Friday the 13th (1980)

SEAN S. CUNNINGHAM

FRIDAY THE 13TH

USA, 1980

8/10

"Did you know a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren't paying any attention... They were making love while that young boy drowned. His name was Jason. I was working the day that it happened. Preparing meals... here. I was the cook. Jason should've been watched. Every minute. He was - he wasn't a very good swimmer. We can go now, dear."

The '80s were a time of horror movies attempting to, basically, recreate John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (1978). Very few films succeeded, and FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) is one of the only ones to receive its own franchise and to go on to inspire even more films.

Before continuing, let's get one question answered: is FRIDAY THE 13TH a good, frightening movie? And, to put it bluntly, the answer is no. The acting is (in all cases besides Betsy Palmer's) anywhere around "okay" to "laughable". The screenwriting is elementary. If you're watching an edited for TV version, it's almost not worthwhile to watch. The end chase scene between Betsy Palmer and Adrienne King goes on for far too long. But FRIDAY THE 13TH doesn't set out to be a perfect, thought-out masterpiece. It achieves what it wants to do: keep you on the edge of your seat, keep you (somewhat) frightened, and, (spoiler, even though this is common knowledge today) if you are unaware that Pamela Voorhees is the killer, keep you guessing. And for some this movie does achieve what it sets out to do. Some viewers probably will hesitate before turning off the lights to go to sleep. Many viewers will probably jump, particularly at the end scare, which is, along with Palmer's performance and character, this film's strongest and greatest achievement. In the simplest terms, FRIDAY THE 13TH is entertaining and occasionally creepy. Nothing more, nothing less.

And even though this film doesn't manage to scare as much as many other films in its genre, it (and Part 2 as well) belong on the shelf of any horror film fanatic, because HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13TH both gave a lot to the genre. Without them, the '80s slasher-fest never would have occurred (whether or not that is the best or worst thing to happen to the genre depends on who you're talking to). Without these films, the "rules" of horror films would never have been eternally set in stone. 

Basically, this film is by no means the best, but it was a very heavy influence on the genre as a whole, and in order to appreciate modern horror films (mainly slashers, but some other sub-genres draw inspiration from this as well), we must first thank FRIDAY THE 13TH.