Title: Friday the 13th
Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Year of Release: 1980
Scaredy-Cat Level: đ» (A few hairy moments, but overall, pretty predictable stuff)
Subgenre: Slasher, mystery, horror
Plot Summary (Spoiler-Free)
Imagine you agreed to take a job at a summer camp? Now, what would be enough to put you off starting that job â gruesome rumours off past incidents there? A bunch of terrified locals warning you not to go? An owner with a serial killer âtache and glasses combo? How about the nickname âCamp Bloodâ? Still interested? Yes? Then youâre nuts.
Despite a decent chance of getting laid, a group of young people soon (surprise, surprise) regret taking the job at the camp when, one by one, they turn up dead. Think The Evil Dead, but with less possession, and more⊠lake.
SPOILER ALERT!
The rest of this review contains some details and thoughts that might reveal a bit too much about the movie â youâve been warned!
The Scaredy-Cat Experience
Jump Scare Count: Two, and theyâre really good! The best ones are not the ones you donât expect, but the ones you do expect, and yet they still get ya!
Tense Moments: When she finds Bill hanging on the back of the door, then runs back to the cabin to lock herself in. So much vulnerability in that scene â very tense despite nothing immediately happening.
Spooky Atmosphere: Itâs a camp by a lake in a remote area at night with a backward town nearby, and thereâs a lot of blood. Oh, and the violinists were really cookinâ in the musical score.
Bits That Scared Me:
Kevin Bacon's death, with the blood dripping on his head first, caught me off guard. You're expecting him to find the body in top bunk, but instead, he gets killed. Great death and very creepy.
The body flying through the window. Yup, that one got me.
Mrs Voorhees speaking with her son's voice. Creepy af.
Scene in the lake at the end. Terrifying!
The Funny Bits:
The guy pretending to drown and having his friends rescue him. Actually, no, that wasn't funny at all.
The weird guy hanging out in the pantry to deliver an ominous warning! You'd never listen to him.
Mrs Voorhees' decapitation, but her arms and hands and fingers still moving â ridiculous!
Scaredy-Cat Verdict
I can definitely see why Friday the 13th is considered a classic, but like a lot of the other films Iâve reviewed, time has not been kind to it. The scary moments are all fairly predictable by todayâs standards, but back in the day, Iâm sure they were terrifying. Having said that, there were a few moments that had me on edge, and for a horror film thatâs over forty years old, thatâs not bad going.
Final Thoughts
I was pretty disappointed with this one, if Iâm being honest. The fact that Jason, with his classic hockey mask and machete, doesnât feature at all was a real letdown. Iâm also not entirely sure how believable his mother was as the killer (although she is pretty creepy). That said, Friday the 13th does a decent job at building tension, and itâs easy to see why it became such a big name in horror. But if youâre hoping for the iconic Jason experience, youâll need to stick around for the sequel.
My (Out-of-Context) Thoughts During the Movie
"This camp looks boring; I can see why it'd drive someone to commit a murder."
"I hope that blanket has been washed."
"Break the camp rules, get stabbed. Seems fair."
"The dog's telling her not to go to the camp."
"They're all freaks in this town."
"Truck driver just casually grabbing her ass, no big deal."
"No one ever heeds the warnings in these films, do they?"
"It's Kevin Bacon!"
"Nice denim shorts, buddy."
"Never realised Robin Hood was in this."
"She never put up much of a fight."
"Looks like the same cabin from The Evil Dead."
"They really wrecked that room to find the snake."
"Some casual Native American racism there."
"This copper has a bad attitude."
"Did the weirdo cycle 20 miles from town just to freak them out?"
"The âfunnyâ guy got friend-zoned."
"... and then he got murdered. Bad day all round."
"No, not Kevin Bacon!"
"Oooh, axe to the face!"
"Shouldn't she take all her clothes with her? It's raining, after all."
"She'd be getting zero help from me!"
"Lock all the doors, stay together, leave in the morning. My standard advice for surviving most horror films."
"Bet that axe had a nice sleep."
"Danger sign on the door, very clever foreshadowing."
"Kinda hoped I'd actually have seen Jason by now."
"I'd love to own a lantern, then I could walk around shouting âwho goes there!?â all the time."
"Hope that coffee is decaf."
"She's holding that baseball bat the wrong way."
"This old woman never did all of this."
"Maimed everyone else, but now she's just gonna slap her to death."
"They always run away without finishing the killer off."
"Why is she sitting there, waiting to be attacked again?"
"This better not have all been a dream."
"Where's the big guy with the hockey mask?"
Oooo tackling the classic slashers eh? My faves haha. I love how campy they are.
How about Child's Play next? I was surprised by how good it was - we watched the whole series a few summers ago, and the quality variation is wild!