Like its 11 predecessors, it's a primal experience, all sex and jolts and violence and blood, and forget any kind of connecting thread.
Friday the 13th (2009)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:157
Fresh:40
Rotten:117
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: Though technically well-constructed, Friday the 13th is a series rehash that features little to distinguish it from its predecessors.
Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for strong bloody violence, some graphic sexual content, language and drug material.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:13-02-2009
Synopsis: Following his remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, director Marcus Nispel tackles 1980's slasher favorite to bring unstoppable killing machine Jason Voorhees to a new generation of gorehounds.... Following his remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, director Marcus Nispel tackles 1980's slasher favorite to bring unstoppable killing machine Jason Voorhees to a new generation of gorehounds. Lasting 10 films and going to any length (including New York City and outer space) to provide Jason with fresh meat, the FRIDAY THE 13th series was always about inventive death scenes. Nispel streamlines the events of the original (where Jason’s mother was the killer) into an extended prologue before providing an original story in which Jason begins his killing spree and finds his iconic mask. Decades after the death of Jason's mother, a group of twentysomethings descends on the backwoods town near abandoned Camp Crystal Lake in search of a rumored marijuana crop. Whitney Miller (Amanda Righetti) finds the old Voorhees house and discovers a locket revealing that she resembles Jason’s mother. Jason (Derek Mears) arrives and, thinking she is his mother reincarnated, holds Whitney captive. Weeks later, Trent (Travis Van Winkle) and his friends arrive to stay at his father’s vacation home, while Clay (Jared Padalecki) shows up to look for his missing sister Whitney. Meanwhile, Jason finds a hockey mask to cover his startling face and begins to satisfy his bloodlust with the hard-partying new arrivals. Working once again with producer Michael Bay, Nispel crafts a FRIDAY "reboot" that is slick and well-made, giving audiences exactly what they expect from the franchise: blood and breasts in equal measure. With knowing humor, he plunges directly into the saga, leaving the titles until 15 minutes into the film, at which point Jason has already dispatched several victims. After that, there is topless waterskiing and death by a wealth of means, all of which will have fans glad to have Jason back from outer space. [More]
Starring: Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle
Starring: Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle, Aaron Yoo, Derek Mears
Director: Marcus Nispel
Director: Marcus Nispel
Screenwriter: Damian Shannon, Mark Swift
Producer: Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form, Sean Cunningham
Composer: Steve Jablonsky
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Friday the 13th
Nispel, Shannon and Swift had all the tools at their disposal to create death scenes that are both unique and shocking, but there is really only one slaying that is remotely notable, and that involves a topless woman hiding underneath a boat pier.
The 'Friday' movies are about the fear of death -- especially violent, untimely death, the type that is most scary to the teenagers who flock to the films. Jason is the car that runs a red light and kills a kid on the way to the prom...
Maybe I am just desensitized, but this movie should have been a lot scarier, a lot more brutal and not the same old slasher movie we have seen a billion times.
If you really want to see this movie just go home and rent Friday the 13th parts 1-3 and if you want to see the best film in the series rent part 6.
As far as re-imaginings go, this was a good relaunch. Fans of the series won't be disappointed, if you don't like horror or Jason then this movie isn't for you. It knows it's audience and plays to it.
Less like a remake than just another tired sequel, the new film puts Jason through the same old moves with all the finese of a blind choreographer directing an arthritic dancer.
This 'Friday' is simply a pointless exercise beyond paying off Michael Bay's seventh mortgage
There isn't much of a plot to speak of unless "blade wielding psychopath slaughters one teenager after another" counts as a plot synopsis.
This film is (be)head and shoulders above the recently reanimated likes of Prom Night and My Bloody Valentine.
To say the new film is better shot and cut than those barebones gorefests of the Reagan era is to say nothing much, as even series fans would agree.
The remake of Friday the 13th makes the remake of Halloween look like the remake of Psycho.
I have no idea what appeal anyone can find in this tired formula, especially when it's used so poorly here, 13 years after Scream parodied it so brilliantly.
The original isn't exactly Hitchcock, but the re-makers sure treat it that way.
Nothing says Valentine's Day like a machete wielding, hockey mask wearing psycho killer! Go for the laughs, not for the shocks or the screams.
A miserable failure that maintains no attempt to reimagine the villain, the cliches, or the bloody kills and it becomes a depressing experience that offers zero enjoyment and even less fright.
Another slasher flick that will ultimately be as influential or memorable as the mediocre sequels that followed one of the most influential horror movies of all time.
As impossible as such a thing would seem to be, this new version of "Friday the 13th"--whether you call it a remake, a reimagining, a reboot or a continuation is a flat-out atrocity that doesn't even clear the absurdly low bar set by the lesser sequels.
This Friday the 13th is glossy, good-looking garbage, acted out by a cast of big-chested androids (male and female alike) and with the original series' rough edges smooved over.
Latest News for Friday the 13th
October 06, 2009:
Friday the 13th Sequel Scheduled for August 2010 ![]()
Mark your calendars, hockey fans -- Jason Voorhees is returning to theaters August 13, 2010, in the sequel to the "Friday the 13th" remake! More...
June 16, 2009:
Producers Talk Next Friday the 13th Sequel, Birds Remake ![]()
Producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller are behind the rebooted "Friday the 13th" series and Platinum Dunes' gestating remake of "The Birds" -- both of which they discussed in a... More...
June 15, 2009:
RT on DVD: Friday the 13th, New Madea, and Lost Hits Blu-ray!
Are you ready for the return of Jason Voorhees (Marcus Nispel's rebooted Friday the 13th)? What about the latest adventures of Tyler Perry's most popular protagonist (Madea Goes... More...
February 27, 2009:
New Line Looking Forward to Next Friday the 13th ![]()
Surprise! New Line and Platinum Dunes are already plotting a sequel to their wildly popular "Friday the 13th" reboot! More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- Friday the 13th at Rotten Tomatoes
- Friday the 13th at IGN
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

