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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Friday the 13th: Extended Cut (2009) (Blu-ray)

Friday the 13th: Extended Cut (2009) (Blu-ray)

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Released 21-Jul-2009

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Horror Featurette-The Rebirth Of Jason Vorhees
Featurette-Hacking Back / Slashing Forward
Deleted Scenes
Featurette-The 7 Best Kills
Rating Rated R
Year Of Production 2009
Running Time 105:28
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Marcus Nispel
Studio
Distributor
Platinum Dunes
Paramount Home Entertainment
Starring Jared Padalecki
Danielle Panabaker
Amanda Righetti
Derek Mears
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI $59.95 Music Steve Jablonsky


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
Dutch
Danish
Finnish
Norwegian
Swedish
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement Yes, mildly
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     As I said before, one critic whom I used to read with some frequency because he was featured in a TV guide called the Friday The 13th series the "ultimate in recycling". According to his critique, it was easy to reach the point where one could no longer tell exactly which episode of the lengthy series one was watching. At the time this critique was written, the series still only consisted of eight films, and with a couple of very minor exceptions, this description was eerily correct.

     Then New Line Cinema acquired the right to make parts nine and ten of the series, and a small amount of variation began to creep into it. Not a lot, when you get down to tacks, but enough to differentiate those two episodes. After a long called-for (by idiot fans) crossover with another seemingly endless horror franchise, the producers then announced that they were doing the unthinkable: they were making a remake of the original Friday The 13th.

     Remake is a bit of a loose description of a mildly complex situation, however. On a recent boxed set release, this episode was not described as a remake, but rather Part 12 (said boxed set being labelled "Parts 2, 3 & 12"). In practical terms, this film is a remake, but it shakes things up by incorporating elements of the first three films and adding something the franchise has never had before: a credible plotline (believe me, I am as surprised as you other Children Of The '80s). In order to differentiate this film from its predecessors, I will simply refer to it as Part 12 going forward.

     Beginning with a prologue that is based on the climax of the original, Part 12 opens with the usual FT13 scenario. Bunch of stupid twenty-somethings posing as late teens go camping (but with a credible motivation to be at the location for a change), cross paths with Jason, get killed or go missing, end of story. Almost. Where this episode mixes things up a bit is that a man who describes himself as a brother of one of the campers comes by the area, looking for her. Also in the scenario are a fresh bunch of campers/idiots who want to have a good time regardless of whose expense it is at.

     Okay, the story is still very threadbare, but compared to the FT13 franchise's usual threadbare kit plot, it at least has the virtue of a credible introduction-motivation-resolution arc. Also helping the film's case are real production values, decent acting (most of the time), and a small element of surprise. To call this a big surprise coming from the same producers that brought us the vapid remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its prequel is an understatement. Even though this is only Faust or Milton by comparison to the original FT13, I cannot help but wonder whether slasher films would be treated with more respect today if the original had been given this extent of plot development.

     Roger Ebert, easily the best film critic of the last century, writes up this episode far more effectively than I could ever hope to accomplish right here. What made me laugh in this review, particularly, is his explanation that fear of the titular day is scientifically termed paraskavedekatriaphobia. Like him, I can see that being the beginning of a new horror franchise. Paraskavedekatriaphobia: Jason Acts As A Proxy For The Producer And Shakes His Ding-Dong At The Audience, for instance.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Part 12 was released in theatres early in 2009, and the video transfer mostly reflects this. The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 within a 1920 by 1080 window. As every transfer on this format should be when the right source material is available, it is progressive.

     The transfer is sharp. So much so that the attention paid to costume, make-up, and continuity really shines through. Unlike other episodes in this canon, the shadow detail is also very good, with everything that the director wanted to be visible in dark scenes visible. No low-level noise was evident.

     Also reflecting the recent vintage of the film, the colours are very vibrant and well-balanced. In contrast to other films of recent years, it seems the makers have gone for a natural balance, rather than making everything teal and orange for the most part. Although the colour balance changes a little during darker scenes, likely on purpose, no misregistration, bleeding, or other colour artefacting is evident.

     The transfer is compressed in the MPEG-4, AVCHD codec, and did not appear to contain any compression artefacts. Although there are some occasional questionable camerawork decisions that give a telecine wobble sort of appearance, no real film to video artefacts appear in this transfer, either. Oddly enough for such a recently-made film, however, film artefacts are occasionally visible. There are maybe a couple dozen instances scattered through the feature, small enough to escape notice most of the time, but one small white mark as the really idiotic campers arrive at their destination raised an eyebrow.

