The mother of all Slasher films (Friday The 13th [1980] (DVD))

Member Name: Wolfzilla

Product:	Friday The 13th [1980] (DVD)
Date:	12/09/08 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Shocking ending,great effects and score

Disadvantages: Killer's identity really only effective due to sequels, story appears in the last 10 minutes

Released in 1980, Friday the 13th was a shock hit for producer/director Sean S.Cunningham, and went on to be one of the longest running movie series of recent times. While not the first slasher movie, it was without a doubt one of the more influential entries into the now emerging Horror sub-genre, even though this entry doesn't actually boast the pop-culture icon most associated with the series.

The movie begins in the late 50s, where two camp counsellors from Camp Crystal Lake are in the process of getting down to some loving upstairs in a barn, until their tryst is interrupted by someone we do not see, but see through their eyes as they kill the two youths in cold blood.
The movie then jumps to 1980, where a young girl called Annie (Robbi Morgan), due to be the cook at the preparing for re-opening Crystal Lake is hitchhiking her way to the camp, which is 20 miles from the nearest town. She discovers that the local residents call the place 'Camp Blood', and that it has a troubled history of people drowning, the water going bad, murders and arson. Not put off, she carries on her way until she hitches a ride in a jeep from a driver we don't see, and it turns out to be the last ride she ever hitches.
We have also been introduced to the rest of the camp staff. The place has been bought and being restored by Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer), the nice girl Alice (Adrienne King), goofy Ned (Mark Nelson), stud Jack (a very young Kevin Bacon) his girlfirend Marcie (Jeannine Taylor), nice guy Bill (Harry Crosby) and um...other girl Brenda (Laurie Bartram).

Steve goes into town to pick up supplies, and as a storm is brewing, Jack and Marcie retreat to a cabin for some loving, and this is when the madness begins, as one by one they are all picked off in various creative ways until only Alice remains, left to fend for herself against the mysterious and deranged killer.

While a decent horror movie, and a highly entertaining evening for fans of the genre, Friday the 13th generally isn't that great a movie. In fact, I would say that it's ending, it's only real shock moment, is only actually made effective by the numerous sequels. At this point I'd advise anyone who either hasn't seen the movie, or doesn't want the ending spoiled to skip the remainder of this paragraph and the entire of the next, but I feel it's necessary to discuss. In case you don't know, in this picture, it is actually Mrs. Pamela Voorhees who is the murderer, and not her infamous son Jason. But I didn't know that going into the movie, and was actually very surprised to discover Jason had very little to do with the movie. He drowned years ago, and Pamela blamed the counsellors who were screwing, and has declared war on all counsellors who would work at Crystal Lake, and refuses to let the place re-open, because she believes more kids would die.

But had I not become accustomed to watching Friday movies and associating them with Jason, I don't believe this ending would have had all that much effect on me. The movie has no build-up to the killer's identity. We don't even really know the Jason story until the last 10 minutes, they may have just came up with the idea for the killer at the last moment. While a lot of slasher movie's revel in the fact we know who the killer is, this movie presents mystery in the most basic and boring form. Someone is killing them. But until the last part of the movie we have no motivation, or even face behind it, other than for the sake of gruesome deaths. While I'm not suggesting they give us the plot in the first 10 minutes, movies like Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween made the killer clear, but kept an air of mystery about them. Scream made a semi-murder mystery out of the slashings. Here, someone is killing, but we aren't supposed to care who is killing them, and it makes it look like no-one making the movie thought about it until they actually needed an ending. It has to be said though, that once you adjust to Mrs. Voorhess as the killer, the shock ending, an idea of effects man Tom Savini's, is actually brilliant.

A fault I do have with the movie, is that two killings that we know happened, both happen off-screen. At least in my version (most recent R2 DVD), while it's clear Bill got arrowed, what the hell happened to Brenda? We see her corpse and it has a rope around her, it's like they forgot she had died and just threw something together. Seeing as she was last seen on the archery range, I would have though killing her with arrows would have been more suitable, but there you go.
Speaking of her death, she is lured out by hearing a little boy crying for help. I mean, what? while the movie's ending could be used to prove that maybe the killer was getting some assistance in a ghostly form, supernatural elements really weren't brought into the series until part 6, so this stands out as a really bizarre moment

But with that said, I don't see Friday the 13th as a complete waste of time for slasher fans. The characters are all pretty clichéd, but I feel the actors do a good job bringing them to life, and apart from maybe Ned, none of them were annoying, and got build up to be quite likeable, making it stand out from a lot of slasher flicks where you found yourself actively wanting the characters offed. While most of them, especially Betsy Palmer in the role of Mrs.Voorhees, Mark Nelson and Robbi Morgan are completely over the top,(especially Betsy Palmer) this actually kind of adds to the movie's charm. It is an 80s slasher movie, not a genre known for it's great acting, and I personally would rather see over the top acting than just plain bad acting.

Another thing I liked about them, was that while they were all good looking kids, it wasn't in the typical Hollywood sense of good looking. They were good looking, but the kind of good looking people you actually see in real day-to-day life. Kevin Bacon is the only one to have really gone on to much subsequently, and it is quite odd how understated his performance is given how versatile he has proven to be in the years following.

The movie was made on a very low budget, and while it isn't hard to tell that, it doesn't embarrass itself, the special effects in the movie are provided by a young Tom Savini, of Day and Dawn of the Dead fame, and for the most part are actually excellent, while some of them have become a little dated, the movie's more infamous effects, such as the decapitation and hatchet in the head, are still gruesome and very well done, even more than 20 years later.


I actually also rate Harry Manfredini's chilling score, including the infamous "CH-CH-CH-HUH-HUH-HUH", it's truly one of horror cinema's most iconic themes, and the fact it's been reused in 10 sequels since speak volumes of how effective it is.

When all is said and done, I think 3 stars and a genre fan's recommendation will do fine for Friday the 13th. It isn't compulsive viewing for anyone really, but horror fans, especially those who delight in the sub-genre, will probably want to see where the mainstream slasher was born, and it isn't a totally disappointing movie, and is actually an entertaining way to waste a dark evening for fans.
It isn't the pinnacle of the genre, or even close to being the best in the series, but as far as slasher movies go, there are far, far worse choices you could make, it's just a fact that there are also far, far better choices you could make.

Summary: Those who like their slashers will want to see it, but there are much better genre entries