Rating: Summary: "It's Got a Death Curse!" Review: Entertainment Weekly was wrong! - Kevin Bacon was in Friday the 13th with Betsy Palmer who was in Murder She Wrote with Angela Lansbury who was in The Lady Vanishes with Elliott Gould who stars in Friends with Jennifer Aniston who was in Picture Perfect with...Kevin Bacon. So there.Mention the name Friday the 13th in the context of movies and invariably you'll get one person to roll their eyes and say "Are they making another one of those?". The answer, by the way, is always yes. Friday the 13th has become synonymous with all that is wrong with horror movies -- multiple sequels that ignore or rewrite everything that has been told so for, stupid kids that keep going back to the camp even though they know what happened. But, in the beginning, we had this movie. Before hockey masks and psychics and Corey Feldman came plain, simple Friday the 13th; a non-flashy, violent retelling of the Ten Little Indians formula. It works for about 45m. then bogs down when we have to get rid of the counselors, then it picks up again for the last 20m. The first thing to note about the DVD is that it is still the cut-down version except (allegedly) the death of the female hiker near the opening. I don't normally care about gore because it doesn't add anything to the story (there are exceptions), but they also didn't include the alternate ending where Bill survives and is reunited with Alice. If you're going to do a DVD, do it right. Oh well, it's widescreen. And we have the trailer and the narrator with the cool voice -- "You may only see it once, but that will be enough." Cool. If you've never seen it before, give it a try. If you're a collector, try the Japanese version (it has everything this one doesn't) or wait and see if Paramount does a 25th Anniversary Edition. Triviata: I recently found an early draft of F13 and it has a slightly different opening. The young couple are making love in the forest and are attacked by an unseen killer. The boy struggles with the killer and manages to cut his/her finger off. Then, near the end of the film as the killer is trying to comfort Alice, we see that one of his/her fingers is missing!
Rating: Summary: Started the Trend. Review: The horror movie genre didn't really take off until 1980 with the opening of FRIDAY THE 13TH. The movie took several elements from the surprise 1978 hit, HALLOWEEN, added some gore, and established the rules for most horror films to come. For instance, the camera follows the view of the killer through almost half of the movie; the slashing takes place in a remote, wooden area that has a "bad" reputation; none of the victims are killed the same way; sin is punished; etc. This is the only of the FRIDAY THE 13TH films not to star the hockey-masked villian, Jason Voorhees, but it does explain who Jason is. The film lacks hardly any action until about halfway through when the stormy night begins. From then on the movie picks up steam (and gore) until the chilling end of the movie. Kevin Bacon has a small role as Camp Crystal Lake's summer staff stud. Overall, the movie isn't that great of a film. However, it is a horror classic and if one doesn't mind a little bit of blood and a scene of sex, it's worth watching to see how and where the horror genre began.
Rating: Summary: Classic 80's Horror! Review: Who could not forget " Chi-Chi-Chi Chi, Ha ha ha ha"? this 1980 Underrated Classic spawned a dozen immitations including one good Rip-off called " Sleepaway Camp". It's basically a Killer on the loose in a camp, but see who this killer is. Gory and simply great.
Rating: Summary: Fridays will never be the same again! Review: Fridays will never be the same again after watching friday the 13th. On the outside Camp Crystal Lake looks like the perfect place to spend the summer...little did they know, someone was watching them. They ignored the warnings from town folk and Crazy Ralph and now in the next 24 hours its them alone and without help. Sean Cunningham has made a real chiller here. The pure genius of keeping the killer hidden from the audience - all we see is what the killer see's. This summer we have the following lovely camp counsellors: Alice - an innocent looking teen who has all the hallmarks of a poor victim. Adrienne King gives Alice a real girl next door exterior, which is perfect for horror. Will her innocence save her? Jack - the stud with the girlfriend. Jack is a great guy that everyone will love, he's also very strong and manly. Kevin Bacon is perfect for this role. Will his strength and manliness keep him from the knife? Marcie - Jacks girlfriend. She's very girly and deep down hopes the summer will be non stop passion with Jack. She is played by Jeannine Taylor. Will she ignore the evil out in the woods? Ned - the joker. He see's this summer as a chance to look at the ladies and to basically crack jokes. Played by Mark Nelson. Will he be laughing all the way to the bottom of Crystal lake? Brenda - she arrives at camp by herself and she's ready for a summer of fun, although she has a mom like side to her. Played by Laurie Bartram. Does her normal but chirpy character bore the killer to death? or does it become more of a reason to kill? Bill - Bill is the guy everyone will love because he's so down to earth and an all round good apple. Will his good guy exterior save him in the 24 hours that lay ahead? Mrs Vorhee's - poor woman lost her son at Camp Crystal and all she wants is for the Camp to be shut down. Will she get what she wants? or will Camp Crystal remain drenched in blood? Crazy Raplh - the guy knows that Camp Crystal Lake is cursed. will he convince them that if they go they will never come back? or will he fall victim himself? The thought of 24 hours in a wooded area is enough to scare anyone. The movie has its tacky special effects and the acting isn't exactly oscar material but hey its great 80's horror..what do you expect? Friday the 13th is a great addition to the horror genre and will remain a horror great for along time to come.
