Friday the 13th

Rating:
Summary: Dated, Corny and CAMPY (No pun intended), but lots of fun.
Review: What is there left to say about the original Friday the 13th flick? Some have called it a horror classic, some have called it a blatant Halloween knockoff, and really, it is a little bit of both. I don't mind when movies copy each other, as long as it is done well, and Friday the 13th tries not to take itself seriously and offers plenty of chills. The story starts off with two camp counselours who wander off to go make love, when suddenly they get axed. Fast forward quite a few years, and that same camp where the murders took place is reopening by the hands of a man by the name Steve Christy. Steve recruits a group of teenagers (or young adults, aging actors, whatever you wanna call it) to help him repair the campsite and open it for business. Well, faster than you can say Madman Marz, killings start happening everywhere and no one has the slightest clue who is doing it all. The movie doesn't gain much momentum until the last 20 minutes, the showdown between the "final girl" and the killer, which is true film genius. The whole sequence is shot very well and the surroundings are used effectively. Friday the 13th overall is a movie that is impossible to hate. It's just dumb fun. However, I recommend you check out Friday the 13th Pt. 2, because in my opinion, it blows this one away.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Horror!
Review: Although this first installment in the highly successful slasher series lacks what it is most famous for - serial killer Jason Vorhees - it is the best in the series. The infamous score by Harry Manfredini is excellent and scary and carries the film very well. The cast of basic unknowns adds to the sense of isolation that the makers of this film knew was a key element to making it as frightening as it is.
Critics love to trash this movie but it must have done something right to spawn more sequels than any other.
The plot probably needs no explanation but goes simply like this: Counselors setting up a camp in the middle of the woods are killed one by one in, each in a different grisly manner, but who is doing the killing?
Many people take so many aspects of this film for granted because it has been ripped-off so many times (although, to be fair, it is somewhat a rip-off in itself of Halloween - using a holiday and a slasher killing teens). But this film introduced many elements into a genre it would actually almost invent by itself - the slasher film.
First off all, we have the wooded setting, next we have a series of gruesome and creative killings (tamed by today's standards), using the camera to make you, the viewer, see the slaying of the victims through the eyes of the killer.
The shock-ending of this film was probably the most effective of its kind in movie history and during its run at the theaters, you would inevitably hear a tremendous letout of screams right before the movie ended (I won't mention what this is just on the slight notion that someone doesn't know what I'm talking about). But the reason this scene succeeded so well was simple...because the film effectively created a genuiune feeling of terror and suspense for the first 85 minutes and took viewers by surprise.
FRIDAY THE 13TH looks great in this digitally remastered widescreen DVD and helps to eliminate the dated look it was taking on due to increasingly poorer VHS releases. The only special features that this film does have are the trailer (which is not remastered but shows the great contrast between the remastered and unremastered prints) and chapter selection. Unfortunately this is not the un-cut version but for some reason does contain a few extra seconds of blood in one scene (the third killing in the film of Annie) and a few deleted scenes in another (the decapitation near the end of the movie) and also contains a few extra seconds of the sex scene. An uncut version or collector's edition has been cried out for amongst the many fans of FRIDAY THE 13TH but has been inexplicably ignored by its distributor, Paramount Pictures, who basically view this cash cow as a blemish on the face of their film catalog.

Rating:
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: Plot Line (from back cover of film)
Terror and suspense abound in this twenty-four-hour nightmare of blood. Camp Crystal Lake has been shuttered for over twenty-years due to several vicious and unsolved murders. The camp's new owner and several young counselors are readying the property for re-opening despite warnings of a "death curse" by local residents. The curse proves true on Friday the 13th, as one-by-one each of the counselors is stalked by a violent killer.

My remarks toward this picture
There has always been something about every Friday the 13th movie (alright, almost every one) that not only gives me the quivers but mesmerizes me as well, stimulates my imagination and has me longing for my own camera and production crew in order to be able to make a slasher of my own. It's primarily that aflutter sense of isolation that develops within me every time I make my usual trip up to the mountains each summer, you see, which, as the great myth of the Sasquatch does to those who have spent their entire lives searching for and running across no luck whatsoever since the famous Patterson Film back in the year of nineteen-sixty-seven which indicated of its existence, spurs curiosity in my mind as to whether or not somewhere, somewhere within such wilderness, such remote grounds, truly lies a savage beast beyond our world, who'll devour any who unwittingly happen to step foot in its inhabitance...or maybe it won't; hell, maybe it'd be scared of us for all I know. The point that I'm trying to make is that the mere premise of beings beyond our world lurking within grounds in which I visit every couple of months to get away from it all and take some time off from the pressures of the world injects great ebullience. It's a fascinating subject we should all believe in: immediate exercise of divine power; the supernatural. Like in the movie Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, just because you don't see something doesn't precisely mean that it's not there.

