Director Todd Strauss-Schulson could direct the next Friday The 13th film and make it both classic and new as demonstrated in his deconstruction of the films in this meta movie based on the series. One low mark for some bad car CGI at the start that should have just been shot and the rest is great special effects, angles and cuts. I mean people getting cut, maybe a bigger finish for the big baddie going bye-bye, but great.The actors either from comedies or somewhere you've seen all play their parts from 80's bad acting horror staples to real dramatic actors with ease. You'll get sad when one bites the dust or laugh when the stereotypical 80's actor loses their head.
Now the concept of the film is just too meta. Max Cartwright (Taissa Farmiga) gets stuck with her friends in a horror film, Camp Bloodbath. Her connection to the film is her deceased mother starred in it. Her Mom died in a car accident she thought she caused and since then has made her lead a monk like life, pushing people out. Now she's trapped in the 80's and scarier than that with a psycho killer who is basically Jason.
For the most part the film is about getting through her mother's death in the most awkward way possible. It ...once again seems like the writers were on the cusp of something great, but lose it. So many scenes just drag on. You don't stay with characters long enough to connect with them when they die and the overall concept of getting stuck in a horror film gets lost somehow.
It hurts to write not to see it, but it falls short even with so many fun ideas like getting out of a bad situation-guy trying to kill you- by going into a flashback or walking over titles. Ehhh, so many great visuals that are wasted by a script that needed to be polished.
*/Film has a great look at one of my favorite shots in the film, again, great looking film, just not a great script.
