Friday the 13th (2009)

Friday the 13th is a 2009 American slasher film written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, and directed by Marcus Nispel. The film is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series, which began in 1980, and is the twelfth installment in the franchise. Nispel also directed the 2003 remake of Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Shannon and Swift wrote the screenplay for the 2003 crossover Freddy vs. Jason. Friday the 13th follows Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki) as he searches for his missing sister, Whitney (Amanda Righetti), who is captured by Jason Voorhees (Derek Mears) while camping in woodland at Crystal Lake.

The 2009 film was originally conceived as an origin story, but the project evolved into a re-imagining of the first four Friday the 13th films. The character Jason Voorhees was redesigned as a lean, quick killer with a backstory that allows the viewer to feel a little sympathy for him, but not enough that he would lose his menace. Although this film rewrote the continuity, Jason's iconic hockey mask— which was not introduced until the third film in the series—is acquired during the film. In keeping with the tone of the film, Jason's mask was recreated from a mold of the original mask used for Part III; though there were subtle changes. Friday the 13th includes some of Harry Manfredini's musical score from the previous Friday the 13th films because the producers recognized its iconic status.

Friday the 13th was released in theaters on Friday, February 13, 2009. It received mainly negative reviews and earned approximately US$19 million on its opening night and $40 million during its opening weekend, when it broke two records; the highest-earning opening day for the film series and the highest-earning opening weekend for any horror film. As of July 2014, it is the second-highest grossing film in the Friday the 13th film series ($65 million), and has earned over $91.3 million worldwide.

Synopsis

On June 13, 1980, a young Jason Voorhees (Caleb Guss) watches as his mother Pamela (Nana Visitor) is beheaded by a camp counselor (Stephanie Rhodes), who was trying to escape Mrs. Voorhees's murder spree around Camp Crystal Lake. Almost 30 years later, a group of vacationing friends—Wade (Jonathan Sadowski), Richie (Ben Feldman), Mike (Nick Mennell), Whitney (Amanda Righetti) and Amanda (America Olivo)—arrive at Crystal Lake on a camping trip to search for marijuana growing in the woods. That night, Jason (Derek Mears), now an adult, begins to kill members of the group, but spares Whitney and abducts her because she resembles Pamela at a young age.

Actors