Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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Despite the indication provided by the title 8 and the advertising campaign 9 ,
the opening sequence contains a re-creation of the climax of the original Friday the
13 th , shown between title cards. This sequence is shot in black and white, showing a
young teenage girl in a tight yellow short sleeved shirt, reminiscent of a 1970s -
1980s camp counsellor uniform that can be seen in films like The Burning, running
through the forest in the rain and crying. An older lady suddenly leaps out and
attacks her with a knife, and backs her against the shore of Crystal Lake. The lady
says, “Come here now. You’re the last one. I’ve killed all the others. It’ll be easier
for you than it was for Jason.” The girl cries, “Why are you doing this?” and the
lady responds, “You need to be punished for what you did to him.” The girl says, “I
didn’t do anything,” and the lady retorts, “You let him drown. Jason was my son.
You should have been watching him, every minute!” The lady draws back to stab
the girl, but the girl suddenly brandishes a machete and decapitates her. After a
series of shots showing the dead lady and her necklace sitting in the mud, a young
boy’s arm is shown picking up the necklace, cleaning it off, over which can be heard
the voice of the lady saying, “Jason, my special, special boy. They must be
punished, Jason, for what they did to you. For what they did to me. Kill for
mother.” A flash of lightning initiates a cut to the lake with still waters from a high
angle shot, in black and white. The camera tilts up, the frame fills with colour,
showing a green shore and trees with a cloudy blue-gray sky with yellow fleck of
8 The original lobby film poster and general promotional materials such as cinema trailers and TV
spots, present the title as simply Friday the 13 th .
9 The tagline on the U.S. release lobby poster is “Welcome to Crystal Lake,” indicating an initial
introduction. The poster also states, “From the producers of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, which
is a popular remake released in 2003. This is made apparent by the connection of the words
“Chainsaw,” as the original film’s title reads: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. This indicates the
intent to promote Friday the 13 th (2009) as a reboot.