A Legend is Born: ‘FRIDAY THE 13TH’ (1980) Revisited – Retro Review – PopHorror

When I was a wee little thing back in the day, I remember seeing the trailer for Friday the 13th on TV and being absolutely scared to death by it. I had no idea what it was about, but it just freaked me out and I had to either leave the room or cover my eyes and ears while the trailer was playing (I guess I was a wussy little kid back then).

Flash ahead a few years later, and I was really into horror movies and anything scary in general (what can I say, in addition to being a wuss I was just an odd little guy I suppose) so I watched Friday the 13th Part 2 and Friday the 13th Part III and loved every single minute of both films. However, I didn’t see the first movie until I was well into middle school, so I finally got the chance to watch it on cable late one night over the summer. Needless to say, I wasn’t blown away by it because it didn’t have Jason in it (until the surprise appearance at the end, of course), so I was more than a little disappointed.

However, I watched it again years later after I was older and wiser (well, older at least) and loved it. I’ve seen it a ton of times since, and feel that along with Psycho, Halloween, Black Christmas, and A Nightmare on Elm Street it is one of the most important slasher films in the history of horror and is a true classic in every sense of the word.

Synopsis

A group of camp counselors working on re-opening Camp Crystal Lake are terrorized by a brutal killer who is seeking revenge for a tragic event that took place there years earlier.

Friday the 13th features some unforgettable poster art!

Honestly, I’m not sure what can be said about Friday the 13th that hasn’t already been said millions of times, but I’m going to try my best here. There is so much to enjoy about it, including the plot. It isn’t overly complicated and revolves around an unknown killer going around slicing and dicing everyone who gets in the way, but it works. It uses your standard slasher flick formula that inspired countless other films, but it’s extremely effective and as such this movie has stood the test of time as a result.

If you think about any slasher flick that came out after it there’s a good chance that it used some of the elements of this film, which makes Friday the 13th a trendsetter in a lot of ways. Often imitated but never quite duplicated, the slasher flick genre owes a great deal to this movie and possibly wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for this film. I know that Psycho and Halloween came first, and I love both dearly as well, but Friday the 13th just holds a special place in my heart and could be considered the grandfather of modern slasher films.

Directed by Sean S. Cunningham (The New Kids, A Stranger is Watching) and written by Victor Miller (The Black Pearl, Manny’s Orphans) and Ron Kurz (King Frat, Eyes of a Stranger), Friday the 13th has helped introduce the slasher genre to countless people and the movie itself is just as popular now as it was when it was released in 1980 for several reasons. One of the things that makes it stand out is the awesome special effects that were done by Tom Savini (The Burning, The Prowler) as they look amazing and are effectively realistic looking here. Savini has of course had an incredibly successful career and has worked on a ton of films over the years, but his work in this movie is without a doubt some of his best.

The cast is also impressive, and as such you care about the characters and want them to survive. Adrienne King (The Butterfly Room, Killer Therapy) does a wonderful job as Alice and is just an all-around likable character who is one of the most popular and beloved final girls of all time. The always cool Kevin Bacon (Footloose, The Hollow Man) is also equally impressive, and his death scene is one of the most memorable of the movie.

The real star of the film, however, has to be Betsy Palmer (Queen Bee, The Tin Star) as Pamela, as she does an amazing job bringing the bat poop crazy character to life and she comes off as legit intimidating and scary as a result. Overall, every member of the cast does an excellent job here and not a single one of them turns in a bad performance.

The death scenes are also a lot of fun here as well. While they may not be as unique or over the top as the death scenes are in the other films of the series, they are still quite effective and thanks to Savini’s work they are disturbingly realistic. We get some cool deaths here including an axe to the face, a decapitation, and my personal favorite that involves someone being stabbed with an arrow from underneath as he is chilling out on a bed. These death scenes still hold up nicely today, and while they may be considered tame by today’s standards, they were quite hard core and freaked out audiences back in the day.

I love Friday the 13th and the entire series in general. It is my favorite horror franchise, and it has a huge fan following. I think that this movie is awesome, and even though our beloved Jason only has a short appearance at the end for a highly effective jump scare I think it is one of the best entries of the series. It still holds up after all these years and is without a doubt one of the finest slasher flicks ever made. It’s a lot of fun, genuinely creepy at times, and kicked off one of the biggest and most popular horror franchises of all time. It’s a modern classic and deserves all the praise and love that it has received over the years. And the best part? Things only get better once Jason takes center stage in the movies that followed.

Long live Friday the 13th!

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