I often recall back in the days as a junior in grade school, when I used to fervently step inside video stores for the sheer pleasure of making my way to the horror section and scrutinizing through the various ghastly images covers from such series' as the Friday the 13th have to offer (although it wasn't like I would ever be allowed to walk out on my own with any of them, anyway), despite of the fact that they all scared me and occasionally gave me nightmares, even. Sometimes, they were so harrowing, so very dreadful that I would wind up staying up half the night in fear of having to go through them once more. However, what once haunted me now lies within my room: a vast collection of films-the majority being horror-awaiting to once again be viewed through my eyes, that are likely, or rather hopefully, to someday, some glorious day, view work that has been done by me, and all because of the influence such a series would've had.

"The truth is," co-writer/producer/director Sean Cunningham, told Fangoria magazine in 1980, "I needed a hit film." Little had he known during production that Gulf + Western's savvy marketing machine would catapult his seminal Voorhees opus into its reported "June the 13th, 1980" release date, became a surprise hit during the precise summer such others as The Empire Strikes back, Caddyshack, and The Shining were also released. To those who are clueless as to why, perhaps it's because Cunningham's modest slasher offered the habitual "isolated" environment, but with a little more essence on the side which elevated it from its peers in the genre: a narrative which radically altered the misogynistic "man stalks woman" formula; make-up effects by an up-and-coming Tom Savini; creative and horrific death sequences you would expect from a film that makes certain the term "several counselors" was written on both the VHS and DVD package, for those outside of the genre would instantaneously become cognizant of the real appeal their cast of characters carry, aside from of course arousing us when "going all the way" with their partners, a physical affection that's apparently a moral which makes clear that if choosing to act out upon, the consequences are severe, very severe; and because of an atonally-based music score by Harry Manfredini. (The theme song, that mysterious-sounding tune is both comely and yet eerie and ever so hypnotic. Every horror series has to have one, and its is sure my favorite. Hell, I'd even buy the soundtrack. The music's wonderful.)

When combining all of these spices together, you have an ideal horror film that has every single ingredient authentic horror fanatics such as myself could possibly ever ask for! It also being one to give birth to Jason Voorhees, one of the three largest mass murderers of the modern era; the other two of course being the darkly comical Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street and ghostly Michael Myers from Halloween, which also helped spawn the genre's progression of the '80s.

Forever duplicated, the original Friday the 13th popularized numerous themes and techniques in which I've previously mentioned when giving reason as to its popularity, that are now merely clichés.
Despite their failure for greater fame, the majority of the sequels, although they are quite moronic at times and increasingly senseless, they're still very much entertaining and fun-to-watch; fun in the sense of viewing a film regarding complete idiots being hacked apart by a rather inept murderer with ever so many places to conceal of himself in in consideration of the great touch of atmosphere each one is given. (Besides, since when has motive been a major factor in silly slashers such as these? We watch them, not necessarily for any plot, but for a good scare; a good time with our friends while filling our abdomens with junk food at a time when the elderly would have fallen asleep long ago. As long as the sequels are true to the series and follow in the same footsteps, it's all-good.)

Rating:
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review: ...P>My remarks toward this picture
There has always been something about every Friday the 13th movie (alright, almost every one) that not only gives me the quivers but mesmerizes me as well, stimulates my imagination and has me longing for my own camera and production crew in order to be able to make a slasher of my own. When combining all of these spices together, you have an ideal horror film that has every single ingredient authentic horror fanatics such as myself could possibly ever ask for! It also being one to give birth to Jason Voorhees, one of the three largest mass murderers of the modern era; the other two of course being the darkly comical Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street and ghostly Michael Myers from Halloween, which also helped spawn the genre’s progression of the ‘80s.

