Friday the 13th Film Series Review

Recently I've been trying to watch popular horror film series' that I've never got around to watching. After completing Hellraiser and Nightmare On Elm Street (which I should have written up but sadly did not) I am now on the Friday the 13th film series. A series that help popularise the slasher genre (the first film being regarded as one of the first true slasher films) and created one of the most famous horror icons Jason Voorhees. Here I shall look at 12 films in the series (including the crossover and remake) and my thoughts on them.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Regarded as one the first true Slasher films, Friday the 13th has all the famous genre cliches (some of which it invented and would be used throughout the entire series) and when looked at in modern times has nothing to make it standout from all the slasher films that followed. It's the basic teenagers at a camp site getting killed off one by one by a mysterious killer who isn't revealed til the very end and is confronted by the final girl. A very simple generic plot but Slasher films have always been more about the kills, suspense, mystery and final confrontation then about interesting deep narratives, characters and stories (that's not to say these  don't exist in some). Also as iconic as he is now, Jason Voorhees is actually hardly in this first movie, having only a bit of screen time as a kid (including a scene which terrified me when I was younger). Instead the focus here is on Jason's mother played by Betsy Palmer who I think does a great job as playing the psycho Mom type.The film itself is actually very entertaining, Tom Saviini does the effects, so you get some nice bloody moments though these may seem alot tamer compared to today's standards, and the final confrontation is enjoyable too. Overall it's a solid start to the series that's well executed. ***1/2




Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

The second film in the franchise sees Jason take center stage as the killer for the first time. Not with his famed hockey mask though, but a sack over his head (which is surprisingly effective and actual scarier than the mask). This literally has the same plot as the first film except with Jason as the killer, with nothing really added and the same kind of structure. So again your typical slasher which is still manages to be quite entertaining considering particularly with the final confrontation. ***

Climates (2006)

Climates is a small Turkish drama about a couples relationship breaking down It is steadily paced with good cinematography that includes lots of long static shots and has strong central performances, as well as featuring one rather uncomfortable scene. It's a solid movie whose rather subdued approach works well but at the same time feels like it needed a little more substance to be something great. Nonetheless what we get is still a very interestingly done drama overall. ***1/2

Love (2015)

Gaspar Noe's latest film is a 3D drama about sex and love, and honestly it was rather dissapointing. The film is undoubtly well shot, full of beautiful long static and slow moving shots with the usual Noe colour palette featuring lots of red. However the rest of the film itself is only slightly interesting, it follows some guy called  Murphy as he remembers his past with his former girlfriend  whilst being stuck in the present depressed with an accidental kid. It's full of the expected explicit unsimulated sex scenes, but it all just feels a bit lackluster and stagnant, lacking the real kick it needs to make it truly good, which is the problem when the main focus of Noe's seemed be filming the real sex rather than anything else.The film still isn't bad though and is decent overall, it's just disappointing that it doesn't live up to the same strength of his previous work. ***

Slow West (2015)

Slow West is an entertaining little action Western film from last year starring Kodi Smit-Mcphee and Michael Fassbender. It's really well shot and has an off-beat tone that definitely has a Coen Brothers type feel to it. Performances are also pretty good and there's a really nice shootout in it. It's short 84 minute run time, flys by fast and overall this is a very enjoyable solid western (particularly for a directorial debut) that's certainly worth checking out.
***1/2

The Hateful Eight (2015)

I had the absolute pleasure of watching this in its true format, Ultra Panavision 70mm and it was beautiful. The movie was pretty darn good too, a visually stunning western with a fantastic musical score, Tarantino's usual great written dialogue and lots bloody moments. I actually enjoyed this more than Django and think it might be one of my favourites of his (though that might be the Ultra Pan 70mm talking).  Everyone is on top form acting wise too leading to some engaging and at times very funny performances. It's dark, twisted, funny, a tad too long in it's first half but ultimately a thoroughly entertaining love letter to the western genre with classic genre elements meeting Tarantino's usual stylistic flair.
****

Creed (2015)

Rocky returns but this time to train Apollo Creed's son in a surprisingly solid boxing flick that is one of the best films in the Rocky franchise. It has good dramatic weight with strong performances all around even from Stallone who is on form for the first time in a while. The film is also really well shot including a boxing match that is done in one 'continuous' take. It's nothing new or stand out plot wise but the execution is strong leading to a very enjoyable movie.
Overall a very good boxing film that fits nicely into the Rocky franchise,
***1/2

Dilwale (2015)

This is the first actual Bollywood film I've ever watched let alone in the cinema, I've always known about how excessive they are meant to be and this action romantic comedy didn't dissappoint. A fun 154 minute ride filled with melodrama, romance, comedy, action with the odd musical number thrown in for good measure. Also don't forget the countless slo-mo shots and music cue. It's overwritten, ridiculous and tonally all over the place, but it was alot of fun to watch.
An overall good time, if you're not super picky about how films are made.
***