| Posted by: PackBacker at June 14, 2003, 10:34 am | | Topic: Friday the 13th (1980) -----> Rating: 3/10 Forum: JoBlo | | Worth bumping to the top as yesterday bore the title.... "Friday the 13th" 1980 8/10 Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham ("DeepStar Six") Written by: Victor Miller Starring: Adrienne King, Betsy Palmer, and a relatively unknown Kevin Bacon Makeup/effects by: Tom Savini ("Dawn of the Dead") Plot: Teenage camp counselors are mysteriously mudered at a camp with a grisly past history- two murders and a child drowning. Is there a curse upon the camp...and if so is it supernatural or just some run of the mill crazy? Review: In general, I concur with most of what Cyclonus posted in his review. I'm apt, though, to give points for historical nature/impact. Rightly or wrongly this film is deemed a "classic" of the horror genre, or more correctly the slasher subgenre. In truth I am not a fan of the series but I can respect the feel of this film, the impact it has had on the field of horror, and awe at inspiring 9 (and soon to be 10) sequels. That, my friends is pretty incredible regardless of the quality of the follow-ups. "Friday the 13th"wasn't the goriest or scariest film on the planet. It did, however, convey a wonderful sense of "creepy." It seemed to copycat "Halloween" with the point-of-view shots, repetitive creepy score (Chi Chi Chi......Ha Ha Ha.....), and great use of darkness but it managed to stand on its own with its killer/mystery and the surrounding sense of desolation in the scenery of the run-down camp in the middle of nowhere. My favorite aspect of the film has to be the performance of Betsy Palmer (which was thoroughly ripped in earlier posts). She gets a role that at the time was pretty remarkable. Killers were inherently either monsters or men (or a combination of the two). Sure her performance is over-the-top but in a charming, psycho sort of way. She transitions from a caring mother figure to fucked up crazy bitch in a twitch of an eye....and does so with gusto that is a bit funny but seems to fit with the tone of the film. The rest of the "acting" is interchangeable but passable. The ending is another fun part to the film. On its own, it leaves you an opening to question whether or not it's a dream or reality. In the scope of the series it sets up the path of camp trails littered with body parts and bloody hardware for the only killer I can think of that wears athletic wear. Is this great cinema? No. Is this film the best of its genre? Not in my opinion. So why bother? It is an above-average slasher flick that was quite good for its time and has spawned one of the greatest horror dynasties of all time....it's well worth checking out what started all the fuss regardless of how you think the rest of the series fares. |
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