"Friday the 13th"

So a remake of Friday the 13th is being put into production. This is horrible news right? A remake of The Fog was horrible news, a remake of When a Stranger Calls is just as bad, but a remake of Friday the 13th is different. In this case we’re not talking about a single movie being re-done for a new generation; we’re talking about an entire franchise being reinvented. If anyone reading this has read “Ultimate Spider-man” or “All-Star Superman” you will have an idea at what I am getting at. Jason is a character that has been around for almost 3 decades, along with his other slasher fiends from the 80’s they have become a living pantheon of American movie icons. Just like the Universal Monsters before them they have taken on a life outside of the movies they are portrayed in. However most main stream audience members are not versed in Jason’s history, they just know he is a crazy guy wearing a hockey mask and killing camp counselors. They don’t know Jason has been replaced by ans EMT, taken Manhattan, gone to hell, and recently killed in space. The guys history is confusing and at times down right silly. So here is my main point of argument. I do not watch Friday the 13th and Jason films to see a compelling plots and characters of the highest acting quality, I watch them to see a maniac in a hockey mask hack and slash. I am sure many other hardcore fans of the genre also watch for this reason.
Since the release of Freddy VS Jason both of the icons have garnered much more respect in the general minds of a mass audience. Jason X however bombed, so what we are looking at with a remake of Friday the 13th is not a chance to go back and recreate scene by scene the original classic from 1980, but a chance to go back and re-imagine Jason for a more current audience. Take him and put him back in his natural setting with his archetypical group of teenage campers setting him off on a murderous rampage. This remake can very quickly look at the aspect of Mrs. Voorhees being the first murderer, than move on to Jason being awakened after his mom’s death and then on to him gaining the mask. It could actually be a remake of the first three films all rolled together. It would be like when Evil Dead 2 came out and recreated the first one and then moved on to an entirely new cast and story.
So now that I have thrown that out there, once this movie comes out and mass audiences see it is a return to old school Jason that made him popular, but repackaged for a new audience with new fears and a more expectations for special effects and death scenes, I believe it will make a killing at the box office. Not to mention the release date being a Friday the 13th, it is all great idea to bring Jason back into the main stream movie going audience that he deserves. To hardcore fans it may seem like a departure from his roots, but it is also giving him a chance to start over. Everyone in life wishes they go that chance, and Jason is getting the opportunity to do so. The makers of the films have learned from past mistakes and now may understand how to use the character properly and bring him into the glory he once basked in over 20 years ago.
Now many people may ask why the need for a remake and not just a sequel bringing him back to greatness. That is simply a matter of the times we live in. Trust me I would love it if they could just finally get a sequel to create buzz over the character but since the entirety of Hollywood is on the remake bandwagon they have decided to join. I personally was beyond upset when I first heard this, but now thinking of the possibility of seeing Jason put back where he belongs and hopefully expanding on this new mythology with another 10 sequels, I am quite happy. I cannot wait for this release and hopefully the subsequent announcement of the sequel.