The proper 21st-century reboot the franchise needed and best F13 film in 10+ entries and 27 years, this colder and animalistically-aggressive reimagine of the lore and Camp Crystal Lake goes back to its roots and – from its mythical summarization opening scene onward – reminds us that this franchise can be great under correct supervision – with some original twists and a star-centric cast. 6.5/10.

Full Review Coming Soon

Plot Synopsis: Against the advice of locals and police, Clay (Jared Padalecki) scours the eerie woods surrounding Crystal Lake for his missing sister. But the rotting cabins of an abandoned summer camp are not the only things he finds. Hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees lies in wait for a chance to use his razor-sharp machete on Clay and the group of college students who have come to the forest to party.

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Pros: Arguably the most iconic Friday The 13th scene ever and one of the most iconic horror movie scenes ever in the opening Friday 1 tribute scene updating it for the 21st century in a visually STUNNING and phenomenally-portrayed and executed (and effects-driven with the silver tint) way showing the whole story of Jason’s backstory, funnier than most past fridays with the opening camp group (hilarious), fantastic location settings and cinematography with a more artful look and visuals and shot set-ups – effects better too of course with 21st century tech, one of the craziest openings (even post credits when the group goes camping) I’ve seen in a horror movie in years with brutal, fast-paced horror, nice homages to the series’ history like the opening Mrs. Voorhees scene and Jason wearing the Part 2 bedsheet and when he finds the iconic mask, Jason is bigger, faster, and more brutal than ever which is a pro as far as I’m concerned as he’s scarier and more effective in delivering the horror, the girls in the movie are stunning especially Danielle Panabaker, college actors and actresses give off the bad teenager vibe better than previous fridays, some imaginative horror scenes – give credit as it’s hard to do 12 movies in to a franchise,  explain a lot about Jason’s backstory and the behind-the-scenes workings of how he seems to be omnipotent and able to so effectively carry out his mission – things like the trip wires and bells ringing to notify him of someone’s location, adds some depth to Jason like him keeping the girl alive because she looks like his mom, certainly action-heavy and fast-paced, good ending refrencing the originals

Cons: Over-reliance on jump scares, the forever dark and eerie atmosphere makes the whole movie feel the same – horror is more effective (regardless of brutality which this one surpasses in) when it’s alternated between lights and darks like the original was when you (and the counselors) were still learning if the camp was innocent or not, HUGE flaw in that it doesn’t take place in Camp Crystal Lake and none of the victims are camp counselors….. Jason’s one M.O. – a pretty laughably stupid oversight by the directors, Can be a little too brutal for most horror viewers (burned alive, headshot with arrow, cut in half, etc.), admittedly a lot of the same formula as the original fridays – but then again in the 12th movie in the series it’s kind of hard to find new methods of doing the same thing, acting poor in parts, too many characters crowding the canvas – horror more effective when you can actually somewhat invest in the people, ending was good referencing the originals but could’ve been great if executed better with more finality, location setting just seems off and non-authentic to Camp Crystal Lake – it was shot in Texas and you can tell: it’s too hot and arid-looking to be New Jersey woods like Friday 1..

Official CLC Score: 6.5/10