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A review and discussion of the camp-slasher classic that started a phenomenon. WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS What an exciting time this is! To have a Friday the 13th actually within the month of October is legendary. My horror heart is ecstatic. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I thought I’d take a little dive into the classic horror film that helped define what we all think of when we hear the phrase “Friday the 13th.” Directed and produced by Sean S. Cunningham and released on May 9th in 1980, Friday the 13th takes us on a thrilling ride with a group of camp counselors preparing to open Camp Crystal Lake, a supposedly cursed summer camp where multiple mysterious deaths have taken place over the years. Now, a ruthless killer has returned to pick off the new counselors one by one with a gruesome vengeance. a story of revengeThis series is synonymous with Jason Voorhess and his hockey mask and machete chasing after promiscuous teens in the woods, but it is interesting to see how this first film in the franchise started off by being more of a whodunnit, where we don’t actually see who is doing the killing for a majority of the film. We get all these clues about how this camp is cursed, with a little boy drowning in 1957, then two counselors being murdered the very next year, as well as multiple reasons for the camp not being able to open after that, like fires and bad water, as we hear from one of the locals. And when this new group of counselors start getting offed, we can see that there is clearly someone who does not want this camp to open, for whatever reason. Of course, nowadays, everyone watching would just assume it is Jason who is going to be revealed as the killer. So people who are perhaps new to the horror genre are probably just as surprised today as they were in 1980 to find out who the culprit is. And yes, in case you missed the previous warning, there are spoilers everywhere in this review, as there will be in any film review I do. What also adds a unique touch to this first film is that it is, at its heart, a tragic revenge story. Pamela Voorhees, Jason's distraught mother, is the one hacking up all of the counselors, and for a very heart-wrenching reason. This woman’s son, who she clarifies needed to be watched at every minute, drowned in Crystal Lake while the counselors were having sex instead of watching the kids. Therefore, she takes revenge by doing everything she can to prevent this camp from ever opening again… even if that means murdering more irresponsible teens who may cause more despair through their ignorance. Silly and fun as this movie is, the story is quite devastating when looking at things from the perspective of Pamela Voorhees. In her deranged mind that has been destroyed by the death of her innocent child, she is performing a heroic act by making sure no other parent has to experience such a needless and horrifying loss. And while themes quite so serious certainly aren’t the spirit of the Friday the 13th franchise, it is interesting that we start the story from this place. Though to be honest, Mrs. Voorhees probably should have gone after the foolish adults who decided it was a good idea to put kids in charge of the safety of other kids. The brains of teenagers are far too underdeveloped to be supervising a hefty number of young children for such large amounts of time, in my humble opinion. But perhaps there was a deeper point Mrs. Voorhees was trying to make, showing how truly ill-equipped this camp is. So much so that a killer easily waltzed in and managed to murder all the counselors, who couldn’t defend themselves, much less any children who might have been there. the body countEveryone has their favorite Friday the 13th character and their favorite final girl, and I would say the group we get in our first tour of Crystal Lake is pretty decent. Adrienne King as Alice makes for a very capable final girl, who gets the glory of taking a machete to Mrs. Voorhees’ neck in the third act, which is quite a satisfying ending. I like that we see a bit of her fixing up the camp by herself in the beginning of the film to show some of her ingenuity that she uses later to defend herself against Mrs. Voorhees (though it definitely takes her a good minute). And Betsy Palmer herself gives a delightfully unhinged, yet tragic performance as the vengeful killer. The other characters are quite likable as well, especially when we see them all interacting together when they get to the camp, trying to get dinner together, fending off Crazy Ralph, or trying different horrible tactics to get a snake out of Alice’s cabin. And then of course there is the legendary Strip Monopoly scene. It feels like you’re just watching a bunch of friends relaxing and having a fun night, none the wiser as to what horrors are happening around them and what is soon to befall them. This is the best part about slasher movies if you ask me. It often feels like you're watching a likable teen dramedy that suddenly gets interrupted by someone chopping peoples’ heads off. And yes, our resident “before they were famous they were in a low-budget horror movie” actor for this film is, Kevin Bacon. Playing heartthrob Jack Burrell, who is the one to have a sex scene with his girlfriend and thus be killed. I know he’s somewhat recently talked about what it was like filming his death scene here, discussing the legendary tale of the pump breaking right in the middle of the take, and effects man Tom Savini having to physically blow into the tube to get the blood to squirt up. I love that Kevin Bacon often returns to the horror genre, and has spoken respectably of it, at least from what I’ve heard. So two thumbs up to him for not shirking the whole thing as some actors will do once they’ve reached higher fame. the slashingsOf course, the reason we are all here in the first place, and why Friday the 13th and the slasher genre in general caught on so solidly, is the creative death scenes. And as far as over the top bloody death scenes go, we probably have this film to thank for starting that tradition in mainstream slashers. The tradition where multiple methods, weapons, and seemingly harmless items can be used to mutilate and dismember unsuspecting folks. We have a lot of classic death scenes here that were absolutely insane at the time of this film's release. We’ve