Rating: Summary: Juck! Review: To imagine that Kevin Bacon wasted his tallents in this no tallent flick, i.e., Friday the 13th VHS ~ Adrienne King is just beyond me. The dialogue is non sensical, the plot is no where to be found and to think that this is the first in the Friday 13 th series does not bode well. The hacking and slashing is alright. But the movie is filmed in a bad way and could have been done by high school students. Not recommended.
Rating: Summary: Friday the 13th Review: In 1957, a young boy drowned in Camp Crystal Lake. A year later, the counselors who were suppose to be watching him are killed. In 1980, Steve Christy, who's parents owned the camp, tries to re-open it with the help of eager teens, but there's someone out there who doesn't want the camp to re-open. This film is a classic. It was something different for the genre. It mixes the Gore of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and the shocking suspense of HALLOWEEN to create a thrill ride film. With a cast of basically nobody's and under the direction of Sean Cunningham, the film was a smash hit. The acting wasn't bad. Adrienne King was somewhat convincing as the heroine, Peter Brouwer was pretty good as Steve Chirsty, Kevin Bacon was the best actor in this film and Betsy Palmer was alright, even though she only got the part since she could provide her own transportation. Too bad the same can't be said about most of the sequels. While the killer isn't Jason, you just got to say "How else could they of started this series?" Followed by 8(Soon to be 9)sequels and a TV Series.
Rating: Summary: awful Review: dire psycho rip off, not frightening, patented obvious dream sequence turned nasty (carrie it ain't) and a heroine who just won't put the damn killer (a deranged mom for crying out loud, one to give you nightmares eh?) down for the count when she has the upper hand. boggles the mind to think this was made AFTER suspiria
Rating: Summary: Pardon the pun, but this is a hack job. Review: Silly, by-the-numbers slasher flick concerning a bunch of teen counselors who are pursued by a crazed killer at camp Crystal Lake. Lots of gore and a high body count, but not an ounce of suspense or tension. It also spawned countless sequels that aren't much better than this mess. This DVD gets an extra star for its camp value and because it evokes memories of those glorious 1980s. Otherwise, this hack job (no pun intended) is totally negligible.
Rating: Summary: "...We Didn't Find Any Boy..." Review: Twenty years earlier, Camp Crystal Lake has been shut down after the mysterious death of a young boy and a couple of counselors. After several failed attempts at re-opening the camp, Steve Christy (Peter Browner) is working towards making it suitable for inner-city campers. Bad idea, because it seems Friday the 13th is right around the corner and death awaits all. The locals loony, Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney), warns that the camp has a "death curse", but it falls on deaf ears and soon to be bloody ears. One by one, the counselors seem to drop as they engage in acts of pre-martial sex, smoking dope, and drinking. Guess they all forgot to read the "Camp Blood" rules of conduct and now must pay with their LIVES. No two murders are alike as evident through Tom Savini's genius. But who is the killer? I won't tell, but please don't lose your head. As the final machete finds its' destinations, Alice (Adrienne King) is left as the sole survivor of this massacre. The film ends with a chilling exchange between Sheriff Tierney (Ronn Carroll) and Alice; "... we didn't find any boy","than he's still there." This is quite evident with the emergence of Jason in Part 2. From that time on he has laid his claim to the title "King of All Slashers". Buy this film and all of those that followed!!!
Rating: Summary: Meet Jason Voorhees. Review: This is not High Cinema. It is, however, highly entertaining. Taken for what it is, "Friday the 13th" is quite an achievement. The plot, unlike that of many other "slasher movies", does actually have some merit, which can be summed up as: Teenagers go to summer camp, have sex, and get killed. It is fun, though. The DVD is a marked improvement over any of the old VHS releases. The hockey mask was an inspired touch. Enjoy.
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