The unexpected success of 1980’s original Friday the 13^th literally put Jason’s character on a horror genre’s pedestal along with the likes of Freddy and that ‘Predator’ freak. There were some sequels to the original, but after some time, most of them got a bit repetitive and 2009 promises a more absorbing trip back to Crystal Lake — Jason’s home and hunting ground.  

Recently shown promos of Friday the 13^th have rotting and creaking cabins, thick, blinding vegetation and hapless cast members running around trying to escape Jason’s wrath. I guess these are must-haves to make Jason look more frightening as just having that demonic mask wouldn’t be as effective on minds that have been numbed to special effect ridden genre of horror movies lately.  

This is where the cast of Friday the 13^th assumes importance and so does Amanda Righetti — the lady who plays the distraught character of Whitney. She plays the typicalsufferer but with some quality to the protagonist. Her face and expressions look as if she is tailor-made for this role. Amanda Righetti exudes that sensitivity combined with an understated ability of being pretty tough when things go really bad and they do — after all she’s in a Friday the 13^th— what else needs to go wrong?? For those who haven’t seen her before, you would know why she has been voted twice among the World’s Most Sexy Women (2005 & 2006). 

The teasers of the latest in the Friday The 13^th Series have been out for some time now and most of trailers look pretty awesome — at least for the slightly perverse and horror-obsessed movie fans like myself. This version of Friday The 13^th would be released on the13^th of this February (is that a surprise?) and promises to go beyond the story/plot that became a bit stereotyped in the original trilogy. It seems this edition of Friday The 13^thwouldn’t have any more of those naive camping counsellors.  

Instead, there is a twist to the story with a guy (Clay) searching for his sister (Whitney) in the woods. Yeah, the background is the same with Jason loping in and around Crystal Lake but we have to accept that — that is where he belongs!! Speaking of the cast, 2009’s Friday the 13^th has a leading lady who can actually act — that’s Amanda Righetti who plays Whitney. This movie is sure to pitch her as a more-than-capable big screen performer. 

This is one lady who is slowly but surely creeping up the Hollywood ladder and manages some very effective close-ups in the teasers aired so far. Amanda has definitely come a long way from her days of playing a clueless girl in O.C. and CSI (T.V. series).