The original Friday the 13th (1980) movie was a box office success due to a perfect storm of events. Overall the film is cheap, functional and the only real element of note are Tom Savini’s grim prosthetic effects work. But this is the nature of horror cinema. It is a genre that can be produced quickly and cheaply. That is not to say that Friday the 13th is without its merits. It has a grim sense of honesty and there’s even an attempt at a narrative twist at the end. It is very much a product of its time and that is reflected in its subtext and themes. Cinema often ends up mirroring, directly or indirectly, the prevailing socioeconomic trends of the time. So it is logical to suggest that if you wish to successfully reboot such material, you need to recalibrate the premise to suit the needs and expectations of contemporary audiences. However, in the case of this new version of Friday the 13th director Marcus Nispel has opted not to do this. Instead he just gives audiences a distillation of the most basic elements of the franchise, on a higher budget.