Friday the 13th (1980) - Movie Review

FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

Friday the 13th is a slasher flick that was released in the summer of 1980 with a similar premise to the iconic 1978 classic, Halloween.  A group of counselors at an abandoned summer camp called "Camp Crystal Lake" are picked off one by one by a mysterious, brutal serial killer. The film was met with largely negative critical reception at the time of release but was a giant box office success. It earned $59.8 million on a budget of $550,000. This is a very important film to me, it may not be my favorite installment in the franchise but it did start my all time favorite horror franchise.  I started a new sort of look for my reviews so they can at least look better.

THE GOOD

Friday the 13th has a better concept for a slasher film than Halloween in my personal opinion.  It's more like Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the sense that instead of the terror coming to the victims, the victims go to the terror, which is scarier when you think about it. The tone and atmosphere is absolutely wonderful, it always feels like something bad may happen even when there's nothing happening at all. The performances are surprisingly good for a movie with a cast of first time actors and an actress who didn't give a shit about the project whatsoever (Betsy Palmer). Betsy Palmer acts her ass off when her character is finally introduced. (this movie is 40 years old now so I am going to reveal it, I don't give a fuck about spoilers) For those who don't know and somehow never came across this franchise, she plays Pamela Voorhees (the killer in the film), who vows revenge in counselors who caused the death of her son, Jason one day back in 1957. She is a wonderful villain, and Palmer's performance absolutely sells it!  She is creepy as fuck, the way she talks in Jason's child voice is unsettling. The technical aspects are very impressive for a movie with a budget of only $550,000.  The cinematography is beautiful!  The POV shots, still shots, wide shots for example all work wonderfully!  The musical score is nothing short of iconic, and of course it features the iconic staple of the franchise, the sound, ch, ch, ch, ha, ha, ha!  Now this is a slasher film, so the most important aspect are the kills!  For the most part they are great!  Tom Savini's phenomenal practical effects make them special, like the axe to the one girl's face, the arrow through Kevin Bacon's throat (the best kill in the movie), and of course the classic decapitation of Pamela Voorhees!

THE BAD

As I said in my intro, this isn't my favorite entry, I do have quite a few problems. My first problem is some of the kills. In the section "THE GOOD", the key word leading to that was "for the most part".  Why is that?  That is because of two things, several kills were cut short to avoid the X rating at the time, and there are several offscreen kills.  One offscreen kill does work, but the rest of them didn't, creating an inconsistency in quality of the kills.  This movie could have also used some more editing.  I am all for slow paced movies, especially horror!  Films like The Shining, the first 3 Paranormal Activity films, The Thing (1982) and Wes Craven's New Nightmare are terrific examples of slow paced horror done right!  However; there are scenes in this movie that really drag on for too long.  There is a scene that I am sure everyone who has seen this movie would know what I am talking about, where the final girl makes coffee in a cabin, and they show the ENTIRE process!  They never cut to anything else that could be going on, you literally witness the entire process of the making of coffee. The last criticism I have is the twist when they reveal the killer.  It's not Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning levels of bad (that's for another time), but I did have a problem with it.  The twist was super predictable, because of the fact that she was obviously being deceptive when she introduces herself, and when you see her pull up to the cabin, she was driving the EXACT SAME JEEP that was shown when the mysterious killer was driving in the first act!

CONCLUSION

Friday the 13th is one of the most important films in the history of horror movies.  It helped shape the slasher genre as we know it today, and it gave birth to one of the most iconic and profitable franchises of all time. I don't love this film but I do enjoy it for what it is and what it started.  This is a good film overall and I highly recommend it for people who love this franchise and want to get into horror films.  In my eyes, this is essential viewing.

6.8/10   -   OKAY

Pros:

- Musical score

- Cinematography 

- Practical effects

- Acting

- Great villain

- Great mood/atmosphere

Cons:

- Pacing is too slow

- Some kills are cut too short or left offscreen

- Predictable twist

Thanks for reading my review, I hope you all enjoyed it and enjoyed my new way of writing them.  I will be reviewing the remaining 11 films in the franchise in the near future!  Stay tuned for my next review, for the 1982 horror classic, Poltergeist!

Film details

MPAA rating:  R (reason N/A)

Release date:  May 9th, 1980

Run time:  95 min

Studio:  Paramount Pictures

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th_(1980_film)