Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th (1980) kicked started the early 80's slasher film phenomenon that was ignited by Halloween (1978) but fueled intensely by this reworking of the Mario Bava classic "Twitch of the Death Nerve". Once Friday the 13th was released, there was no turning back. The slasher film was part of the American horror film genre and it would remain that way for years to come. A film that launched countless knock-offs, wannabes, sequels and a t.v. series?! Camp Crystal Lake and the Friday the 13th film franchise are a part of Americana. The film is merely a stage for the splatter effects of F/X maestro Tom Savini. They were later toned down for it's American release and were softened even further during it's video release.

The movie itself isn't that great. Technically it's boring. To get the most out of the film you have to watch it uncut. Friday the 13th was designed around Savini's gory set pieces. Watching them with out it is like drinking a mayonnaise soda. I encourage you to seek out the uncut version of this film. Recommended.

A (uncut)

D (American version)

Friday the 13th is a classic masterpiece, it uses a clever sort of storytelling to hide the identity of the killer as well as who the main character is to the end. For a slasher movie, it's not as bloody as a modern slasher, but it still delivers brutal kills. The music and sound effects are all great. The suspense-building is great as you can kinda figure out when someone's is going to get murdered. And without spoiling anything, the acting of the killer is truly terrifying! Some acting is kind of cheesy but that doesn't change mutch. It has a great atmosphere and after rewatching it, Friday the 13th from 1980 is now one of my favourite horror movies of all time! Overall it's a must see movie with a score of 9/10 from me!

I'll always have a soft-spot in my heart for the "Friday the 13th" franchise. Especially as an 80's baby/90's kid who grew up in a pop- culture environment where the psychotic hockey-masked killer Jason was known and loved by pretty much everyone... even kids like me who didn't see the films until we were older and only vaguely knew what they were about thanks to the whisperings and hints of our older siblings who were actually allowed to see the movies. (Usually renting them 2 or 3 at a time on trusty old VHS from the local Video King to watch after we younger brothers and sisters went to bed.)

At the time this review is being posted, the franchise has been running strong for well over 35 years. Boasting 10 films in its original continuity, the fabulously entertaining (and dopey as heck) cross- over spin-off "Freddy VS Jason", a somewhat underrated reboot in 2009 and a planned new film due out sometime within the next year or two.

But even a franchise so huge has to start with a small, humble beginning. Before the fame. Before the recognition. Before the birth of the pop-culture idol that the series spawned.

Yes, it all started with a teeny-tiny production back in 1980- the original "Friday the 13th."

It's almost impossible to really discuss this film critically without delving into spoiler territory (which I try to avoid in my reviews), though I will try my hardest to do so.

The film revolves around a group of young Camp Counselors who are prepping the infamous Camp Crystal Lake for a reopening about 20 years after a mysterious double-murder and a tragic drowning involving a young child. However, it appears someone isn't exactly a happy camper and doesn't want Crystal Lake back in business, and this mysterious figure begins to pick off our protagonists one-by- one until a tense climax reveals the dreaded truth...

It's no surprise at all that the film is essentially a glorified rip-off of the iconic slasher-horror that is John Carpenter's "Halloween." Director/Producer Sean S. Cunningham has been pretty candid about essentially wanting to create his own "roller-coaster" version of the Carpenter Classic with this film. Heck, they had ads and posters in the paper before the script was even written.

But the problem I really have with the film is that it all feels so routine. Even often boring and sometimes toothless. While it may not be fair to judge it by modern standards, even for its time, it just doesn't have that much going for it. (Especially as the very same year of release, such classics as "The Shining" and the underrated "The Changeling" were chilling audiences to the bone.) It's a very aimless, meandering film, with sloppy plotting and far too much focus placed on seemingly-pointless sequences for it to attain the "roller-coast" feeling the director was going for. The first half of the film is just too much a chore to slog through. And once the horror finally kicks in, it's just the same rinse-and-repeat formula scene-after-scene, with really only a few gruesome deaths here and there to pique audience interest. All those old clichés and tropes that even at the time had become slightly predictable.

Now, I know what you're saying- those are the things people love about these flicks. The clichés and the gore-galore. But it's so slowly paced and messy in this movie, it's hard to really get into it. It really isn't until the plethora of sequels that the formula is established and the pacing is tightened enough for those clichés and tropes to finally become fun and entertaining.

As it stands, "Friday the 13th" does have its place in horror royalty. But I firmly believe it's more for spawning the long- running franchise that followed and less for the quality of the film itself.

Oh, and I guess it's also kinda famous for introducing some guy named Kevin Bacon as a supporting character... but I'm not sure if he actually went anywhere after this.

(Please appreciate the obvious sarcasm there. I loves the Bacon!)

"Friday the 13th" gets a middle-of-the-road 5 out of 10 from me. It's worth seeing because of its important part in the history of the overall franchise. But it's one of the weaker entries and lacks the style and entertainment seen in later films.

'Friday the 13th' may have been panned by critics when first released but since then it is one of the most famous and influential horror films, the franchise containing one of horror's most iconic villains. The film is popular enough to become a franchise and spawn several sequels of varying quality and generally inferior to the one that started it all of.

Is 'Friday the 13th' an original film in terms of overall story? No, having been, and still is, compared to 'Halloween' (released two years earlier). One can see why somewhat, it is derivative in a way but to me it didn't come over as a direct rip off. 'Friday the 13th' is far from the best when it comes to acting, excepting Betsy Palmer (very good) and Adrienne King (charming). The others are average at best, though it was interesting to see Kevin Bacon in an early role pre-stardom.

Nor is it the best when it comes to dialogue. Much of it is very crude and cheesy. Or character development, while the characters are actually still easy to sympathise with to some extent they are stereotypes that we don't know an awful lot about generally.

However, while it may not be a "great" film, 'Friday the 13th' is great guilty pleasure fun and it is very easy to understand its popularity and influence. It's very gory and gruesome, though not pointlessly so, but it is also very frightening and suspenseful.

This is apparent in the deaths, which couldn't have been more creative or shocking, and the hauntingly eerie music score. 'Friday the 13th' is assuredly directed and moves along at a lively pace. The late reveal is for the better and works very well. The climax is a long way from a petering out one, instead the film goes out on a very strong bang, right up to the unexpected and freaky final jolt clearly inspired by 'Carrie'.

Overall, good fun and very scary even if not exactly classified as great. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is one of those films that really got to me in my childhood years. I'll never ever forget that final scene when Adrienne King is attacked by Jason in the canoe - a classic shock, far more frightening than the excessive violence and gore seen in every "Friday"-clone thereafter.

Since horror is an emotion rather than simply a filmic genre, these films can't be reviewed with the same guidelines as others. It's all about the atmosphere, the build-up and ultimate destruction of everything we've been told is right and normal. "Friday the 13th" does well on all those points. In fact it stands out as the best slasher-movie in history, competing only with "Halloween" from two years before.

The violence is grim and graphic indeed. Throat-slashings and decapitations galore and very little is left to the imagination. Strongest being the scene where well-known actor Kevin Bacon is impaled by an arrow through the neck, in one of the goriest moments in the history of the R-rating.

If you're looking for a classic chiller, this first "Friday" is the one to see. But stay clear of the sequels. Already by it's second installment this series of films started to imitate not only itself, but also it's imitations. And that's never a good sign. Not in any genre.

"Chh, chh, chh... hah, hah, hah..."