Wednesday, March 09, 2005

DB Film Squad: Friday the 13th to Get the Tarantino Treatment?

For those of you out there who couldn’t get enough of the over-the-top grindhouse blood-soaked violence of the Kill Bill films, guess what?

It may only be the end of the beginning.

According to Reuters, Quentin Tarantino, director of such stylish gangster flicks as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, is in early talks to take over the granddaddy of horror film franchises: Friday the 13th.

Quentin Tarantino is considering writing and directing a new installment in the long-running "Friday the 13th" horror film series….According to those familiar with the discussions, Tarantino is intrigued with the idea of playing with one of the movie's classic horror villains. If the project does develop, it could be the first film Tarantino directs outside Miramax Films.

The real question is: has Quentin lost it, or is he crazy like a fox? Perhaps he’s thinking, “It’s so crazy, it just might work.” The last I had heard from Tarantino, on an episode of MTV’s TRL of all places, he talked about wanting to make a World War II-era film in the mold of The Dirty Dozen. I thought this was a great idea, and I eagerly looked forward to learning about the film’s development.

To be honest, I’m not thrilled about the planned move into the serial horror flick. Tarantino is at his best when the focus is on oddball characters, razor-sharp hipster dialogue, and a little stylish gangster-land gunplay to keep you alert. I just don’t see good things coming from a new Friday the 13th (the XIII?), but maybe I and everyone else will be pleasantly surprised.

DB Note: I worked a sleep away camp that surrounded a lake (Surprise Lake, New York) as a kid that was rumored to have been the location of the original Friday the 13th film shoot. In any event, such a rural myth does a job of encouraging little 12-year-old boys to scare the living hell out of their less stalwart bunkmates with jury-rigged ski masks, “axe”-shaped sticks, and other movie slasher paraphernalia.

2 comments:

Staff said...

I largely agree. I would add that Tarantino is in some ways obsessed with every movie ever made (particularly Asian martial arts and grindhouse in addition to comic/horror) and that helped to lead to the "mildly entertaining" result of the Kill Bill films.

About Uma: don't forget that to get her via Tarantino means lots of spandex... and lots of her face/body getting splattered in blood (hers and others).

Staff said...

Update: Tarantino denies that he was ever even close to helming a new Friday the 13th film, and will likely take on the long-rumored WWII flick, Inglorious Bastards.

Sweet.