Why is THIS the Friday film everyone suddenly takes seriously?

I posted this in a response, but it was kinda tangent to that thread, so figured I'd make it an actual discussion.

I honestly don't get why this is the movie people started taking this series so seriously with. The dialogue has never been that great, neither has the acting. I actually thought this film had the best ensemble, most characters in the series pretty much only existed to get killed with no development.

And plot holes, well, the franchise started off with a huge plot hole- how exactly did Jason survive drowning and just happen to be there the night his mother was beheaded and not attack then? How does his face completely change several times over the course of a few days (Fridays 2-4)? Plus, when he's a zombie, how does he keep up with people running at full speed?

As for not taking itself seriously, Jason Lives was the first movie to parody itself. Are we really saying there weren't several comical deaths in that film? Smiley face ring a bell?

No, it wasn't the old school 4; but it kept in with a trend started in 6 (which makes sense, because that's the Jason they have in the film). It wasn't the movie to start being ridiculous, 5 had the over the top death scene with the annoying kid and the father who copycatted Jason's killing spree for really no rational reason.

It's a fun movie. It just happened to come out when people stopped having fun with movies and started taking on purist attitudes to boost their egos on internet debates. Honestly, just saying "I'm mad because I'm a fan of the series" doesn't work. A majority of people claiming to be "fans" were the most vocal about how Jason never ran in the series when trailers for the remake came out. He did several times pre-zombification.

Speaking of zombie Jason, I can understand fans of the first four being angry with this movie more than people who say even Jason Goes to Hell was good. They took a freak in the woods slasher and turned it into supernatural horror. It's not like the series has never switched up its concept before. Hell, Jason wasn't even the original antagonist.

On a side note- Jason's running was hardly the remake's biggest problem.