Forever duplicated, the original Friday the 13th popularized numerous themes and techniques in which I’ve previously mentioned when giving reason as to its popularity, that are now merely clichés.
Despite their failure for greater fame, the majority of the sequels, although they are quite moronic at times and increasingly senseless, they’re still very much entertaining and fun-to-watch; fun in the sense of viewing a film regarding complete idiots being hacked apart by a rather inept murderer with ever so many places to conceal of himself in in consideration of the great touch of atmosphere each one is given. (Besides, since when has motive been a major factor in silly slashers such as these? We watch them, not necessarily for any plot, but for a good scare; a good time with our friends while filling our abdomens with junk food at a time when the elderly would have fallen asleep long ago. As long as the sequels are true to the series and follow in the same footsteps, it’s all-good.)

Rating:
Summary: WhAt?
Review: I really wanted to see this so i did. Its about these camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake that keep getting killed by this killer. (it doesnt show anything ) i mean the person that kills. At the end, it turns out to be Jason's mother (the killer) and Jason had drowned at that lake when counselors were making love instead of watching him. Well thats about says it. i didnt explain to well go see the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Routine slasher flick
Review: Despite the "fabulous" and glowing reviews for "Friday the 13th," I think it's a definite BOMB. It's the one that started the routine slash-'em-up horror flicks that are SO painfully obvious in recent horror/thrillers.

It gets credit for gory special effects (the famous Kevin-Bacon-through-the-chest-with-an-arrowhead scene) and some campy fun. But what really drains it dry is the lack of true suspense (what "Halloween" and "A Nightmare On Elm Street" were rich of), annoying theme music that seems like a steal between "Psycho" and "Halloween," and the most obvious of them all is the lack of logical plot. Basically, it's unwatchable, unless you have the hots for a young, 20ish Kevin Bacon, who dons a Speedo and his bare bottom. To top it off, the movie is just plain ANNOYING.

Rated R for gruesome violence/gore, sexuality, nudity, and for language.

Rating:
Summary: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Review:

There has always been something with regards to each Friday the 13h movie (okay, almost each one) that not only gives me the quivers but mesmerizes me as well, stimulates my imagination and has me longing for my own camera and production crew in order to be able to make a slasher of my own. (...) It's unique series' such as these that inspire all those chilling tales in whom others tell around campfires while roasting hotdogs and marshmallows. It's unique series' such as these that inspire future filmmakers or writers who want to express their feelings amongst others with regards to the wonders of the world.

I often recall back in the days as a junior in grade school, when I used to fervently step inside video stores for the sheer pleasure of making my way to the horror section and scrutinizing through the various ghastly images covers from such series' as the Friday the 13th have to offer (although it wasn't like I would ever be allowed to walk out on my own with any of them, anyway), despite of the fact that they all scared me and occasionally gave me nightmares, even. (...) Cunningham's modest slasher offered the habitual "isolated" environment, but with a little more essence on the side which elevated it from its peers in the genre: a narrative which radically altered the misogynistic "man stalks woman" formula; makeup effects by an up-and-coming Tom Savini; creative and horrific death sequences (...) and because of an atonally-based music score by Harry Manfredini. (The theme song, that mysterious-sounding tune which ever so sets the right mood for the film, is both comely and yet eerie, and ever so hypnotic. Every horror series has to have one, and its is surely my favorite. Hell, I'd even buy the soundtrack. The music's wonderful.)

When you combine all of these spices together, you have an ideal horror film that has every single needed ingredient authentic horror fanatics as myself could possibly ever ask for...and then some! It also being one to give birth to Jason Voorhees, one of the three largest mass murderers of the modern era; the other two of course being the darkly comical Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street and ghostly Michael Myers from Halloween, which also helped spawn the genre's progression of the '80s. (Actually, it got a head start, to be frank with you. Although I'm sure that one who is true to the genre would already know that.)

Forever duplicated, the original Friday the 13th popularized numerous themes and techniques that are now merely clichés.
Despite their failure for greater fame, the majority of the sequels, although they are quite moronic at times and increasingly senseless, they're still very much entertaining and fun-to-watch; fun in the sense of viewing a film regarding complete idiots being hacked apart by a rather inept murderer with ever so many places to conceal of himself in in consideration of the great touch of atmosphere each one is given. Besides, since when has motive been a major factor in silly slashers such as these, anyway? We watch them, not necessarily for any plot, but for a good scare; a good time with our buddies while overstuffing our abdomens with junk food at a time when the elderly would have fallen asleep long ago. As long as the sequels are true to the series and follow in the same footsteps, it's all-good. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Well made slasher film.
Review: Camp crystal lake has been closed more than 20 years since the drowing of a 11 year old boy named Jason Voorhees and two counselors murder without finding the murderer. Since it`s going to be reopen soon at Camp crystal lake. The new counselors are rebuilding the camp but the mysterious murderer has came back to haunt the camp and stalk the counselors.

