Friday the 13th
1980 Directed by Sean S. Cunningham
Synopsis
You’ll wish it were only a nightmare.
Terror and suspense abound in this 24-hour nightmare of blood. Camp Crystal Lake has been shuttered for over 20 years due to several vicious and unsolved murders. The camp's new owner and seven young counselors are readying the property for re-opening despite warnings of a "death curse" by local residents. The curse proves true on Friday the 13th as one by one each of the counselors is stalked by a violent killer.
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Was this always this boring?
I am a bit disappointed that this didn't age well at all. I appreciate what this film, even though it's riding the coattail of a true classic, has done for the genre, but it is far from a classic. It isn't even a particularly good film. You could even go so far as to say that we have all the shallow, trope ridden, 'ten little Indians' plot inspired films to thank for it.
But still, credit where credit's due, this was one of the first ones and whether I agree with it or not, it has become an iconic film. Many slashers, including, the many sequels to this, are simple derivatives of this film, so…
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Despite the many moments of unintentional hilarity, this movie sucks sweaty balls. The reason? It's boring. It's really fucking boring. The kills are boring, the acting is boring, the story is boring, the lighting is boring, the cinematography is boring, my popcorn is boring, my brother is boring, the music is boring, the script is boring, my room is boring, the characters are boring, and my dog is boring as shit.
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And back to where it all began...
Despite the fact that it's more or less common knowledge now, I still get a huge kick out of the ghoulish perverseness of the big twist regarding the identity of the killer. It's actually somewhat dramatically plausible, while still being enjoyably batshit at the same time.
In that way, it's actually got a lot in common with Italian giallo films, in that it is a mystery built upon a series of creative murder sequences (during which you only see the killer's hand), and in the final reveal, the killer is not only flamboyantly looney-tunes, but has an absurdly complex motive behind his/her actions.
Sean S. Cunningham's direction is somewhat bare-bones, but far from…
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Part of Friday the 13th for Friday the 12th
It's kinda funny looking back at this film; how the twist changed over a generation. Back in the day, the twist was that Mrs. Vorheese was the killer. For those who watch it today, the twist is that Jason Vorheese isn't the killer. I remember being shocked as hell the first time I saw it and seeing Jason wasn't the biggest part of it. With that said, would you have ever believed that a franchise would have survived as long as it has without it's original killer? Not someone else putting on the same mask, but a completely different killer? It's crazy when you think about it.
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"Come, dear. It'll be easier for you than it was for Jason."
It will never be as essential as Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or even Black Christmas for that matter but Sean Cunningham's hugely enjoyable slasher boasts an old-school charm that still lingers after 33 years.
Okay, so there is a lot wrong with Friday the 13th, most noticeably that time has not been kind to the film. The acting is horrendous as ever, especially poor Adrienne King, who is probably one of the worst scream-queens in horror motion picture history - but she succeeds in having the sex appeal of Freddy Kruger in a steam room. Sean Cunningham does the best he can with a plot-less story…
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I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was sort of a ground breaker for new slasher gore trends - setting a new level for graphic gore and so forth. It is really well done. This movie does contain Jason but not as you will see him in the sequels. This one has Betsy Palmer as Mrs Vorhees doing the killing. It is the mother this time, which reminded me of the mother themes of Psycho. If you listen closely to the soundtrack, you will see touches of the Psycho theme, of which this movie was inspired by. Psycho is the single most influential horror movie in terms of what films it paved the way for in horror. The gore effects by…
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All the Jason news this past week got me in the mood to watch a couple Jason flicks. So I watched the best (this one) and im gonna re-visit the remake since I havent seen it in a long time.
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this is it... guess who it is behind duct taped eyes
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Not very good, but had fun watching this with friends when we were in high school.
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Kill them, mommy! Don't let them escape.
Low-budget but not cheap. A true classic.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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So Jill and I partied a bit too much last night and are just being lazy today...woke kind of early and decided to do a F13 marathon...why not?
When I was a kid, these movies were religion to me...would hunt down every magazine, figured out the timeline, tried to fix the continuity issues in my mind, dressed as Jason for Halloween, even made my own Jason figure out of a GI Joe guy...pretty obsessed I guess...
So here is where it all began...with the original...I really like the feel and the realism of this one...cool backstory, locations were ideal, the teens were real...the kill scenes were fun too...
Always a fun watch and never gets old for me...
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@Camdun_Roar: Knowing horror tropes made this film boring until the villain is revealed and the battle begins. Then it's hilarious 6.75/10
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Sure, there are some slow parts but I still enjoy this OG film, the one where the makers simply wanted to create a low-budget cash-in on the then-recently released Halloween Michael Myers film and ended up starting a highly profitable franchise and spawning a pop culture icon of the 80's.
I am still entertained by this film as there are some cool kills (as usual Tom Savini did a great job with the gore effects), the characters by and large you enjoy, there are some fun bit players (like DORF the cop and Enos the truck driver) and you can certainly understand why Jason's mom did what she did.