already covered Kevin Bacon’s famous arrow through the throat death, we have girlfriend Marcie with the ax to the head, hitchhiker Annie getting her throat slit, Alice’s possible love interest Bill (played by Bing Crosby’s son, Harry… oh yes, that’s a thing) getting pinned to a cabin door with arrows, and of course the amazing decapitation of Mrs. Voorhees. Tom Savini is at his best here with the creativity of practical effects, and though some things may look dated now, they are still a ton of fun, and it is a wonder to think of what it must have been like to experience them for the first time in a theater way before kills like this were the norm in slashers. Something I love about every Friday movie is there is never just one weapon, and rarely do you see two people killed the same way. The machete is the most iconic weapon associated with the series, but every death scene usually has the killer utilizing a variety of tools or camp-related equipment, giving each kill a special uniqueness, and of course, a chance for everyone to have their personal favorite. Camp crystal lakeOf all the films, this first one is probably my favorite as far as the comfy, summery, camp atmosphere they managed to create. It makes things feel innocent and safe enough, until darkness begins to descend on our dear Camp Crystal Lake. They filmed at an actual summer camp, so that has a lot to do with how genuine it feels, along with how the characters interact and how much fun they have while they can, as I mentioned previously. The lake looks bright and sunny and inviting, and like a place you’d never expect anything horrible to happen, which is brilliant once the storm hits and all goes dark, and things very slowly start to feel worse and worse for our characters. We the audience know the entire time what’s coming, but it is especially interesting to watch our final girl, Alice, as she finds herself alone after more and more of her friends go missing. Eventually, she is all by herself in a cabin that is eerily silent while she tries to make some coffee. She knows something isn’t right as we can see on her face as she takes in the unnatural quiet, and it is such a far cry from only a few moments earlier when things were loud and rowdy and everyone was having a grand old time playing Strip Monopoly, or having sex, or playing music. Again, it is one of my favorite things about slashers, how the seemingly innocent and normal night so quickly turns into the most gruesome horror you can imagine ever happening. It’s in the back of our heads always, wondering what we’d do if the worst were to happen, and the slasher film puts us right in the midst of it, challenging us to survive the night along with the final girl who often, like in this case, is left to fight entirely on her own. I think this movie showcases that brilliantly through the slow isolation of Alice, and us the audience along with her. Another very important part of creating the atmosphere in this film is the essential score by Harry Manfredini. We all know the sound of it, and even just one note is enough to bring us right back into the woods, creeping along waiting for the killer to jump out from behind a tree. It is a flawless piece of music for these films, it fits the spooky fun mood so perfectly, and it has become a staple of horror. There are some nice moments of cinematography as well that add to extremely tense moments. There are many shots where we can just barely see the killer, lurking in a cabin or out from behind a curtain. It is quite unnerving, almost plainly seeing whoever it is walking around, stalking each of the characters, just out of focus or in the shadows. And my favorite shot of the film is just before Marcie is killed, where we see the shadow of the ax being raised up behind her when she is completely none the wiser. A great suspense moment created by a nice lighting trick and previously built tension. The legacyWhile far from being the first slasher in horror history, this film has the honor of bringing forth the slasher-craze of the 1980s. It was of course banking off the massive success of Halloween, which had its own copycats with movies that tried to be somewhere in between a slasher and a serial killer-character study between 1979 and 1980. Then Friday came out into the mainstream with a similar formula, but an entirely different style, which carries through to slasher films today. The over the top kills, competitive body counts, final girl ingenuity taking down the killer in the third act, one last jump scare to always leave it open for a sequel, etc. Of course, there were other important films that were essential to bringing the genre to where it is today (Black Christmas, A Bay of Blood, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to name only a few). But this film is incredibly important within the timeline of horror cinema, and though this subgenre, and this series in particular, are regarded as the “trash” side of Hollywood and looked at with mockery, no one can deny the powerful phenomenon slasher films are within the horror community and in pop culture. Even if one isn’t a horror fan, they mostly likely know the name of this series, and will know Jason’s mask and his machete and all of that, but none of that would have been possible without the success of this film that knew exactly what shot on the arm the slasher subgenre needed to truly take off and lead to an array of spectacular films that all us slasher fans know and love and have watched time and time again. final thoughtsThis film will always be one of my favorites, and will forever have its place in history as the important catalyst for one of the biggest and most successful franchises in horror. A truly iconic slasher film that solidified the tropes we know and love today, and brought buckets of blood and gore and creativity into the world of scary movies. Friday the 13th has never been the same since May 9, 1980, and I am quite confident that us horror fans will never stop celebrating the pure, badass fun of this series.
Much like the supernatural killer who has become the superstar of these movies, the spirit and love for Friday the 13th will live forever. I hope everyone had a fantastic Friday, and perhaps marked the occasion by kicking back with Jason or Pamela Voorhees to enjoy a particularly bloody Friday the 13th this Halloween season.
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