Friday the 13th (B or 3/4 stars)
'Friday the 13th' (directed by Sean S. Cunningham) is the 1980 genre-defining stalk-&-slash 'em horror flick that kick-started a longggg-running franchise. A moody 1958 prologue shows 2 young summer camp counselors about to 'get it on' when a mystery attacker - apparently a person they know - slashes & stabs them to death. Camp Crystal Lake, a summer retreat in woodsy New Jersey, now well-known to locals as 'Camp Blood', had been closed for 20 yrs. as a result of an all-important child's drowning + the slashing tragedy, but is now re-opening - on a dark & stormy Friday the 13th - thanks to property owner, Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer). Another group of young, sex-minded camp counselors are gathering for orientation.
They include: Alice (Adrienne King), Marcia (Jeannine Taylor), Brenda (Laurie Bartram), Bill (Harry Crosby), Ned (Mark Nelson), & Jack (played by none other than a young Kevin Bacon, pre-stardom). Surrre enough, as evening falls dark, a new wave of killing commences when an unseen assailant starts knifing the unsuspecting counselors to grisly death after grisly death, one by one. Since these doomed college-aged juveniles are stupidly prone to playing striptease games, practical jokes on each another, or sneaking off for drugs & sex {lusty Kevin Bacon meets an untimely end by way of an arrow impaled through his throat}, they take little heed or note of their groups' curious absences ... until nearly all of 'em are murdered.
Well, what can I say? I saw this movie as a child and, though it is objectively NOT a quality movie, it was formative in my macabre desire to be scared by cinema. My worst nightmare - thanks to this film - is being stalked in the woods, in the shadows, in a cabin, or near a lake, by some lunatic killer who wants to gut me to death; worst nightmare. So, to that, I can't give this film a negative critique thanks to the lifetime effect it has had on me. 'Friday the 13th' is not really a whodunit, it is simply, and bluntly, a killing spree murder story that offers little else, but that's kinda terrifying; the simplicity of it.
This film contains piss-poor writing, bad acting, and a fairly moronic climax. But because of a sub-$$ million budget, it making north of $40 mill made it an enormous hit. Now, objectively, there ARE technical strengths, here. There are some creative kills, some unique usage of blood/gore make-up & effects, and I was unnerved by Harry Manfredini's creepy music score that made itself known every time the killer was near -- yikes! Now, this movie has not aged very well; but I think that lends to its morbid charm. This movie is wildly popular - spawning many lucrative sequels - for a reason.
Practically everybody knows about it or has seen it. Interestingly enough, we do not see the eventual & iconic 'machete-wielding Jason wearing the hockey mask killer' in this film. He figures into the backstory & appears in an unsettling dream sequence, but he is not relevant to the gruesome events of the plot, here; Betsy Palmer is featured in this backstory as Mrs. Pamela Voorhees. For subsequent sequels, however, the Jason costumes have been some of the most popular sold around Halloween time. Speaking of Halloween, the 1978 film of that title is a huge reason why this movie even came into existence. Poor quality aside, plenty of people brush aside this movie as sickening, artless exploitation. For us fans, it simply offers a bloody good time.
They include: Alice (Adrienne King), Marcia (Jeannine Taylor), Brenda (Laurie Bartram), Bill (Harry Crosby), Ned (Mark Nelson), & Jack (played by none other than a young Kevin Bacon, pre-stardom). Surrre enough, as evening falls dark, a new wave of killing commences when an unseen assailant starts knifing the unsuspecting counselors to grisly death after grisly death, one by one. Since these doomed college-aged juveniles are stupidly prone to playing striptease games, practical jokes on each another, or sneaking off for drugs & sex {lusty Kevin Bacon meets an untimely end by way of an arrow impaled through his throat}, they take little heed or note of their groups' curious absences ... until nearly all of 'em are murdered.
Well, what can I say? I saw this movie as a child and, though it is objectively NOT a quality movie, it was formative in my macabre desire to be scared by cinema. My worst nightmare - thanks to this film - is being stalked in the woods, in the shadows, in a cabin, or near a lake, by some lunatic killer who wants to gut me to death; worst nightmare. So, to that, I can't give this film a negative critique thanks to the lifetime effect it has had on me. 'Friday the 13th' is not really a whodunit, it is simply, and bluntly, a killing spree murder story that offers little else, but that's kinda terrifying; the simplicity of it.
This film contains piss-poor writing, bad acting, and a fairly moronic climax. But because of a sub-$$ million budget, it making north of $40 mill made it an enormous hit. Now, objectively, there ARE technical strengths, here. There are some creative kills, some unique usage of blood/gore make-up & effects, and I was unnerved by Harry Manfredini's creepy music score that made itself known every time the killer was near -- yikes! Now, this movie has not aged very well; but I think that lends to its morbid charm. This movie is wildly popular - spawning many lucrative sequels - for a reason.
Practically everybody knows about it or has seen it. Interestingly enough, we do not see the eventual & iconic 'machete-wielding Jason wearing the hockey mask killer' in this film. He figures into the backstory & appears in an unsettling dream sequence, but he is not relevant to the gruesome events of the plot, here; Betsy Palmer is featured in this backstory as Mrs. Pamela Voorhees. For subsequent sequels, however, the Jason costumes have been some of the most popular sold around Halloween time. Speaking of Halloween, the 1978 film of that title is a huge reason why this movie even came into existence. Poor quality aside, plenty of people brush aside this movie as sickening, artless exploitation. For us fans, it simply offers a bloody good time.