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50 out of 61 people found the following review useful: A Classic, genre defining, 24 January 2001 Author: Jane FlamE (ColonelJenSparks@hotmail.com) from United Kingdom
Without a doubt, the work of Cunningham and Carpenter during 1978 & 1980 rocked the world of the horror genre. Friday the 13th is one of the films that to this day still has repercussions. It demonstrated the importance of setting the tone in horror movies, making the audience themselves feel as if they too were being stalked. Cunningham also was one of the few directors to introduce the idea of a possible female serial killer.Without this film, Scream's Randy would have never uttered those famous words, 'There are certain rules to surviving a horror movie..' This film combined with Carpenter's Halloween, firmly etched the rules in stone. The creepy music, the infamous "ch-ch-ch-ha-ha-ha", the crude photography and the graphic depiction of the murders of the counsellors all blend together to give a classic piece of film history. It scared the hell out of multitudes of teenagers who, in many instances could see themselves in the victims of the stalker. These weren't bad people getting killed, these were just your typical average American kids, having a good time, getting picked off.That is what makes this film so defining, that is why, for all its crude and harsh imagery, this is a classic. This is why alot of recent attempts at horror don't measure up. It's not the effects or the blood necessarily, it's the atmosphere and the familiarity that bring it home.It is more frightening to think, "That could be me"
35 out of 48 people found the following review useful: A Date to Remember, 2 August 2006 Author: Duzniak38 from Essex
Friday the 13th. The movie which turned around the horror genre and gave us one of the most unforgettable villains and endings, is, and always will be a horror classic. Friday the 13th doesn't set out to be glossy and glamorous. Friday the 13th sets out to do what it wants to do; and that is, make you sit on the edge of your seat, feel uncomfortable and unnerved, to make you frightened when you go to bed after watching it. Friday the 13th delivers all of the fantastic horror goods. The plot revolves around American teenagers, who are the new counsellors at the apparently jinxed Camp Crystal Lake. These naive, horny youngsters have a one-track mind and break all of the innocent borders which has more depth than you would think. Basically, the message is "Don't have pre-marital sex, or you'll die" just like many of Friday the 13th's predecessors and clones send out as well. Friday the 13th has a variety of characters, all who you could possibly relate to. These characters are then slowly followed and hacked off one by one, in dark, gory, claustrophobic manners, which may leave you frightened in the same way Psycho made showers scary. As the camp counsellors are knocked off one by one, the tension rises higher and higher. Along the journey of carnage, the hugely effective soundtrack really creeps under your skin, highlighting how jumpy and scary the events happening on screen really are. For example when a chase scene occurs, the music may speed up, the tempo rising and jittering, almost moving like the characters on screen are. The acting in Friday the 13th is not bad at all; some of the actors/actresses may be a little amateur, but there is nothing terrible in this picture. The settings are also very effective. The stalkings and slaying in broad daylight and open spaces are a twist in a new direction, showing that not everything has to happen in the dark, in a small isolated house on the top of a hill, so the variation of location makes forests, cabins and even lakes more unappealing to the viewers afterwards, and may leave them creeped out by the aforementioned places. The camera-work is also very effective. The way the camera 'stalks' the victim behind trees and bushes, and the way the camera chases after it's victims as the point of view of the villain is unique and exciting, and adds a more tense and faster chill to the movie. Friday the 13th may play as a clichéd slasher, a story of sex equalling carnage, but it plays so effectively well it is a too important horror movie to simply be dismissed. It collects everything appealing about the 80's horror genre and wraps it up neatly into this fantastic horror package. A classic in it's genre.
41 out of 62 people found the following review useful: The start of a new generation in horror film-making!, 26 November 2003 Author: Captain_Couth (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA
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)
26 out of 36 people found the following review useful: A classic, in spite of itself!, 7 August 2003 Author: Bryce David
I consider Friday THE 13TH a classic, despite everything seemingly going against it. Yes, the original Friday THE 13TH part 1 and part 2 owe a lot to BAY OF BLOOD (or TWITCH OF DEATH NERVE). There's no question about it. The similarities between the two films are obvious. The film is responsible for spawning an endless number of truly awful sequels. The acting is nothing spectacular. The script is barely there. And the film sorta drags a bit in the middle. And the ending of Friday THE 13TH is an indirect rip-off of the ending in CARRIE. But the backwoods atmosphere/mystique behind Friday THE 13TH is totally original and effective (much more than any of the sequels), and the ending of FT13 is, imo, WAY better than the ending of CARRIE. The ending of FT13 makes the movie. The entire FT13 series exists merely on the strength of that ending. It created a myth, in the name of Jason. The story (or script) is wonderfully absurd (when you think about it) which gives the murders an even more psychotic edge to them, and in my mind, are more effective than the ones in BAY OF BLOOD or in any other Friday THE 13TH sequels because of the kooky reasoning behind them. Watching Jason kill his victims in the sequels quickly got boring. And the fact that Tom Savini created the excellent gory FX is a definite plus. The acting is average (some of it even poor) but let's face it, the characters, aside from their individual death scenes, don't have a lot of dramatic things to do, except for Betsy Palmer and Adrienne King, who is good but is not the best "last surviving female" actress ever to appear in a slasher. On the other hand, Betsy Palmer is amazing as Mrs. Voorhees. She's a combination of total sweetness, insanity and camp all rolled into one. Once Betsy appears on screen the film is thrilling and she adds a lot of life (no pun intended) to the whole proceeding, which was lacking from a good part of the film. And let's not forget the good score. Very effective even if it sometimes sounds derivative. And the original poster is great!The funny thing about Friday THE 13TH is that when I first saw it 20 years ago I thought it was good but not as good as HALLOWEEN. Fast forward 20 years, and today I sorta prefer Friday THE 13TH slightly more than HALLOWEEN now, which has lost a lot of its luster, due mainly to HALLOWEEN's awful sequels and their stupid story-lines. Artistically, HALLOWEEN is still the better film of the two. There's no comparison there. But it has lost its edge, while FT13's trashiness has oddly kept it fresh. While HALLOWEEN has irremediably lost a lot of its mystique with each subsequent sequels, Friday THE 13TH, on the other hand, actually gained more credibility with every release of its seemingly endless number of ultra-stupid sequels. After seeing some of those sequels, the original FT13 looks positively brilliant compared to those horrendous sequels. It's a classic in its own special way.
35 out of 54 people found the following review useful: A slasher-star is born !!, 30 October 2003 Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
Friday the 13th must be one of the biggest mysteries in cinema. Although it's a long way from being a good movie, its success and influence is unnameable ( and even unbelievable ). Don't get me wrong...I'm not at all saying that Friday the 13th is a terrible film or not even worth a watch but - let's face it - the plot idea is pretty dumb, the acting and directing are far below average and they haven't fully used the options of setting and location they had. The make-up effects ( by the master Tom Savini himself ) are excellent, but that alone isn't really enough to create a legendary horror movie in my opinion. Some of the later sequels ( Episode 6 : Jason Lives is the perfect example ) and even a few of the numberless rip-offs are superior to the production.I suppose the story is pretty much known by everyone know and I even think the identity of the "mysterious killer" of this episode isn't that much of a mystery anymore. Anyway, in case you don't know it, I won't spoil the fun so see for yourself. Although my thoughts on it aren't that high, I do think it's must-see stuff for horror fans. Without any shame, I even admit that Friday the 13th and ALL its sequels are a guilty pleasure of mine. I'll never reckon them as good - or even decent - efforts in the genre, but I'm always up for a little bit of brainless gore slashing. And that's what these series are made for...pure entertainment !! So, in a way, they succeeded after all. They never try to give a thoughtful message to the viewer or something. There are just dumb-looking teenagers being slaughtered...the more the merrier.Favorite "rewind"-scene : A young and horny Kevin Bacon being brutally killed in one of his first memorable roles.
