Friday the 13th (1980)

Is it a gimmick to write a quick review for this movie on Friday the 13^th? Well if it is I guess we'll just have to struggle onwards because I thought it would be fun to watch this movie again and share my thoughts on it in terms of it's value as a stand alone movie as well as how I view the movie in retrospect given how huge the franchise has become since its release. Friday the 13^th is a landmark in horror movies whether you like it or not. It was a tiny budgeted movie that a major film studio took a gamble on to release to the public and advertise to a wide extent. And, of course, it was wildly successful and spawned many, many sequels. Not only do I think that's notable seeing how the horror genre has evolved over time but it's interesting because in some ways Friday the 13^th wrote the book on a lot of things that are considered cliches in the genre. Friday the 13^th plays its simple slasher concept straight and is, in my honest opinion, a quite the frightening and effective horror film despite how aged it is by today's standard.

I'm not going to summarize Friday the 13^th because chances are most people have already seen this (or at least know the basic outline of what happens). However, it's fun to talk to some people about this movie because the character that is associated with this horror franchise (Jason Voorhees) is largely absent in this movie. Didn't know that? Well go watch this movie to see how it all began because it's actually quite modest given how over-the-top the franchise gets over time. Instead, Friday the 13^th is a pretty small movie about camp counselors beings stalked by an unseen murderer and being picked off one by one. This is a pretty sly movie and for the most part the all out intensity is held for the final act and the first 3/4s of the movie is a build up of stealth kills and typical college kid shenanigans. Overall this movie's structure has been copied so many times over the years that it may not seem entirely original anymore (although this isn't the first slasher ever, but it certainly is one of the most remembered).

Legendary horror makeup artist Tom Savini is one of the main people who deserves credit for how effective the horrific moments are in Friday the 13^th. He was fresh off of the success of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead and was selected because of his proficient use of realistic practical gore effects.... and boy does it show. While a lot of the bloody and violent moments in this film are quite tame by today's standards they are still very impressive and I think look much more realistic that some of the over-the-top kills that rule most movies of this kind in later years. Every kill here is memorable in the slasher sense and thanks to a tight focus and simple development of characters there is a perfect blend of elements that make this a ton of fun to watch. It is never emotionally draining but is intense enough to keep you rooting for most of the main characters. I would argue that the excellent effects and simple genre elements set a precedent for movies of this kind in the future (for better or for worse).

As much fun as I think this movie is (maybe fun is the wrong word if you aren't a horror hound like myself) it definitely isn't perfect. First of all it is incredibly aged in a lot of ways and not in ways that work for a positive effect all of the time. Dialogue is sort of clunky, the outfits are mega 1980s (which is pretty fun to see), the score is delightfully low-fi and overall how much this format has been duplicated over the years makes the entire experience somewhat tired. Also since the later movies in the franchise focus almost entirely on the character of Jason Voorhees this movie acts as a sort of simple prelude to what comes next. If you've never seen any of the other movies you'll probably like this a lot more. Still its place in the horror universe shouldn't be slighted. Friday the 13^th is a classic despite its flaws and somewhat amateurish production values (outside of the special effects).

Whenever somebody says “Friday the 13th” one of the first things that will pop into most peoples' head is an image of a crazy man wearing a hockey mask. That isn't difficult to understand but revisiting the very first movie in this franchise may be surprising since it is so dramatically different from most of the other movies (except for Part II, which still doesn't have Jason wearing his infamous hockey mask). Also I'll never forget the first time I saw this movie: I watched it late night on TV the night before I went to summer camp for the first time when I was a kid (not even lying, that actually happened). Not only did that experience add an extra layer of paranoia to my childhood but it would help spawn a life long love of horror movies. Friday the 13^th isn't perfect and may not even be the best of the series, but despite all of that it's dear to my heart and still manages to be fairly frightening in this day and age.

8/10