Steezy's Movie Reviews #3 - Friday the 13th (1980)

• © Paramount Pictures, Georgetown Productions, Sean S. Cunningham Films
• Directed by Sean S. Cunningham
• Written by Victor Miller
• Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Slasher
• Rating: Rated R

Who is in the movie?

The main focus of Friday the 13th is our cast of character which includes:

• Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney) – The town crazy person who takes it upon himself to warn people to stay away from Camp Crystal Lake. It has a “death curse”, as he likes to inform people.

• Annie Phillips (Robbi Morgan) – A new hire camp counselor hitchhiking her way to Camp Crystal Lake.

• Steve Kristy (Peter Brouwer) – Steve currently owns Camp Crystal Lake. He is trying to fix the place up with the intention of re-opening it.

• Alice Hardy (Adrienne King) – One of the new camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. She’s an artist who is reluctantly taking the job at Camp Crystal Lake. She has business to tend to in California, but has decided to try out this counseling job for Steve.

• Jack Burrell (Kevin Bacon) – One of the new camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. He’s dating Marcie.

• Marcie Cunningham (Jeannine Taylor) – One of the new camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. She’s dating Jack.

• Bill Brown (Harry Crosby III) – One of the new camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake.

• Ned Rubenstein (Mark Nelson) – One of the new camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. He’s the goofball of the group, pulling pranks on the others, much to their dismay. He is dating Brenda.

• Brenda Jones (Laurie Bartram) – One of the new camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. She is dating Ned.

• Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) – A grieving mother who is none too happy about the idea of Camp Crystal Lake being re-opened. Her son drowned in the lake in 1957.

What is the movie about?

The film opens up during the summer of 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake. The kids are sleeping. The camp counselors seem to be having a grand old time singing camp songs in front of a fireplace. Two of the counselors decide to break away from the group and sneak off for a little hanky panky. We follow an unknown person from a first-person perspective creeping up the stairs to find the two counselors getting frisky with one another. They try to play it off like they weren’t doing anything, but our unknown character kills them without warning.

Flash forward to Friday the 13th in the present. We meet a character named Annie, a new hire camp counselor, who is trying to find her way to Camp Crystal Lake. She hitchhikes a ride with a truck driver at the local diner before being warned by the local crazy person, known as Crazy Ralph, who warns Annie to stay away from “Camp Blood” because it has a “death curse.” This is when the truck driver tells Annie the story as to why Crazy Ralph was acting… well… crazy. Camp Crystal Lake is jinxed. Two counselors killed in 1958 (see above). A young boy drowning in 1957. Mysterious fires being started at the campground. The water going “bad” in 1962. No one knows why these weird occurrences keep happening. The truck driver gets Annie to about as far as he can take her before dropping her off.

We switch focus to the rest of the new owner, Steve, and camp counselor, Alice, at Camp Crystal Lake trying to repair the cabins and facilities. The rest of the staff arrive. This includes Ned, Bill, Jack, Brenda, and Marcie. Steve leaves camp to head into town to get some more supplies for the repairs and leaves the rest of the counselors to continue working.

We return back to Annie, who catches a ride with another person, still on her way to Camp Crystal Lake. The film’s focus is from the first person perspective again. The driver passes the road to camp and begins to speed. This begins to panic Annie and she decides to jump out of the moving vehicle to escape the driver. They chase after her into the wood. When the driver catches up to Annie, they kill her by slashing her throat.

The counselors back at camp are relaxing and swimming in the lake. The driver who killed Annie is watching them from afar, unbeknownst to them. We spend time with the counselors bonding with each other while Steve is still gone. They continue to check out cabins, do repairs, and so on throughout the day. Crazy Ralph makes an appearance to warn the counselors that they are doomed if they stay at Camp Crystal Lake. Nightfall comes and our unseen killer begins to lure each of the counselors alone and proceeds to systematically kill them one by one.

When does this movie take place?

The beginning of the film takes place in 1958. After that, the film flashes forward to the present of Friday the 13th, 1979.

Where does this movie take place?

The film takes place at the fictional location of Camp Crystal Lake in New Jersey.

SPOILERS AHEAD
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Why is this happening?

I would honestly be surprised if you didn’t know what the twist of the movie is. I’ll be going into spoilers here. If you’re still reading this, you either know the twist or don’t really care about having the movie spoiled for you. Here we go.

Ned, Jack, Marcie, and Brenda have been killed. Steve finds his way back to Camp Crystal Lake eventually, only for him to be killed as well. Alice and Bill are left and they begin to get worried about the fact the rest of their friends seem to have disappeared. The killer begins to play mind games with them. It doesn’t take long for Bill to become another victim too. We are left with Alice being the sole survivor when a vehicle arrives outside.

Alice thinks it’s Steve has finally returned, but nope, it’s a middle-aged woman named Mrs. Voorhees. She says she's a friend of Steve's family and worked for them as a cook at Camp Crystal Lake. She tells Alice a story about how her son, Jason, had drowned in the lake back in 1957. Grief-stricken, she blames the counselors for this happening because they were off having sex and partying instead of paying attention to the children. Mrs. Voorhees reveals herself to be the unseen killer this whole time and she attacks Alice. The significance of the date, Friday the 13th, is that it is Jason's birthday. Mrs. Voorhees seems to have gone a little crazy, believing her dead son is communicating with her from beyond the grave to kill the camp counselors. She sees Alice and the rest of the counselors she's killed as the same ones responsible for her son's death.

The two struggle. However, Alice gets the upper hand and manages to kill Mrs. Voorhees by decapitating her with a machete.
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How was the movie?

It's a classic horror film. The music by Harry Mandini is great. Tom Savini is on the special effects and does a pretty good job the kills. This is the film that started the Friday the 13th franchise. Black Christmas started the slasher genre. Halloween perfected the formula. However, it is Friday the 13th that most slasher films try to emulate.

The movie isn't perfect. I like the plot and setting. Summer camps are the place many boogeyman legends get started when sitting around the campfire and the idea the summer camp you're staying at might be cursed is an interesting idea. The cast of characters doesn't have much of a personality other than to fulfill some of the usual tropes found in slasher films and provide a body count for the slasher. Other than Crazy Ralph and our killer, no one really leaves much of an impression on me. But hey, look, we've got a young Kevin Bacon in the movie, so that's something, right? I mean, looking back at a lot of old horror movies, you might be surprised to see who you find being a victim of some of our favorite horror monsters.

However, the thing that really stands out about the original Friday the 13th is the ending. The big reveal of who the killer is. When it comes to slasher films, the expectation of who the killer tends to be is some kind of hulking monster of a man, vengeful spirit, or an unstoppable evil. Not with Friday the 13th. This film subverts that expectation and gives us something different. Now, I wasn't alive in 1980, but I'd like to imagine the ending must've been an interesting surprise for horror fans. I recommend it for people who haven't seen this film for whatever reason and see where one of biggest horror icons got their start.

And remember... Stay away from Camp Blood. It's got a death curse!