21 out of 28 people found the following review useful: Classic beginning to a classic horror series, 17 August 2006 Author: briantylerrockssocks from United States
Friday THE 13TH (1980)directed by: Sean S. Cunninghamstarring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, and Kevin Baconplot: Seven camp councilors head to Camp Crystal Lake to fix it up for the summer. Despite warnings of a dark past and a 'death curse', the teens decide to have a good time anyway, and at night indulge in sex, drugs, and strip poker. Unfortunately for them, a psycho killer is prowling the camp grounds, picking them off one by one. When only one is left, she must discover the identity of the killer and fight for her life.my thoughts: Ever since I can remember, I've loved this film. When I was a child, it scared the crap out of me. That chilling noise playing in the stalk sequences (which has now become the most famous sound in horror films) haunted my nightmares, and some of the gore scenes were really graphic.Viewing it now, it is no longer that scary but it is still a lot of fun. I liked how these earlier Friday films ignored the stereotypical teenage characters. There's no slut, no jock, no token anything. Every character felt really natural and for some of them, I cared when they died.The gore scenes are great, thanks to Tom Savini. We get stabbings, decapitations, and plenty more. Gore hounds will love this. Well since every gore hound has seen this, gore hounds mostly already love this.And then there's the two key things in making a good horror film. The directing and the music. Sean S. Cunningham is a really good director and establishes the camp setting perfectly. He adds beautiful shots of the wind blowing against the trees, the lake at sunrise, that you wouldn't find in later entries.The music is also great. Harry Manfredini is one of my favorite composers, because he makes the chase scenes so much more exciting. The music in the final scene also works like a charm.I forgot to mention that this film has one of the most popular and remembered horror endings of all time. And while it may have stolen from CARRIE, it works just as well here and is the cherry on top of a classic slasher film.
36 out of 58 people found the following review useful: Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma, 12 December 2004 Author: thekid796 from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The original Friday The 13th was the one that started it all. The world's first exposure to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake aka Camp Blood. It goes like this. Camp Crystal Lake, after being closed for a number of years is reopening. The Camp has been closed for so long due to a number of catastrophes such as the young boy Jason Voorhees drowning in the lake, cabins catching on fire, and (I almost forgot) tons of camp counselors being brutally slashed and murdered by a killer running loose in the camp. So when the camp is being reopened, its deja vu, the new camp conselors are in for it. The killer is back and is ready for more. This is the movie that started in all, the classic slasher series that has a total of 11 films to date. The movie is good, but don't expect a truly scary horror film. Its full of some tense moments, nice jumps, and gore, lots of gore. What it lacks is some decent acting (not very impressive). Still, any horror collection isn't complete if you don't have at least one Friday the 13th film, so this one is not to be missed.
14 out of 19 people found the following review useful: The original horror classic!, 29 May 2000 Author: jhaggardjr from Chicago, Illinois
In 1980, two years after "Halloween" scared the hell out of everybody, "Friday the 13th" was released to theaters. This was a clever knockoff of the John Carpenter horror classic, only this one was more violent and gruesome. That aspect turned critics off big time. But moviegoers couldn't resist. They flocked to see this movie and made it a big hit. I never saw this film on the big screen because I was only 9 years old when it came out. After I saw it on cable a few years later, it scared the hell out of me! It doesn't scare me that much today, but it's a far more effective horror/thriller than the last five movies in the series (parts 5 through 9). They should have stopped making these "Friday the 13th" movies after the fourth film, which was subtitled "The Final Chapter". And you know what's even scarier, they're making part 10. "Friday the 13th" was the beginning of the sick slasher genre that played out during the early 1980s. The first films in both the "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" series' were easily the best. "Halloween" was a great horror film. "Friday the 13th" isn't up there with "Halloween", but it's a well-crafted gorefest.*** (out of four)
25 out of 41 people found the following review useful: Still a classic, 11 January 2005 Author: movieman_kev from United States
A group of camp counselors, a young Kevin Bacon among them, are busy trying to re-open Camp Crystal Lake years after multiple murders shut it down, despite the ravings of Crazy Ralph. They are dispatched one by one by an unseen killer. This IS a classic and always will be. Don't get me wrong as it's not perfect. But it's far from "merely a Halloween" clone which some people say. The original Halloween is a perfect classic, but let this film stand on it's own legs as it has every right to. Although I'm saddened about how shoddily Paramount seemed to put out their recent box set. Hell when New Line acquired the rights to the series, yes their Jason films suck, but at least they do right by the fans DVD-wise.Paramount could have done a great service to us by looking back at New Lin's Nightmare on Elm Street box set. It's a shame they didn't.My Grade: A- Eye Candy: Jeannine Taylor shows ta-tas and ass cleavage
11 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Classic horror, 12 July 2000 Author: MisterWhiplash from United States
Not exactly a masterpiece, but not a waste of time either. This film is basically a starters set for the film-buffs who start watching horror films. Premise- a killer is after a bunch of kids at a camp many years after a tragedy to a kid named Jason Voorhees. Some good killer scenes (and Betsy Palmer is very good in this film) but not exactly a great horror film. Classic entertainment anyway. A-
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