Friday the 13th (1980)

FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

“He should have been watched, every minute…my only child… my sweet, innocent...Jason.”- Pamella Voorhees. These where the words that birthed my favourite horror icon, Jason Voorhees, and although he isn’t the main antagonist in Friday the 13^th part 1, it is this movie that set the seed for another eleven movies in years to come. First off, this movie was initially made to cash-in on the popularity of the equally as classic Halloween by John Carpenter. While that is a good movie, I automatically favour Friday the 13^th because of my affinity to the hockey-masked, machete wielding mass murderer. There where only a  few of these movies floating around in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and it was this and Halloween that established a now well-worn formulae still used in what are now called ‘slashers’- a sub-genre of horror that involves a murder (usually masked or unknown), sex and often graphic violence.

The storyline is pretty simple. Upon the re-opening of a camp, new horny councillors are brought in to help prepare ‘Camp Crystal Lake’ for re-opening. One by one, they are picked of in the dead of night at the hands of a mysterious assailant who is not revealed until the finale. And that’s it! Among the cast are a few familiar names, including Kevin Bacon in one of his first major roles (although he doesn’t last long).

Our Camp Crystal Lake councillors lined up for the slaughter. from left to right,  Laurie Bartram as Brenda,  Mark Nelson as Ned, Jeannine Taylor as Marcie, Kevin Bacon as Jack and Harry Crosby as Bill.

The wooden cabins, the clouded moonlight, the surrounding forest and a ferocious storm; it’s just all so classic now. Even if the movie is very dated (I had no idea how popular and short short-shorts where back then), the first scene and a few others still send shivers down my spine. Friday the 13^th’s score introduces the iconic ‘kee-kee-kee-mah-mah-mah’ (actually made from the composer saying ‘kill-kill-kill-mum-mum-mum’). I know crazy Ralph's character was meant to be scary, but he is just SO funny. Apparently the actor who played him was pretty quirky himself. You can't help but have fun with a movie that has characters standing there going ‘no..no!’ right before their throats are slit. Most of the scenes where done on one take, which explains why some come off as awkwardly funny. All the characters are the standard card-board cutout ‘slasher’fair. However it should be noted that both this and Halloween established this trend before it became a cliché. Despite this, these characters are in no way unlikable; something modern horror films have a major problem with.

There's nothing like an axe to the head after some sexy-good-time cabin sex. Or is that just me and her...?

A great element of the film is Marcie’s recount of an ominous dream. Coupled with the oncoming storm, its pretty effective in creating a perfect atmosphere for the film. Some of the kills are pretty damn good, but don’t expect anything profoundly gory compared to modern films. Kevin Bacon gets an especially bloody death, and the lead up to Marcie’s ‘axe-to-the-head’ is well done. Friday the 13^th is at its cheesiest when in its last half an hour. Alice goes to great lengths to barricade a door only to need it minutes later, and the killer is revealed. Your reaction to this will either be a gasp followed by ‘OH MY GOD’, or an ‘OH MY GOD!’ followed by laughter. The fight between the heroin and the killer is so poorly staged that it is comic gold. This consists of Alice knocking out the killer in an amusing fashion, running away and the killer regaining consciousness; repeated about three times. Seriously, I was yelling “FOR GOD’S SAKE KILL THE BITCH!” Her reactions to finding her mutilated friends is priceless. I believe her method of acting for these scenes is called ‘shocked constipation’.  The decision to leave the perpetrators identity until the last few reels was a good move, and like I said your reaction to this might be very different to mine.

How the FUCK she slept after chopping the head off an old lady and seeing all her friends dead mutilated bodies is beyond me. 

This next part has some spoilers. Betsy Palmer does an amiable job as the crazed ms Voorhees, even if it is far-fetched with how much a 50 ear old mentally unstable women was able to do to these kids. Her performance verges on comic yet very creepy. Seeing this older women bash Alice’s head into the sand is just hilarious, as is her face right before she gets the chop. The jump scare at the end is just as crap-inducing as it was then, and this what truly opened the doors for Jason to avenge his mother…even if it was meant to be a dream. Oh well!

No this isn't something from an 80's Colgate commercial, this is Betsy Palmer's 'avenge my retarded dead son' face.

One problem I have with this movie is a highly personal one of ethics. In one scene, there is a snake in Alice’s cabin that gets killed. A real snake was used for the movie, and the snake was actually killed for the scene. Unfortunately this was nothing new in low-budget 70’s and 80’s movies. I know this might sound silly, but its just a personal issue I have with the movie. However this scene is very brief, so it’s not a big issue and didn’t really effect my score overall for Friday the 13^th.

While the effect might look bad now- the body is obviously a prosthetic- this death was still pretty nasty (and apparently a pain in the butt to film. The blood pump wasn't working, so the effects guy had to blow into the bag which caused the spurt of blood in the film).

Even if Jason isn’t a main aspect of Friday the 13^th, its still a well done, fiendishly corny and immensely enjoyable ‘slasher’. Think of this as a prequel to the other Friday’s. I’ll always be grateful for this film bringing Jason Voorhees into the world (maybe I should be thanking Ms. Voorhees for that?) as well as the ‘slasher’ sub genre of horror. “You see, Jason is my son. And today is his birthday”- Pamella Voorhees.

4/5

Recommended classification: 15+ for strong horror violence, sex scene, brief drug use and infrequent coarse language

And here is the gloriously corny original trailer! gotta love that last line: