What happens to horror-film franchises that seem to have run their course?fridayposter

D’oh! They reboot.

No need to come up with an original concept when an old idea means instant brand recognition and — thanks to low overhead on script and talent — a really impressive ROI (return on investment).

That’s the thinking, one guesses, behind Friday the 13th, opening this weekend (Fri, 2/13, naturally), the latest in a series of new horror films boasting familiar titles and tried-and-bloody plots.

Why start all over with the tale of Jason, the killer wearing a hockey mask, and the pretty but promiscuous teens he murders at Camp Crystal Lake?

Because the zig-zagging direction and creative dead ends of the existing franchise left filmmakers no other sensible options, as horror specialist Devin Faraci (Chud.com) told the New York Times.

“These films have a ridiculously convoluted history,” Faraci said. “Jason barely appears in Part 1. He shows up in Part 2, gets killed in Part 4. There’s an impostor in a Jason mask in Part 5. Jason comes back as a zombie in Part 6. Toxic sludge turns him back into a child at the end of Part 8. He gets blown up in the opening minutes of Part 9 and then becomes a body-hopping force of evil that gets sucked into hell. In Part 10 the earth is destroyed, Jason becomes a cyborg and lands on an alien planet. Where could the series possibly go at that point? A reboot is the only sane answer.”

The reborn Friday the 13th was preceded by 2001’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and 2006 prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, which together reaped about $120 million at the U.S. box office; 2005’s Amityville Horror,  which scored $65 million; and 2007’s remake of The Hitcher ($16 million).

Just around the corner, due on March 13, is The Last House on the Left, a remake of Wes Craven’s chilling horror thriller of the same name, released 37 years ago. Craven is a producer of the new film, along with Sean Cunningham, director of the original Friday the 13th, released in 1980 and a producer of several more in the series, including the remake.

Toby Emmerich, head of New Line Cinema, home to the new Friday the 13th, said his studio also plans to remake Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, released in 1984.