PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Whether you consider it a remake or a sequel, Marcus Nispel’s Friday the 13th (2009) was one of the early 2000’s best revival horror films. Alongside Nispel’s other venture, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), and larger-than-life re-imaginings like Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th gave new generations and old fans alike, a long overdue trip to Camp Crystal Lake and a terrifying look at one of the most iconic and formidable slashers in horror history: Jason Voorhees.
Unfortunately, the film was also the pebble that sent a litigious ripple through Crystal Lake that would take decades to calm. As we prepare for Peacock’s upcoming Crystal Lake series, let’s revisit the lake ourselves, and I’ll try to clear up some of the confusion we’ve suffered at the absence of our beloved summer camp slasher.
So, is it a sequel or a remake? Well, I guess that’s a little subjective. If you want to get technical about it, the simple fact that Jason starts a baghead before finding an old hockey mask in one of his victims’ barns makes it a remake. My understanding is that Friday the 13th (2009) is an amalgamation of parts II through IV, but it also pays respect to those films with awesome Easter Eggs that only a seasoned Friday the 13th fan will catch, not necessarily discrediting those films, but in a way confirming that they happened within the 2009 film’s timeline. Confused yet? Okay well, hang on to your machetes, kids, because this doesn’t get any easier.
First things first, we are treated with a very pared-down retelling of the original Friday the 13th origin story which took place in 1980. Jason’s mother, Pamela Voorhees, murders the counselors at Camp Crystal Lake out of revenge for the neglectful acts of former counselors that caused her son, Jason, to drown. But one girl survived – Alice beheads the crazed woman and escapes the camp. We’re ignoring the rest of the films for now, so don’t worry about her fate.
Now it’s a present day at Camp Crystal Lake, and a group of twenty-somethings are on the hunt for a rumored crop of Mary Jane in the woods near the old abandoned camp. As the sun sets, they have to give up the search and set up camp where they drink, share scary stories, and of course, copulate.
We all know how this scenario generally ends at Camp Crystal Lake.
Six weeks later, Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki, Supernatural 2005-20) is searching for his missing sister, Whitney (Amanda Righetti, Return to House on Haunted Hill 2007). (Their surname is an homage to original Friday the 13th (1980) screenwriter, Victor Miller – more on him later.) While asking permission to hang “missing” fliers in a storefront, Clay has the unfortunate luck of running into rich boy, Trent (Travis Van Winkle, Transformers 2007), and his group of friends on their way to Crystal Lake for a wild (but not too wild) getaway at his parents’ vacation home.
Clay receives an unnerving warning from one local woman when she tells him his sister isn’t missing, she’s dead because he just wants to be left alone. Who is he, you ask? It’s Jason Voorhees, all grown up and trying to live his life if it weren’t for all the lookie-loos, curious about the site of the early 80s camp massacre.
But Whitney Miller is, in fact, still alive. Her only saving grace is her uncanny resemblance to a young Pamela Voorhees. Jason keeps her chained up in the underground tunnels that allow him to live in and navigate Camp Crystal Lake unnoticed.
Some argue that Jason was “special” and therefore, wouldn’t be able to survive past boyhood on his own, let alone build a complicated system of tunnels beneath the camp. I would remind you that we never really knew the extent of Jason’s cognitive abilities. And honestly, he’s always been more than meets the eye, outsmarting some of the most able-bodied adults and teens.
The Jason we received in Friday the 13th (2009) was more dark, realistic, and human than we had ever seen before. He’s territorial and vulnerable. He doesn’t kill people at random, he is protecting his camp, himself, and the tokens that he perceives as his mother (her severed head and Whitney). Rather than seemingly appear out of nowhere and manage to be everywhere at once, we see that he has indeed, created a tunnel system that allows him cover when needed, and to move freely without being noticed. Derek Mears (Swamp Thing, 2019) portrays this iteration of Jason and has said that his inspiration was John Rambo of First Blood (1982). A traumatized man just trying to survive who wants to be left alone.
Effects artist, Scott Stoddard wanted to show a more human side of Jason, yet remain true to the look of the character. He created a combination of Carl Fullerton’s design in Friday the 13th: Part II (1981) and Tom Savini’s in The Final Chapter (1984). This included hair loss, skin rashes, and recognizable facial deformities, as well as a hump on the back to simulate kyphosis.
As far as the script goes, it is everything you would want from a Friday the 13th film and more. Teenage debauchery, an impressive body count, inventive kills, chuckles right alongside screams, and the potential for more. There was a sequel planned for the following year, but that never happened.
Now, let’s dive into why we haven’t seen Jason in 15 years.
There are tons of articles out there that attempt to demystify this mess in layman’s terms, but I’m going to do my best to condense it down to the most important parts so that you can see why this has affected you as a horror fan for so many years.
Original Friday the 13th (1980) writer, Victor Miller, felt that Friday the 13th (2009) was written as a sequel rather than a remake so that the studios would be able to pay him less. So he took legal action because he felt misled and cheated. He lost that initial battle and was paid less. He was surprised, then, to see that the film was later marketed as a remake.
So you see, this didn’t start out as a “who owns all the rights” fight. Friday the 13th (2009) was co-produced by New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures because though Paramount had sold the rights to New Line in the 90s, New Line wanted to make this film with the ability to use all of the scenarios and characters for their reboot without worry. So the issue was never with them. They worked all of that out by settling to co-produce.
Miller was never involved with another Friday the 13th movie after the original in 1980, but Sean Cunningham (director, Friday the 13th, 1980) was involved in a lot of the projects as a producer. Miller decided to pursue further legal action based on the 1976 Copyright Law which states an author can petition for a transfer of copyright after 35 years. Cunningham claimed that the idea for Friday the 13th and the character of Jason Voorhees was his and Victor Miller was merely a writer-for-hire.
Copyright law is always complicated because it’s not based on the idea itself, but on the execution of the idea.
So the judge ruled in favor of Victor Miller. Sean Cunningham appealed the decision, but in September 2021, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the original ruling.
What does this mean for the franchise?
Well, I guess we’ll find out with A24 and Peacock’s highly anticipated series, Crystal Lake, which doesn’t seem to be moving forward very quickly, but has a legacy waiting in the wings: Adrienne King – the original final girl, herself.
In the meantime, I highly recommend you sit back, relax, and enjoy Friday the 13th (2009). It is an excellent addition to one of horror’s biggest and best franchises. It’s currently streaming on Max.
Can’t get enough Jason Voorhees in your life? Check out our Friday marathon coverage from the last calendar Friday the 13th!
