Keeping Jason At "Bay"

I ask you, dear reader... What better way is there to commemorate Valentine's Day, on The Last Reel, than by discussing slasher flicks? Normally, I probably would not do that, but the news that Michael Bay is going to be producing the next Friday the 13th film was just too interesting not to comment on.

Variety's Dave McNary reports:

Bay's {production company} Platinum Dunes... is coming aboard to produce the 11th outing in the sturdy "Friday the 13th" franchise for New Line [Cinema]

{The} Studio's hoping to fast-track the project -- centered on the origins of the Jason Voorhees character -- so that the pic can be released three weeks before Halloween on Friday, Oct. 13. Bay will produce with Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form

New Line's hired Mark Wheaton (who wrote the TV movie "Son of the Morning Star") to pen the script. Studio prexy {or President} Toby Emmerich is overseeing along with execs Cale Boyter and Jeff Katz.

Click here for full details...

While I have always thought of the original Friday from 1980, as a genre classic, I think the rest of the series, on the whole, isn't nearly as much fun as the Halloween Movies are.

There are standout installments though, like 2003's Freddy vs Jason and 1984's Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, that were still a lot of fun. As for the other films...I'll be nice (for now)

Bay, known also for directing action films like Pearl Harbor, Armageddon , and The Rock has had some success producing "retro" horror films in recent years. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake kicked butt and I look forward to the prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.

I 'm so intrigued by this latest Friday idea, and the possibilities it offers, I will even forgive him for helping with the pitiful Amityville Horror remake from last year.