"Friday the 13th" (1980) Halloween Movie Review
The movie opens, showing you the a full moon standing out bright in a dark sky. The sound of a guitar and young voices singing a version of "Down in the Valley" set the mood, and everything appears peaceful at Camp Crystal Lake. Through the next few minutes we are given a few brief glimpses of the life of a Crystal Lake Camp counselor, and we witness an obvious couple head off on their own for some intimate time by themselves. They make their way up into a loft where they hope to not be disturbed while they make a little love when... for the first time we hear the vocal sting that will forever be recognized as the harbinger of death in the Friday the 13th movie franchise.
Want to take a guess at what happens next? I'll give you a hint... most of the time, with almost no exceptions, the couple having sex in a horror movie die horribly. whoops... sorry, I forgot, "SPOILER ALERT!!!" *sarcasm*
When people talk about Halloween, horror movies, or slasher films a few names always come to mind before the others. Mike Meyers, Freddy Kruger, Chucky, Pinhead, Jigsaw, and Leatherface just to name a few. One that always strikes a silent fear in the hearts of horror fans is the towering supernatural powerhouse of blood and mayhem known as Jason Voorhees. He has been featured in over ten movies, reboots, and off-shoots. He has stalked graveyards and camp grounds, plagued the belly of a cruise ship and trudged the sewers of Manhattan, even floated in outer space and was scorched by the fires of hell. But so often we forget that even someone (something? I dont know...) as formidable as our favorite hockey-mask serial killer had a humble beginning. In fact, for the entire first movie, Jason didn't even kill a single soul.
But first, a Summary!
The premise of the first Friday the 13th movie is actually very simple, actually. Young, deformed boy Jason Voorhees is neglected by the counselors of Camp Crystal Lake and drowns in the lake. One year later on his birthday (June 13th, if the story is to be believed), his mother, Pamela, comes to the camp and kills the two counselors she holds responsible for his death.
21 years later, the camp is being reopened and a number of young, soon-to-be counselors have come pre-season to get the camp ready for the expected campers. The counselors are picked off one by one until only one girl is left. Revealing herself to be the killer, Pamela Voorhees goes head-to-head with our Final Girl and is vanquished by a now iconic machete. The movie ends with the should-be dead Jason bursting out of the lake, presumably from beyond the grave, in order to avenge his mother's death. The girl somehow is pulled from the waters alive, but the last scene fades out on her contemplating the existence of the boy into the camera.
The first installment in the "Friday the 13th" series was originally produced in 1980 by Sean S Cunningham. Just two year prior in 1978, John Carpenter had shown incredible success with his "Halloween" horror movie (which would go on to launch its own franchise), and Mr. Cunningham wanted to try to recreate that success on his own. So, with the creative help of Victor Miller, he set about to create his own horror masterpiece.
While steps where taken to try to distance "Friday the 13th" from "Halloween", it is obvious that elements were borrowed heavily from Carpenter's Mike Meyers character for the latter versions of Jason Voorhees. The movie would serve to set the stereotype that would for the longest time be known as a horror movie. Jason Voorhees and his hockey mask can be seen referenced in almost every form of media, from comedy and drama TV to horror and romantic movies, to music and current bestselling authors.
A trend-breaker for its time, both in the special effects and the level of gore, Friday the 13th raised a lot of eyebrows during its development and release. Though now it is a staple in any horror fan's collection, and the movie served as a spring board for the career of one popular Kevin Bacon, not everyone cares for the movie.
Writer and acknowledged creator of Jason and his mother, Victor Miller, has never seen a Friday the 13th film, due to the fact he never actually wanted Jason to be the killer, and he was not comfortable with Jason's return from the grave in the second movie.
Betsy Palmer, the actress for Pamela Voorhees, had never held a role as gory and violent as this one before, and wasn't happy about taking this one. Although she only worked 10 days on filming, and was paid $1000/day, Betsy only took the role because she needed to buy a new car. Even though she took the role and owned it, after reading the script she called the film "a piece of shit".
The film also took many criticisms for the level of gore used in the film, so much that the gore was toned down significantly in the subsequent film. Certain things like actually killing a snake on film (remember when the counselors in the movie hacked up the snake with the machete? yeah, that was real. The snakes owner even looked on crying as they filmed the scene). Such was the negative response to the movie that Cunningham was called "one of the most despicable creatures ever to infest the movie business" by critic Gene Siskel. Siskel even went as far as to publish the addresses to both Betsy Palmer and a higher-up in Gulf and Western (who owned Paramount) and encouraged people to send their negative feedback directly to their doors.
Though the movie started off on the wrong foot with critics, it since has become a cult classic. There have been 9 sequels and 1 reboot. Back in 1972, Sean Cunningham collaborated with Wes Craven on the horror classic, "Last House on the Left". In 2003, Cunningham's hockey-masked brainchild took on Wes Craven's own creation from his "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise in "Freddy Vs Jason". Now, plans are in motion for a Friday the 13th television series, once again produced by Mr. Cunningham, and rumors have been solidifying about another movie reboot.
