FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

Film: So here’s the thing. I have always tried to make my reviews at minimum 500 words long so that at least there appears to be some kind of substance to my writing, but what does one write about a film that had SO much written about it over the years, not to mention countless YouTube videos and Instagram posts. I basically have two choices: start with a long preamble about what new could be written about a 45 year old horror classic to get to the hundred word mark, or just reflect on my thoughts in the film, and how much it means to me, not just as a singular film, but as a series.

Or I could do both!

As you well know, Friday the 13th was released in 1980, was written by Victor Miller and directed by Sean S. Cunningham and is one of the early slashers that spawned not just hundreds of imitators, but a load of sequels, merchandise, and most of all, horror fans.

Now I always do a plot synopsis at this point of the review and I shall here again, just in case there is that single person who has never seen Friday the 13th though i wonder why you would be here on this mainly horror and cult movie website.

(It has since been pointed out to me that this review, even though it is for a horror classic, is actually 45 years old, and how many films did I watch as a young horror fan that were 45 years old. My answer to that was bloody heaps of them, because 40 odd years before when I first became a horror fan was the 40s, when a shed load of amazing horror and sci-fi came out so there’s no excuse.)

Friday the 13th tells of Alice (Adrienne King) a young woman helping to get a new summer camp open at Crystal Lake, run by her maybe boyfriend Steve (Peter Brouwer), and the other councillors (including Kevin Bacon before he was cured properly).

The final councillor who is supposed to arrive, Annie (Robbie Morgan) has disappeared on her way to the camp though, and we, the viewers, know that she has been murdered by an unidentified assailant who picked her up as she was hitchhiking on her way there.

Steve disappears into town to collect supplies after Annie is a no-show, and very quickly, the workers start getting picked off one by one. As the body count rises, we are left to wonder… who is the murderer? Is it one of the councillors? Could it be Steve? Maybe Ralph (Walt Gorney), the town crazy… who knows?

I can’t express just how important this film is too me. I have so much Friday the 13th stuff in my house: board games, soundtracks on vinyl, action figures of multiple characters, my first Fright Rags tshirt was a Jason one, and the thing that got me interested in vinyl model kits as a teen was a really cool one from the Japanese company Billiken, and then one from Screamin’ soon after.

This is the thing, though: most of that stuff is of Jason Voorhees… and not of the killer in this film. This is it, this is an important film and it launched a whole pile of stuff that i love… but it is not my favourite Friday the 13th film. It is violent and exciting and the cast in it are fine, the soundtrack is amazing and the gore effects are heaps of fun, but its a low budget film and it does show.

Just to clarify I do not thing this film is bad or worthless as it is not, but what it is is the beginning of something that i came to love as a horror fan.

If I am to criticise this holiest of holies in the horror genre, it’s just for a few things. The acting is quite horrible here and there, not all the cast, but a few of them have a very low score in the skill marker for this. That’s ok though, it’s a cheap horror film from the 80s and realistically, we don’t always expect too much and it adds to the charm.

My second criticism is I feel the film occasionally, in my mind anyway, posits itself as being a whodunnit insomuch as I feel like we are supposed to be guessing who the killer is, like an Argento film or even a Hitchcock, but even though we are introduced to a bunch of weird characters in town with Annie, including crazy Carl, and even have a few moments where some of the councillors seem a bit off, like after one of them kills a snake and there is a lingering look at him musing on the creatures execution, when the reveal happens, everyone goes ‘who the hell is this?’ I keep coming back to this and looking for some kind of a clue but either it’s not there or I am simply a freaking idiot.

The latter is infinitely possible.

I have a lot of affection for this film, but if somebody said to me “want to watch a Friday the 13th film? Your choice!’, this would not be my go-to flick. That’s not to say it’s not a horror classic or it deserves to be rewatched regularly either.

Disc: There is a huge bunch of extras on this disc and whilst I appreciate the volume of content, I must admit that any extra on a Friday the 13th film is overshadowed by the amazing Crystal Lake Memories documentary and accompanying book (or vise versa). These extras are good ON THIS DISC but that doco offers so much more behind the scenes stuff that without plumbing that well, its hard to have original stuff.

Theres a decent Commentary by Sean S. Cunningham but its most of the same anecdotes you’ve heard before: hosted by Peter M. Bracke.

Return to Crystal Lake: The Making of Friday the 13th is fine, but as I stated previously, watch Crystal Lake Memories instead.

A Friday the 13th Reunion is a reunion from 2008 at a convention of Tom Savini, Ari Lehman, Victor Miller, Betsy Palmer, Harry Manfredini and Adrienne King. It’s a cute piece but it’s all the anecdotes you’ve heard before.

The Man Behind the Legacy: Sean S. Cunningham is a short interview with Cunningham on his work.

Lost Tales from Camp Blood Part 1 was written and directed by Andrew Ceperley and it’s an amateurish take of the Friday the 13th movies: I have no idea why it’s on here.

The Friday the 13th Chronicles is more of the same with the same anecdotes but was probably of a previous DVD release.

Secrets Galore Behind the Gore is a very Quick Look at the for through the eyes of Cunningham and Savini.

Fresh Cuts: New Tales from Friday the 13th is again, interesting but not a great deal of fresh material.

There’s also a trailer.

Film: 7/10

Extras: 10/10 (with the aforementioned caveat)

Rewatchability: 10/10

This film was reviewed with the Australian Bluray release, purchased from JB Hifi.