I thought this movie was highly well made. Just from a film technicality side, it has a lot to offer. It has some very gorgeous shots. I thought that the color grading was very well done. Our main character's acting was on par or better than most large budget horror films today. The makeup and effects were all on point. All these components make this feel like so much more than a so-called fan-made film.
This take on the Crystal Lake universe should be taken into high consideration for any reboot being considered in the future. I understand there is a legal battle between the franchise and Victor Miller, so that may be a very long ways away (if ever). This is exactly what I was looking for in a reboot film where the past reboot of 2009 fell short in every single way. It threw out any formula that tickled the nostalgia of Jason lovers from generations past. It felt so much more nimble. Which, in turn, made it so much more suspenseful. The nostalgia they did offer up came through a much more organic and fresh take with the usage of the crime scene markers. It gave us a little tour of the notable crime scenes from the past Friday movies.
It did, however, have some shortcomings. Some notable con are continuity errors which are a result of poor writing. Like how the ambulance shows up literally out of nowhere with zero explanation as to how it got there. Our protagonist goes blank out in the middle of nowhere and wakes up fully strapped to a gurney without any connection as to how they got out into the woods or how the found him. This introduction of the paramedics came to viewers with very poor acting from the only characters other than our protagonist and antagonist thus far which really makes the pacing come briefly unhinged. Despite all that, the ambulance became a literal vehicle to shift direction in the film from action thriller to psychological thriller. This could have went very wrong, but ended up making for some of the better content in the movie. In this scene, our director Vincente DiSanti also gives a strong nod to Alfono Cuarón's film adaptation of the novel Children of Men through the use of very well executed first-person view tracking shot that adds a tsunami of suspense as the film reseats itself comfortably in this new direction.
A few other minor notable pitfalls in production I felt took away from the experience that are worth noting are: the sound mixing-particularly Jason's footsteps. Overuse of the "found footage" solo cam. I understand this film technique was probably to help move the story along while also probably help save on budget for some of the filming. At first, it left me a little confused as what type of movie they were going for. I think it could have done with a little less. Also, the camera frame on the go pro made for a little too obvious of a visual cue for when it was found footage. This is really all semantics when looking at the grand scope of this extremely well executed independent made "fan film." I think if this was given the same budget and backing as the 2009 reboot, this would have made for the best Friday movie since the first 3. Kudos to all involved; most especially DiSanti who not only wrote and directed the film, but also slayed it as Jason (pun intended).
This take on the Crystal Lake universe should be taken into high consideration for any reboot being considered in the future. I understand there is a legal battle between the franchise and Victor Miller, so that may be a very long ways away (if ever). This is exactly what I was looking for in a reboot film where the past reboot of 2009 fell short in every single way. It threw out any formula that tickled the nostalgia of Jason lovers from generations past. It felt so much more nimble. Which, in turn, made it so much more suspenseful. The nostalgia they did offer up came through a much more organic and fresh take with the usage of the crime scene markers. It gave us a little tour of the notable crime scenes from the past Friday movies.
It did, however, have some shortcomings. Some notable con are continuity errors which are a result of poor writing. Like how the ambulance shows up literally out of nowhere with zero explanation as to how it got there. Our protagonist goes blank out in the middle of nowhere and wakes up fully strapped to a gurney without any connection as to how they got out into the woods or how the found him. This introduction of the paramedics came to viewers with very poor acting from the only characters other than our protagonist and antagonist thus far which really makes the pacing come briefly unhinged. Despite all that, the ambulance became a literal vehicle to shift direction in the film from action thriller to psychological thriller. This could have went very wrong, but ended up making for some of the better content in the movie. In this scene, our director Vincente DiSanti also gives a strong nod to Alfono Cuarón's film adaptation of the novel Children of Men through the use of very well executed first-person view tracking shot that adds a tsunami of suspense as the film reseats itself comfortably in this new direction.
A few other minor notable pitfalls in production I felt took away from the experience that are worth noting are: the sound mixing-particularly Jason's footsteps. Overuse of the "found footage" solo cam. I understand this film technique was probably to help move the story along while also probably help save on budget for some of the filming. At first, it left me a little confused as what type of movie they were going for. I think it could have done with a little less. Also, the camera frame on the go pro made for a little too obvious of a visual cue for when it was found footage. This is really all semantics when looking at the grand scope of this extremely well executed independent made "fan film." I think if this was given the same budget and backing as the 2009 reboot, this would have made for the best Friday movie since the first 3. Kudos to all involved; most especially DiSanti who not only wrote and directed the film, but also slayed it as Jason (pun intended).