More Chat About Friday the 13th

Posted by bob in Films, News on August 3rd, 2008

Ain’t it Cool News’ Mr. Beaks spoke extensively with Platinum Dunes’ Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, talking Friday the 13th, naturally.

The reinivisioned Jason Voorhees has been seen in sneak peek clips as a faster, less lumbering figure and Fuller commented, “What made the movie interesting for us to make is that Jason Voorhees is one of the most iconic killers to ever be put on film. And what made him interesting is that he’s methodical and unstoppable. Having said that, anything that goes away from that and makes it feel unrealistic… we wanted to move as far away from that as possible. For us, this is a guy who lives in the forest and eats what he kills. He’s in shape because he lives in the forest; he’s not lumbering around because he has to trap. That, to us, made him a more effective killer. So in our movie, as you saw from the piece we showed today… Jason is fast. He runs fast. He’s athletic. He can move.”

Fuller added, “For us, it was just about making him as scary and imposing as possible. It was about making sure that we had the mask right and the machete right. Also, that there was a variety in the amount of kills: how we do them, how much blood there is, and making sure that they’re not repetitive.”

The writer then praised the work of stylish director Marcus Nispel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and why he was a good fit for the remake coming next spring. “Sometimes what he does on the set is make it feel very frenetic and crazy,” Fuller said. “I think that worked on this movie. Now, that’s not always the best working environment, but not knowing exactly what’s going to happen next… that makes the performances seem real. There’s an edginess to it that works for these kinds of films. That’s why he was great for Chainsaw, and that’s why I think people will be happy with what he did on this film.”