BLU-RAY REVIEW

Friday The 13th

Featured In Issue 142, September 2009

Picture4
SoundNR
WSR Score3.5
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
New Line Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
3000021205
(MPAA Rating):
R
(Rating Reason):
Strong bloody violence, some graphic sexual content, nudity, language and drug material
(Retail Price):
$$35.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
97/106
(Color Type):
Color With B/W Sequences
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
2009
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
06/16/09
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Marcus Nispel
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

Welcome back to Crystal Lake, in a chilling re-imagining of the classic horror film Friday The 13th. Searching for his missing sister, Clay (Padalecki) heads up to the eerie woods of legendary Crystal Lake, where he stumbles on the creaky remains of rotting old cabins behind moss-covered trees. And that's not the only thing lying in wait under the brush. Against the advice of police, and cautions from the locals, Clay pursues what few leads he has, with the help of a young woman he meets among a group of college kids up for an all-thrills weekend. But they are about to find much more than they bargained for. Little do they know, they've entered the domain of one of the most terrifying specters in American film history; the infamous killer who haunts Crystal Lake, armed with a razor-sharp machete... Jason Voorhees. (Tricia Spears)

You have the choice of watching either the theatrical version or the special extended version of the film. Special features include a picture-in-picture trivia track; the following featurettes: The Rebirth Of Jason Voorhees (HD 11:24), Hacking Back/Slashing Forward (HD 11:41), and The 7 Best Kills (HD 22.33); additional scenes (HD 08:19); and BD-Live interactivity. There is also a digital copy of the film included.

The 1080p VC1-encoded picture features deep blacks and nicely rendered shadows, providing some sense of dimensionality to the picture. Colors are decidedly undersaturated, giving the picture an older appearance. Blues and greens are almost completely desaturated, while reds, yellows, and oranges can still be bold and vibrant at times. Resolution is nicely defined, with fine textures captured well, although there are scenes that are noticeably soft. Fleshtones appear natural, with good differentiation between different hues. The image isn't perfect, but it is enjoyable and does its part in moving the story along. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby® TrueHD 5.1-channel soundtrack occasionally folds down to the front three screen channels, leaving the surround channels unused, but in the scenes where each of the channels is used, the experience is quite engaging and enveloping. The surrounds are used for low-level atmospheric effects in more quiescent scenes, but they are at such low levels that they are easily masked by the front channels. Dialogue sounds natural, with good articulation and a full delivery. There are many scenes where the atmospheric effects create an expansive soundstage that extends beyond the physical limits of the room. Deep bass is delivered through each of the full-range channels, as well as the .1 LFE channel, often dropping down to 25 Hz in the front. (Danny Richelieu)