     Subtitles in English and English for the Hearing Impaired are offered on this disc. They are accurate, well-timed, and contain a few good aural cues. The former is an option not referred to at all in the menus.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Also reflective of this film's recent vintage is the audio transfer. Surprisingly, only one soundtrack is offered on this disc: a Dolby TrueHD version of the original English dialogue in 5.1 channels.

     The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times, all the better to judge how asinine a good portion of the dialogue still is. No problems with audio sync were noted.

     The score music in the film is credited to one Steve Jablonsky, whose other credits include such… gems, I will call them, as the Transformers (in name only) features of recent years, or the recent remakes of The Hitcher and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The score is competent and hits all of the right notes, but does nothing to distinguish itself from other recent horror film remakes. That said, it is an improvement upon other episodes of this canon. A number of contemporary songs are scattered throughout the film, but these only serve to reinforce the sheer vapidity of most of the characters.

     The surround channels are more or less constantly used for music, directional effects, and ambient sounds. In outdoor sequences, they get a fair amount of use as environmental sounds are directed around the viewer. When the action shifts to indoor settings, on the other hand, their use becomes significantly more sporadic. In either case, the sound field keeps the proceedings nice and creepy on most occasions. The subwoofer is used for bass-heavy sound effects such as axes hitting bodies or bodies hitting the floor. When it is used, it is used effectively.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     A small collection of extras are present on this disc. All are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with film footage in 2.35:1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

Picture-In-Picture

     Listed as a Picture In Picture with a trivia track, this feature mostly consists of the featurettes listed below placed in a 1.78:1 window in the lower right corner of the screen. Some additional material appears to have been included to flesh the track out a little, but aside from the occasional trivia anecdote, this is nothing to get excited about.

Featurette - The Rebirth Of Jason Vorhees

     Just under eleven and a half minutes, this featurette concerns itself with how Jason the character was tweaked and tuned in order to fit a more fleshed-out, developed story. Interesting to note is how Derek Mears, the Jason of this instalment, is a taller but leaner figure than what most consider to be the best of the previous Jasons (Kane Hodder for those who did not grow up during the 1980s) in acting terms.

Featurette - Hacking Back / Slashing Forward

     Slightly less than twelve minutes, another electronic press kit, but with some funny, genuinely entertaining moments. However, Andrew Form uses the word "fun" a few too many times too quickly. The better anecdotes concern how Jason was tweaked in subtle ways to make this film a better viewing experience.

Deleted Scenes

     Listed as "Alternate Scenes" in the menu, the collection begins with a warning that they are intended only for mature audiences. No kidding. For eight minutes and nineteen seconds, we get collections of sequences that were left on the cutting room floor but resemble or adjoin ones that made it into the finished film. With one exception, none of these deletions would have added anything.

Featurettes - The 7 Best Kills

     A collection of featurettes with an intro and seven scenes in which one of the characters are killed. Total running time is twenty-two and a half minutes. The introduction is enough to make me wonder whether any of the people who worked on this film have seen RoboCop. They are not that special, boys and girls. What is interesting, on the other hand, is the coverage of the technical processes by which the illusions were accomplished.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     The Region A disc apparently includes both the theatrical version of the film and the "director's cut" (which is what we get on this disc) with seamless branching. Also included is a digital copy (yawn) and BD-Live previews of "upcoming" content (bigger yawn). Although the absence of these features on the local disc is regrettable, we are not missing much without them. The decision as to which release to purchase therefore rests with the individual viewer.

Summary

     A good Friday The 13th film, you say? Well, relative to other FT13 flicks, it at least has a plot. But other than that, there really is not a great deal to see here. Some of the performers, specifically Jared Padalecki, Amanda Righetti and Derek Mears deserve a chance to prove their chops in something better. Still, one cannot help but wonder whether slasher flicks in general would be treated with a little more respect today if the original FT13 film's story had at least been up to this standard.

     The video transfer is excellent, even if the presence of film artefacts in such a recent work is a little disconcerting. The audio transfer is excellent.

     The extras are small in number, and somewhat limited in value, but at least worth watching once for amusement.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Dean McIntosh (Don't talk about my bio. We don't wanna know.)
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Review Equipment
DVDPanasonic DMP-BD45, using HDMI output
DisplayPanasonic TH-P50U20A. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationOnkyo TX-SR606
SpeakersYamaha NS-45 Front Speakers, Yamaha NS-90 Rear Speakers, Wharfedale Xarus 1000 Rear Speakers, Yamaha NSC-120 Centre Speaker, Wharfedale Diamond SW150 Subwoofer

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