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Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The infamous body count begins here...
Review: Schlock movie maker Sean S. Cunningham had every intention of making a buck with this gory little movie that truly launched the slasher craze of the early 80s. That he made a cinematic legend was strictly an accident.

John Carpenter's Halloween had proved to be a huge hit just a year or two previous to this film and making a similar slaughter date movie to cash in on the trend seemed a good idea. So Friday the 13th (another 'bad date' title) was born.

Like Halloween the movie starts with the post coital murder of two sneak away lovers, roll credits and jump forward to 'The Present'. A well meaning camp counselor is trying to reopen Camp Crystal Lake much to the distaste of the locals, for it is there that the pre-credit murders happened. It seems that so much bad luck has befallen camps in the area that just about everyone agrees that it must have a death curse. Boy have they got that right. For someone is lurking in the woods, watching and stalking the gathering counselors, and when night falls and a storm rolls in, the killer pounces. Again and again the blood flows freely at Camp Crystal Lake.

Nothing more than a simplistic low budget exploitation shocker, Friday the 13th's biggest controversy wasn't its sex and graphic bloodletting, but that a major Hollywood studio (Paramount) would even buy the distribution rights and release such a sleazy item, not to mention making a mint doing so. This might be worth viewing for those interested in seeing the birth of a cinematic trend that would take years to burn out - only to come back again and again just like the unstoppable killers that populated it. Just remember that Friday the 13th is really nothing special, just a little exploitation flick that got very lucky. Recommended to the curious.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A flawed classic...
Review: friday the 13th is well-known or even a classic in its genre and i have searched for the vcd for a long time. too bad it does not meet my expectation. in fact, everything is not what i have expected, it lacks suspense, surprises and chasing which are the rules for a successful slasher flick. comparatively though it is unfair to do so, scream (1996) redefines the genre and fulfils all those requirements and it rocks as a result.

the final twist is surprising and saves the film from getting a failure. the only reason to watch the sequels is to find out whether jason, the long dead son of the crazed alice would return.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: For Tom Savini's magic only
Review: ... slasher fest about a group of niave councilors being slaughtered at an abandoned summer camp. Interesting premise ruined by B-grade performances, thin story and ham-fisted direction. Still, special make-up effects wizard Savinin does show some style and colour in the mutilations (especially Kevin Bacon's arrow-through-the-throat gag).
The Paramount DVD edition of this movie is a disappointment to fans as far as extras go (theatrical trailer - bore), but a nice and neat 16:9 enhanced widescreen presentation and a clear and loud Dolby Mono track does make it satisfactory to the average horror buff.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the best horror movies ever made
Review: o.k. the acting is terrible but the killings are great. my favorate killing is when betsy voorhees gets her head chopped off at the end. i recomend this to all horror fans out there.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: a typical 80's horror movie
Review: Seven boys and girls visit a camp that has been closed due to a murder that took place many years ago.There intent is to work there for a week or so,but the boys and girls become intimate and this leads to a loss of virginity.As is the case with most horror movies,once a teen loses his/her virginity,he/she is destined to meet a painful death.Every murder in this film is differnt and creative which is why I give it 3 stars.The only scene in this movie that is half-way scary is the end where the girl is sitting in the boat.This movie can only seen once or twice because it is very disturbing.
If you are looking for a movie that is scary and not very disturbing,watch Halloween,Fright Night,or Evil Dead.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 2nd best in the series
Review: this is the 2nd best friday the 13th in the series.The only problem with this movie is that most of the killings are of screen.But this movie still deserves 5 stars.Dont listen to the bad reviews.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My favorite movie of all time looks 100% better on DVD!!!!
Review: FRIDAY THE 13TH is, in my opinion, the greatest slasher movie of all time, and my favortie movie of all time. It set the standard for the horror of the 80's to follow, and it's the type of movie that still scares you all these years later. Loaded with atmosphere, suspense, and fun setpieces, FRIDAY THE 13TH is a classic among classics. Later followed by some great and not so great sequels, audiences will find this movie to be the strongest in the series. The new DVD is just gorgeous. The picture has never looked better and the sound and color have never been more crisp. Old movies like these often suffer from age on VHS, but thanks to a nice transfer by Paramount, this DVD is worth the money. As always, there are no extras except for a trailer, but just watching the trailer is a treat for die hard fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fady Ghaly's review
Review: There has always been something about every Friday the 13th movie 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 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, spurs curiosity in my mind as to whether or not somewhere, somewhere within such wilderness truly lies a savage beast, just waiting to devour any brave enough to step foot in his grounds.

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 many 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 to someday, some glorious day view work that has been done by me, all because of the influence such series' 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 we would then be 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 a hypnotic, atonally-based music score by Harry Manfredini. When combining all of these spices together, you have an ideal horror film that has every single element authentic horror fanatics 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 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 that are now merely clichés. Despite their failure for greater fame, the majority of the sequels, though are quite moronic at times, are 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 they're given.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The One That Started It All
Review: Friday The 13th was a spawn of "Halloween". It jumped on the slasher craze that "Halloween" started two years earlier. Friday The 13th hardly holds a candle to the scary masterpiece of "Halloween", but it is an effective film. It has some solid scares in the film that became less frequent in many of the brainless sequels. A bunch of campers at Camp Crystal Lake become fodder for a knife wielding psychopath. Is it Jason?. If you haven't seen it, I won't give it away. The acting is pretty lame, except for Betsy Palmer, who is a convincing psycho. The death scenes are raw and graphic, especially the one involving a young Kevin Bacon. I'm not saying it's a bad film, it is a decent film. The endless sequels don't really have a plot or much connection to previous films, but they are brain dead entertainment. Wether you like or not, Friday The 13th and Jason are huge pop icons. I , myself, love this series. The movies aren't very good, but they are fun. This one is no exception. This film, like "Halloween", spawned off many horrid immitators that scraped the bottom of the barrel. Still, Friday The 13th is a fun, sometimes gripping, horror film. Kill her mommy, kill her....

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: THE ORIGINAL SLASHER FILM
Review: FRIDAY THE 13TH is the first horror that I have seen and that was back in 1980 when a bunch of us snuck into the drive-in to see the film and I actually liked it.

FRIDAY THE 13TH was also the first film I bought on VHS when I bought my VCR in 1989, then I bought the DVD edition of the film when released in October 1999.

FRIDAY THE 13TH was the original slasher film that started it all. Back in the day, it was unusual to have a female killer lurking around only to be decapitated by another female. Although FRIDAY THE 13TH has a cardboard plot, it offers its trademark music by Harry Manfredini (who helmed music for all the films with the exception of Jason Takes Manhattan) , its fine special effects by Tom Savini (who returned for The Final Chapter) and of course, an appearance by Kevin Bacon and former Miss America Betsy Palmer.

FRIDAY THE 13TH on DVD is pretty good, despite its lack of extra feautures. FRIDAY THE 13TH is shown on standard widescreen (1.85:1) for the very first time. The picture quality is quite amazing and the sound is pretty good despite its Mono sound. I was surprised but thrown off by two things - the extended murder of Annie - the hitchhiker and the slight trimming of the decapitation of Mrs. Voorhees. Although I found the film to be overall good on DVD, this film should have feautured all extended murders (as all murders were cut, but available thru Warner in Japan in its uncut format), and more extras. The theatre trailer was fine as at the time as I found that to be a bonus.

This film is a must have for fans of the series (including yours truly) and is my favourite film of the entire film series.

Get your copy today !!!!!


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