his mother finally reveals herself to be the killer, would have come across as a hurried and tacked on plot device. That's the way it feels while watching the movie, anyway. The first hour and ten minutes basically consists of a group of teenagers getting killed off by an unseen killer (the POV technique from Halloween is clearly ripped off). When there's finally one potential victim left, the killer's identity is revealed, as is her motivation.

While her motivation would seem fair in a serious minded movie, Friday the 13th is only interested in making Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) batshit crazy. The twenty plus years since her son's death have driven her mad, and she acts as if his voice is driving her to kill anyone who sets foot on Crystal Lake. If the camp never opens again, it will keep another innocent child from drowning due to the careless and horny counselors. Even though she tragically lost a son, Mrs. Voorhees is never a character we can sympathize with, mostly because the movie portrays her as a campy villain. She screeches alot and talks in Jason's voice, both of which provoke laughter. It makes you wonder if this was the filmmaker's way of trying to keep the audience from taking her seriously.

Poor Jason is never seen sympathetically either, by the characters or the filmmakers. The only survivor, Alice (Adrienne King), dreams that he pops out of the water and turns over her canoe, automatically making her believe he's as loony as his mother when the bottom line is he was a defenseless child who unfairly lost his life. In return for his mother's actions, Jason is forced to spend eternity killing anyone who comes to Camp Crystal Lake. He is, at least in the beginning, seeking revenge for his mother's death, just as she was seeking revenge for his. But we'll get into that more as the series progresses.

Friday the 13th took a cue from Halloween in regards to its characters. Like the previous movie, this one involves a series of cardboard cutout teenagers who are not interesting and basically are alive just so they can get put on the chopping block. The movie plays a bit of a trick on us early on by killing its most likable character first. When I saw Annie (Robbi Morgan), who gets the obligatory warning of staying away from Crystal Lake, I was sure she'd be there until the end. But no, she turns out to be so happy and naive that it quickly gets the best of her. It's as if the movie is saying that anybody worth caring about needs to disappear as soon as possible.

Alice, the only one to make it out alive, is definitely drawn from the same cloth as Laurie Strode. She seems shy, is probably a virgin, and has a talent other than smoking pot and getting drunk. The movie establishes early that she will be the sole survivor by giving her and only her an actual admirable quality: she can draw. Another clue she will prevail comes during a game of strip Monopoly. When it is finally Alice's turn to remove her shirt, the game is ended due to bad weather. There are four or five other teenage characters, and we never even learn that much about them. The others, in fact, are practically indistinguishable. Interestingly, the picture opens in 1958, but the counselors shown look exactly like the ones in the present day. If the difference in the time period had not been noted, we never would have been able to tell them apart.

The violence in the picture is certainly more extreme than that of Halloween, but even still, it's not particularly shocking or scary. Most of the murders happen offscreen and we are only shown the aftermath (courtesy of Tom Savini). There is nothing overly brutal about what Mrs. Voorhees does; in other words, her goal is not to make the victims suffer. She just wants them to die as quickly as possible. For this reason, all the murders are inflicted to the neck or face of the victim, with Mrs. Voorhees getting it the worst (Alice lops her head off with a machete!). Part of the reason the murders are not effective is because the filmmakers are too eager to let us know we're looking at some fancy make up.

What hurts Friday the 13th the most is that its repetitive and boring. It's not appealing to look at (save a scene where Alice hides in a closet), the characters each make excuses to go off by themselves to get killed, and the finale overuses the old killer-that's-not-dead routine. It's strange how the movie is able to make us feel when its over as if nothing has really happened at all. And yet, it came out when the slasher genre was hitting its peak, so it went on to gross a then stellar $39 million domestically. It's not without areas of interest, as noted above, but the real sense of fascination will be to see how many of this movie's conventions and patterns follow through to future installments.


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Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008

So Far, So So: The Best of 2008

I guess it's my fault. I set my hopes so high that, given the overwhelming strength of the 2007 movie year, I was certain 2008 was going to follow closely in its footsteps. But as we've seen in the past, enthusiasm for a new movie year is extremely wishful thinking. Last time I got pumped up was after 1999, and 2000, despite some strong entries, didn't even come close to measuring up. Unless 2008 fires out a mind blowing fall lineup, this could end up being like many of the years this decade: a handful of impressive movies mixed into with a whole lotta garbage.

