Movie Review- Friday the 13th (1980)

There's not much that can be said about the original Friday the 13th that hasn't been said already. Along with Halloween and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this one of the pioneers of mainstream slasher films. Friday the 13th has hugely affected American pop-culture, with constant homages and parodies still seen today. Despite the commercial success of the franchise, the films have always been critically panned. But are they really that bad? Over the next week, I'll be reviewing this legendary horror franchise to determine such.

The original Friday the 13th might seem cliched by today's standards, but several of the film's plot devices and scare tactics were still fresh to an extent. There are "don't go in there!" moments, cheesy acting and dialog, and paper-thin characters galore. These were still inexcusable flaws thirty-two years ago, but these moments are pretty restrained and not painfully campy like those of later slasher films. There's still an air of creepiness to the film, despite the campy moments. The script manages to lull us in to a false sense of security, only to jolt us right back with a character's death. The cinematography also relies heavily on moving camera shots, which often feel like the point-of-view shots associated with the killer, so we can never be quite sure if the characters are being observed.

The story itself is pretty standard slasher fare, and probably the first in a long line of "promiscuous teens go to the woods and die" movies.  The characters are also pretty dumb, and their levels of common sense seem to vary as necessary to the plot. The characters' personalities are as thin as you can get, and there's almost no character development as is typical of most slasher films. And despite the 95 minute run-time, I can't help but feel that we didn't get to see enough of the characters. They're on screen, but nothing really happens with them. Even the villain is given a disappointingly small amount of time. As most people forget, it was Jason Voorhees's mother who was the killer in the first film. Her motive of avenging her son's death makes sense, but this plot point is not touched upon enough to make it truly effective.

The death scenes are not entirely inventive, which  is fine because our villain is human, but they lack a feel of originality. The generic kinfings and axings lack originality; you don't have to have fancy weaponry to make a memorable death scene, but the actual killing part can make or break a good death scene. For example, there are numerous deaths throughout Friday the 13th, but the only one that people remember is Kevin Bacon's death scene, where he's stabbed in the neck with an arrow; the murder weapon isn't all that original, but the special effect of the arrow coming out of his neck is a lot more interesting than a generic stabbing. That being said, the death scenes are really convincing, as is to be expected from makeup-maestro Tom Savini. Except for the really goofy-looking decapitation scene at the end, the makeup effects still hold up today.


Overall, there's not a lot I can say about this film, because there's been so much said about it already. Friday the 13th is riddled with cliches, and is just as cheesy as you would expect a slasher film to be. This movie is heavy on the violence and low on pretty much everything else, but therein lies the charm. It's also one of the only installments in the franchise that actually tried to make sense, so I'll give it points for that. If you're new to the slasher genre, or you just haven't gotten around to this campy classic, it's definitely worth the watch.

Enjoyment- 4.5/5

Quality- 3/5

IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080761/