I personally am a huge fan of horror movies, and while that means sometimes turning a closed critical eye to some installments of a franchise ("Jason Goes to Hell" or "Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child" anyone?), but the original "Friday the 13th" will always be one of my favorites. And Jason Voorhees, in his own silent, bloody way, will always have the heart of the true horror fan. I strongly recommend pulling it out and watching it in the next few days as we go into the Halloween weekend.
Until next time, this is Joshua Shipman, stalking off!
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Want to take a guess at what happens next? I'll give you a hint... most of the time, with almost no exceptions, the couple having sex in a horror movie die horribly. whoops... sorry, I forgot, "SPOILER ALERT!!!" *sarcasm*
When people talk about Halloween, horror movies, or slasher films a few names always come to mind before the others. Mike Meyers, Freddy Kruger, Chucky, Pinhead, Jigsaw, and Leatherface just to name a few. One that always strikes a silent fear in the hearts of horror fans is the towering supernatural powerhouse of blood and mayhem known as Jason Voorhees. He has been featured in over ten movies, reboots, and off-shoots. He has stalked graveyards and camp grounds, plagued the belly of a cruise ship and trudged the sewers of Manhattan, even floated in outer space and was scorched by the fires of hell. But so often we forget that even someone (something? I dont know...) as formidable as our favorite hockey-mask serial killer had a humble beginning. In fact, for the entire first movie, Jason didn't even kill a single soul.
But first, a Summary!
The premise of the first Friday the 13th movie is actually very simple, actually. Young, deformed boy Jason Voorhees is neglected by the counselors of Camp Crystal Lake and drowns in the lake. One year later on his birthday (June 13th, if the story is to be believed), his mother, Pamela, comes to the camp and kills the two counselors she holds responsible for his death.
21 years later, the camp is being reopened and a number of young, soon-to-be counselors have come pre-season to get the camp ready for the expected campers. The counselors are picked off one by one until only one girl is left. Revealing herself to be the killer, Pamela Voorhees goes head-to-head with our Final Girl and is vanquished by a now iconic machete. The movie ends with the should-be dead Jason bursting out of the lake, presumably from beyond the grave, in order to avenge his mother's death. The girl somehow is pulled from the waters alive, but the last scene fades out on her contemplating the existence of the boy into the camera.
The first installment in the "Friday the 13th" series was originally produced in 1980 by Sean S Cunningham. Just two year prior in 1978, John Carpenter had shown incredible success with his "Halloween" horror movie (which would go on to launch its own franchise), and Mr. Cunningham wanted to try to recreate that success on his own. So, with the creative help of Victor Miller, he set about to create his own horror masterpiece.
While steps where taken to try to distance "Friday the 13th" from "Halloween", it is obvious that elements were borrowed heavily from Carpenter's Mike Meyers character for the latter versions of Jason Voorhees. The movie would serve to set the stereotype that would for the longest time be known as a horror movie. Jason Voorhees and his hockey mask can be seen referenced in almost every form of media, from comedy and drama TV to horror and romantic movies, to music and current bestselling authors.
A trend-breaker for its time, both in the special effects and the level of gore, Friday the 13th raised a lot of eyebrows during its development and release. Though now it is a staple in any horror fan's collection, and the movie served as a spring board for the career of one popular Kevin Bacon, not everyone cares for the movie.
Writer and acknowledged creator of Jason and his mother, Victor Miller, has never seen a Friday the 13th film, due to the fact he never actually wanted Jason to be the killer, and he was not comfortable with Jason's return from the grave in the second movie.
Betsy Palmer, the actress for Pamela Voorhees, had never held a role as gory and violent as this one before, and wasn't happy about taking this one. Although she only worked 10 days on filming, and was paid $1000/day, Betsy only took the role because she needed to buy a new car. Even though she took the role and owned it, after reading the script she called the film "a piece of shit".
The film also took many criticisms for the level of gore used in the film, so much that the gore was toned down significantly in the subsequent film. Certain things like actually killing a snake on film (remember when the counselors in the movie hacked up the snake with the machete? yeah, that was real. The snakes owner even looked on crying as they filmed the scene). Such was the negative response to the movie that Cunningham was called "one of the most despicable creatures ever to infest the movie business" by critic Gene Siskel. Siskel even went as far as to publish the addresses to both Betsy Palmer and a higher-up in Gulf and Western (who owned Paramount) and encouraged people to send their negative feedback directly to their doors.
Though the movie started off on the wrong foot with critics, it since has become a cult classic. There have been 9 sequels and 1 reboot. Back in 1972, Sean Cunningham collaborated with Wes Craven on the horror classic, "Last House on the Left". In 2003, Cunningham's hockey-masked brainchild took on Wes Craven's own creation from his "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise in "Freddy Vs Jason". Now, plans are in motion for a Friday the 13th television series, once again produced by Mr. Cunningham, and rumors have been solidifying about another movie reboot.
I personally am a huge fan of horror movies, and while that means sometimes turning a closed critical eye to some installments of a franchise ("Jason Goes to Hell" or "Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child" anyone?), but the original "Friday the 13th" will always be one of my favorites. And Jason Voorhees, in his own silent, bloody way, will always have the heart of the true horror fan. I strongly recommend pulling it out and watching it in the next few days as we go into the Halloween weekend.
Until next time, this is Joshua Shipman, stalking off!
Happy Halloween, everyone!
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