I've seen 24 movies so far this year; that doesn't seem like a lot at all when I scan my list. This time last year, I was ahead of that, because Hollywood was somehow managing to release one noteworthy movie after another. Don't get me wrong, the summer season has been better than I expected, but the first part of the year was the worst in recent memory. So, to try to put myself in a more positive state of mind for the rest of the movie year, here are my top five choices for the Best of 2008 up to the end of June.

5) The Strangers dir. Bryan Bertino

First time director Bryan Bertino proves he means business with this lean and mean home invasion thriller. He thoughtfully establishes his two main characters (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) before putting them in peril - a wise decision so we can sympathize with them when they start making bad choices. What makes it easy to overlook the characters' obvious mistakes is Bertino's natural ability to build tension, thanks to some amazing framing and hair raising editing. He's one of those rare filmmakers who is able to get effective mileage out of a limited setting. Throw in a thoroughly chilling conclusion and what we're left with is a surprising new talent whose career should be worth following.

4) Wall-E dir. Andrew Stanton

Part melancholy love story and part social critique, Andrew Stanton's latest animated feature is a work of heartbreaking genius. It's a visual achievement of considerable grace and features a romance between two robots who cannot say anything to each other besides their names. Despite this, the movie is stunningly romantic, mostly because of the level of sadness these metal characters are able to express on their faces (it's all in the eyes). The first half is almost dialogue free, creating a true sense of isolation and loneliness. Stanton is a splendid storyteller, though, and is able to keep us engrossed until the action moves to space and the movie becomes, for lack of a better word, busier. While the second half does bite off more than it can chew and has a bit too much slapstick, Wall-E nevertheless shines since it is able to show that humans aren't the only ones who can convincingly fall in love. The level of sacrifice on display between Wall-E and his lover Eve is as significant as any I've seen in quite sometime.

3) Be Kind Rewind dir. Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry continues his streak of movies about art as personal expression with a funny and touching tale of two friends (Jack Black and Mos Def) who become neighborhood celebrities when they start making their own versions of the movies at a lower end video store (all the tapes accidentally get erased). The picture shows that it's OK to take something you love and make it your own, and it's at its best when this idea is used to try and bring a dying community together. Combining elements of science fiction, comedy and historical fiction, Be Kind Rewind is a tribute to people who care about the movies, mainly when it comes to sharing them with others.

2) Hancock dir. Peter Berg

SPOILER WARNING! I don't know how Peter Berg does it. On the surface, his projects look like big budget spectacles for high profile stars. Peek under the lid, though, and what you'll find is thoughtful and, dare I say it, profound. In Hancock, Berg casts Will Smith as a drunken superhero who busts shit up whenever he comes to the rescue. While this set up provides plenty of big laughs, there are other themes brewing in the pot. Berg is a big fan of throwing social commentary into his pictures, and in Hancock, the themes revolve around the idea of having the world accept a black savior. If that weren't fascinating enough, the movie has the balls to name him John Hancock and to make a white woman, whom he loves, his kryptonite. Some have called the last half far fetched, but I don't think that's the point. Instead, look at what it's saying about the way the United States views it's heroes and what would be considered an "acceptable" relationship. Will Smith is the best he's ever been and Jason Bateman gets some nice supporting work as a PR man convinced he can save Hancock's negative image. Color me shocked to say that Hancock is the best surprise I've had so far this year.

1) Shotgun Stories dir. Jeff Nichols

Shot around his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, writer/director Jeff Nichols' debut feature invokes the same intimate feel of the early works of David Gordon Green (who serves as a producer). His locations prove to be characters of their own, since they in large part help us understand the lives and actions of the people who inhabit them. Michael Shannon (Bug) is fantastic as the oldest of three brothers struggling to get by. Their world gets a little less sturdy when their father dies and it creates a feud between them and their half brothers - four boys their father cared about more than them. The movie is constantly at risk of turning into a stale melodrama but Nichols has a clear understanding of how to build character and keep what little violence is necessary off screen. Not to say he doesn't make some small mistakes, as most first time filmmakers do, but on the whole, he's crafted a lightly engrossing portrait of small town life, hauntingly scored by his older brother Ben (the front man of the Memphis band, Lucero) and vividly shot by cinematographer Adam Stone.


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Copyright, Hell and Beyond, 2008