Friday the 13th (1980) Paramount Pictures/Horror RT: 94 minutes Rated R (language, graphic violence, nudity, sexual content, drug use) Director: Sean S. Cunningham Screenplay: Victor Miller Music: Harry Manfredini Cinematography: Barry Abrams Release date: May 9, 1980 (US) Cast: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Peter Brouwer, Walt Gorney, Rex Everhart, Ronn Carroll, Willie Adams, Debra S. Hayes. Box Office: $39.7 million (US) Body Count: 10
Rating: ****
I’m going to say right off that I love the Friday the 13th movies. I know that none of the movies (11 in all) stand as shining examples of quality cinema as defined by most film lovers. Well, I’m not your normal film lover, but I suspect you already know that. I’ve decided to tackle the massive undertaking of reviewing all of the F13 movies and what better place to start than where it all began.
Friday the 13th opened in 1100 theaters on May 9, 1980 and changed the face of horror forever. It’s regarded as one of the first true “mad slasher” flicks although it’s also been called a “dead teenager” movie. Either way you look at it, the killer racks up a pretty decent body count by movie’s end, all of them teenagers. The teens in the F13 movies are typically horny types with loose morals and limited intelligence. If any of them had an ounce of sense, they wouldn’t get into the no-escape predicaments they usually find themselves in. What fun would that be? It also bears mentioning that Friday the 13th is the first low budget horror flick to be distributed by a major studio. It was made for about $550,000 and Paramount picked it up for $1.5 million. It went on to be one of the top box office hits of the year. I didn’t get to see it during its initial release due to that pesky R-rated movie parental block, but I heard all about it from friends at school and church. I knew that it was my kind of movie just by its description.
The story begins in 1958 when two camp counselors sneak away from a sing-along to fool around and get killed by an unseen assailant. It then jumps forward to present day where Annie (Morgan) is making her way to Camp Crystal Lake, the same place where the murders occurred. The townspeople are horrified that Steve Christy (Brouwer) is reopening the place given all that’s happened there over the years. As town drunk Crazy Ralph (Gorney) puts it, the camp has a death curse on it. The trouble started in ’57 when a young boy drowned in the lake. Since then, it’s been one incident after another. Annie never makes it to the camp. She hitches a ride with an unseen person who slashes the girl’s throat in the woods.
At the camp, Steve welcomes three new arrivals- Jack (Bacon), his girlfriend Marcie (Taylor) and best friend Neddy (Nelson). Also present are Brenda (Bartram), Bill (Crosby) and Alice (King). They spend the day fixing up the camp and goofing around while Steve runs into town for supplies. A storm hits just before nightfall. That’s when the massacre begins. The killer stalks and dispatches the teens one by one until only one is left. You know how it goes, right?
The identity of the killer is common knowledge, so I have absolutely no problem revealing it here. It’s Pamela Voorhees (Palmer), the mother of the drowned boy. The sole survivor of the slaughter is Alice. She’s a fighter, that one. It’s also common knowledge that Alice beheads Mrs. Voorhees with a machete during the climactic fight. Again, I have no qualms about discussing this. Chances are if you’re reading this review, you’ve already seen Friday the 13th, probably several times.
The real attraction of the F13 movies are the murders. The writers are very creative when it comes to that. In this first movie, a girl gets her head split open with an axe and a guy gets an arrow through the back of his neck while lying in his bunk. Another fellow gets impaled to a door with several arrows. At least one victim is hung upside down after getting murdered. What I want to know is how a middle-aged woman managed that? She couldn’t possibly be that strong. Or could she? You don’t ask questions like that of an F13 movie. You just have to accept what’s happening as truth and enjoy the bloody ride.
You also don’t critique the acting in an F13 flick. The teens are all character-types as opposed to actual characters. Basically, they’re lambs lined up for the slaughter. Each one has a defining trait or two, but forget about finding any well-rounded characters in these movies. That would require more effort than is necessary. The actors deliver the exact kinds of performances the movie requires. That pretty much goes for all the F13 movies. However, it is interesting to see a young Kevin Bacon at the beginning of his career.
Once you realize that Friday the 13th is a blood-drenched thrill ride, a cinematic funhouse, it’s kind of brilliant in its own way. The camera work is quite good, especially in the scenes that utilize the killer’s point-of-view. It makes what’s happening scarier. The score by Harry Manfredini is classic. It ranks alongside classic horror movies scores like Halloween and Psycho. It adds a strong element of tension to the proceedings. When those strings kick in, neck hairs will stick up and hearts will race.
Director Sean S. Cunningham (producer of The Last House on the Left) and writer Victor Miller do an amazing job with Friday the 13th. I like the picture’s style; Cunningham gives it the feel of a grindhouse flick and keeps it taut with suspense. Up until this point, this kind of movie generally played in crummy urban grindhouse theaters, but Cunningham took it to the next level. Did he give the genre an air of respectability? On some level perhaps, but I’m sure many would debate the issue. It’s interesting to watch it today and see how much has changed since it first came out. Casual sex among teens isn’t the norm in horror movies today. Also, the genre has become somewhat stale and watered-down with the advent of the PG-13 rated horror movie. It’s comforting to know that you can always look to a movie like Friday the 13th as a reminder that the genre was once cool. It’s my go-to horror franchise.
