I have always believed the purest horror is the kind that strands you in the woods with bad choices, worse friends and a killer who solves problems like a MacBook powered by evil. For me, Friday the 13th is the perfect version of that idea. It is messy, bloody, absurd and iconic. Jason Voorhees shows up every time like a blue-collar legend who never once took a sick day, and even the wildest sequels feel like campfire tales told by someone determined to make you laugh, scream and jump at every rustle in the dark.

What makes Friday the 13th the ultimate franchise is how cleanly it nails the rhythm of the masked slasher formula. Simple, but never empty. Brutal, but never cruel. Atmospheric and inevitable. So, when a new film steps into the same woods, it is impossible not to compare. The surface ingredients are familiar for Afraid? but that does not mean they carry the same pulse or mythology that made Jason the reigning champion of this subgenre.

And that is where the rest of this review will head, looking at how this film reaches for that spirit, how it veers from it and what identity it tries to claim in that long shadow.

Afraid? (which also goes by the title What Are You Afraid Of?) follows a group of high-school friends on what should have been a simple Halloween weekend getaway. Terrence (Kendre Berry), Ashley (Precious Nwokena), Jasmine (Nakosha Briggs), Sarah (Rezia Thornton) and Jamal (Gemaine Edwards) head to a lakeside cabin for some fun, but the trip becomes chaotic before they even arrive.

They are nearly arrested, they tangle with a group of hostile hillbillies, and they encounter a handyman who radiates the kind of unsettling energy that makes you want to turn the car around immediately. Once they finally reach the cabin, the trip shifts from inconvenient to deadly as a masked killer begins stalking them through the woods.

Let’s talk about some of the positives. Afraid? really does feel like a classic 1980s slasher. You get the rednecks, the possibly racist cops and the handyman who practically walks around with a neon sign that says, “Turn back now.” It checks a lot of the familiar horror boxes in a way that feels intentional, almost like a tribute to that era. The characters, themselves, are surprisingly likable, and you actually feel something when their inevitable fate finally catches up to them.

The movie also knows how to build an unnerving mood, giving the woods, the cabin and the empty night air that slow, creeping tension you want from a masked killer story.

However, Afraid? is anything but a good slasher film, let alone a good movie. The story leans so heavily on cliche that it collapses under the weight of its own familiarity. Nostalgia can be charming when it is paired with fresh ideas, but here it feels more like a crutch. Modern audiences are not opposed to classic setups, yet they still expect some kind of twist or creative spark to justify returning to this well-traveled territory. There has to be a hook, a surprise, a bold swing, something that sets the experience apart from the films that inspired it.

Afraid? never takes that step. Instead, it plays every beat exactly as expected, marching predictably through a checklist of tropes without adding personality or innovation. The result is a movie that feels less like an homage to the golden age of slashers and more like a flat reenactment of them, drained of the energy and inventiveness that made those older films endure.

There are several cinematic choices here that made me question whether the editor was having a personal crisis or simply got bored halfway through. The movie leans on stock footage like it bought a bulk subscription and was determined to get its money’s worth. A quick shot of the Nashville skyline is fine, even if the movie never mentions Tennessee. I can roll with that. But then we hit the 15-minute mark, and suddenly the film cuts to a bus rolling through the countryside. A full-sized bus.

Meanwhile, our main characters are very clearly driving a Bronco. I guess this is supposed to represent their trip into danger, but instead I found myself thinking, “Who is on this bus, where are they going, and should I be worried about them instead?”

It feels less like a tense transition and more like the movie makers briefly forgot what film was being made.

Also, the film cannot even commit to its own name. The opening title card proudly declares Afraid? but by the time we reach the end, the movie suddenly remembers its original title and flashes What Are You Afraid Of? right before the credits roll. It feels like the cinematic equivalent of someone introducing themselves at a party, only to correct their name an hour later with no explanation. At that point, I started wondering if the movie forgot what it was called or if I had accidentally dozed off and woken up in a completely different film.

Either way, it does not inspire confidence.

I give Afraid? (or What Are You Afraid Of?, depending on which title the film remembers to use) two out of five stars. The movie tries earnestly to channel classic slasher energy with likable characters, creepy atmosphere, rednecks, shady cops and a Halloween trip straight into danger, but it never adds anything new to the formula. Instead, it keeps tripping over odd creative choices, from mismatched stock footage to an identity crisis over its own name, which constantly pulls you out of the experience.

Every so often you can glimpse the better film it wanted to be, but the pacing, storytelling and questionable editing make it impossible for that potential to shine.