Directed by Sean S. Cunningham and Written by Victor Miller (T.V.'s Soaps as All my Children and One Life to Live) made a clever horror thriller, which brings out the goods. This has a strong finale also. DVD`s has an fine anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) transfer and Clear Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Sound. This was the first film to capture the possiblity of an first serial killer in a woman. This was a Huge Box Office Hit in the Summer of 1980. Only a few trims to avoid an X-Rating. Best Death Scene:Kevin Bacon getting murder from under the Bed. An underrated classic. Grade:A-.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific Horror. DVD Is Not Half Bad!
Review: Friday The 13th was made after the success of John Carpenter's "Halloween", which was made in 1978. "Friday The 13th" was written by Victor Miller and directed by Sean S. Cunningham. I agree with a few other reviewers, I don't find the movie nearly as suspensful or scary as "Halloween", but it's still a very fun movie.

It starts up at Camp Crystal Lake, in 1958, where two teens, Barry (Willie Adams) and Claudette (Debra S. Hayes) are slashed up by an unknown assasin. Due to this incident, the camp is closed down for four years, before it's reopened in 1962. But, that opening is unsuccesful, because the lake's water is poisoned! Then, in 1964, they try, yet again, to reopen the camp, only to be faced with a mysterious fire! So, they give up and shut down the camp for almost twenty years. But then, in 1979, Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer) decides to reopen despite the objection of the townsfolk. He spents 25,000 dollars trying to get the place in shape, and spends one whole year cleaning it up, and building the cabins. Then, in 1980, a group of seven counselors are heading up to Crystal Lake to help Christy out. This group includes, Alice (Adrienne King), Marci (Jeanine Taylor), Ned (Mark Nelson), Brenda (Laurie Bartham), Annie (Robbi Morgan), Bill (Harry Crosby), and Jack (future star Kevin Bacon, in his third movie role). They're all pretty excited to be going up to the camp, but pretty soon they're not gonna be. You see, this unknown killer is very angry for some reason that this camp is being opened again. Who will survive the night? Watch and see!

Friday The 13th, despite lack of good reviews and lack of a plot, is a fun watch. The actors all seem to know that they're in a bad movie, and end up having more fun with they're parts. The charecters are purely cardboard, but I don't mind. I really love Harry Manfredini's score, which sounds a lot like the score for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". Manfredini would go on to do every sequal (except for Part VIII, Jason Takes Manhattan). The murders aren't nearly as gory as most people say (if you want gory murders, see the director's cut of Jason Goes To Hell The Final Friday), but the makeup effects are still fine, by horror makeup master Tom Savini (Day Of The Dead, Friday The 13th The Final Chapter, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2). The most popular murder is undoutebly Mr. Bacons. He gets an arrow through the throat (if you play it in slow motion, you'll notice a big glob of blood shoots into his mouth).

This DVD is actually much better than most fans credit it for being. If you're a true fan, you'll appreciate the theatrical trailer, the scene selection, and the terrific picture quality of the movie itself. It's also really hilarious to watch the film in french. An also, you may notice tw things about the movie itself. Annie's death (slit throat) is about five seconds longer, and shows her falling to the ground before the typical flash of light. And The Killer's death (I won't say who the killer is, but rest assured, it's NOT Jason) is a small tad longer. These extended murders are uncredited, but they're there!! My compliments also go to Paramount for the terrific picture they've offered to us. Throw out your VHS, this picture is REALLY good (the DVDs for Part 2 and 3 are good too, but 4 isn't that good). Some people complain that the sound's mono, but I barely even notice.

I really recommend that you by this movie, even if you have the video. The picture makes it worth the price alone. If you enjoyed this film, I'd reccomend Parts 2, 3 ,4, 6, and 9. The rest are fun, but not nearly as good.

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Rating:
Summary: Excellent horror movie!!
Review: Friday the 13th series are the best horror movies of all time. Each one debuted throughout the 80s. They are kind of cheesy and fake, but are classics. This one set the standard for all the others although it doesn't have Jason in it until the end. A good buy for the horror fanatic.