Behold the poster and trailer for the Michael Bay produced, Marcus Nispel directed remake of FRIDAY THE 13TH, starring... a bunch of unknowns, Nina Visitor (DEEP SPACE NINE) in Betsy Palmer's role as Mama Voorhees, and Ryan Hansen, who was so good as the rich boy jock jerk sexist pig Dick Casablancas on TV's VERONICA MARS.

I saw the original FRIDAY THE 13TH in the theatre as a high school student and it scared the hell out of me. Somehow I missed seeing parts 2, 3-D, and THE FINAL CHAPTER. But I caught the godawful A NEW BEGINNING on 42nd Street with a great audience, and JASON LIVES (my favorite) at the Criterion in Times Square, and made a point of seeing every one of the subsequent sequels theatrically except for JASON X (some "ideas" are just too stupid for me to entertain). As much as I've enjoyed some of these brain dead slasher flicks, F13 was never a quality series. But I'm not some snob who looks down on the franchise and blames it for any of the woes confronting the genre on film or in print.

And the overall lack of quality in the films makes them fair game for the hungry remake beast, right? I suppose. There's not really much for a purist to bitch about, right? Jason's still wearing his hockey mask and cutting up young people in the woods, after all. How much more content and context do these films require?

Not so fast, Bubba! Remember how upset the F13 fans got when Kane Hodder didn't get to play Mr. Hockey Mask in JASON VS. FREDDY? It's not like he originated the role or anything; he was just a stunt man who was lucky enough to portray the Lumbering One four times, enabling him to make a lot of money on the convention circuit. But the fans cared, because deep down F13 fanatics are really sensitive people, just like Jason himself.

So I think it's insane that Bay and Nispal decided against hiring Harry Manfredini to score this film. If there is anything distinctive about these films, its his often imitated music. And you'll hear those cords, just not composed by him. Someone at the top of the food chain figured, "Oh, sure, we'll use that guy's creation here and there to make the fans happy, but let's get Steve Jablonsky, who scored THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake instead."

Now, the original TCM is one of my favorite films, and it featured an effective score, but you don't exactly recall the music when you think of Leatherface, do you? But Manfredini's score for F13 is as integral to those films as Jason's mask. There is absolutely no reason why Manfredini shouldn't have been hired for this gig. The trailer looks pedestrian, and if you're looking for a reason to avoid seeing this movie, keep in mind the way Manfredini was shunned by the filmmakers. Because Manfredini doesn't get paid for the use of his original themes, he only gets paid when he actually gets to tailor them to a new film. It's a real shame when Hollywood disrespects talent that has earned it so much money.

Harry Mafredini responds:

" Greg: Since I have received a number of links taking me to this article, which I guess is happy news for the FearZone site, I would like to thank you for the kind words, and I would like to comment and clarify on what was said here. First of all, my music was used for the trailer, and I was paid for that. Quite well, I might add. As for the actual film, sure I was disappointed that I was not chosen to do the score. They have had a team in place for a number of pictures now, and they have worked together
successfully and so it would only follow that they would keep the team together. This film is a new version, and a new vision and I think it should be judged on its own merits not in relation to anything else. Frankly, I have always wondered how we got to Part 2 from the original film. ha ha... Thanks again for the nice comments about my music. HM"

Glad to hear you got someting out of this, Harry!