SPLATTERdrome

Release Date: May 9th, 1980

Director: Sean S. Cunningham

Screenwriter: Victor Miller

Genre: Horror

 

 

The enduring popularity of the original Friday the 13th is remarkable. When you strip away the reputation of this film and judge it solely on merit the results are mixed. Compared with its contemporaries the film has neither the visionary direction of Halloween nor the shocking brutality of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What Friday the 13th is remembered for today (aside from Kevin Bacon in a speedo) is perfecting the slasher film paradigm and wowing audiences with Tom Savini's gore effects. 

 

Part of the issue with Friday #1 is that it lives in the shadow of the hockey mask. The Jason character became so damn famous during the eighties that he's the first thing people think of when these films are mentioned. It's terrific branding but new viewers might not realize Jason is largely absent from the original and walk away disappointed. I remember watching it for the first time as a kid and thinking, "What the fuck? Jason's just some deformed child?" Yeah, massive let down.

 

Friday the 13th succeeds most when utilizing its isolated setting and minimalist score. Seeing the remaining characters stalked and toyed with in their seemingly quiet cabins is effective but not particularly suspenseful. There's a lot of dead time (pardon the pun) between the action where characters are just washing their hands or boiling water on the stove. I'm not sure if this was intended to create tension or just fill time in a meager screenplay.

 

Unlike most of its sequels Friday the 13th attempts to build a relationship between the audience and the cast. The thought process must have been something like, "These kids are so damn likable! It's going to be shocking when we grind them up in the third act" Perhaps this was true in 1980 but not so much now. Subsequent installments proved that fans of these movies root for the killer rather than those being tormented. You have to admit that witnessing abrasive characters being skewered is just so damn satisfying. What's more thrilling than the loudmouth and/or practical joker catching an axe in the face?

 

The final confrontation of the film between Adrienne King and Betsy Palmer lasts forever. I thought the fight scene in They Live was long but this is absurd, at least Keith David and Roddy Piper are fun to watch. Betsy Palmer looks like a high school principal and could not be less intimidating on screen. Not to mention that she butchered several grown men without incident but can't handle one frightened teenaged girl locked in a pantry. Pathetic.

 

Again, this film isn't really that good but where would we be without it? Friday the 13th opened the door to literally hundreds of weird and terrible rip-offs and helped the popularity of horror films skyrocket during the 1980s. Every bloated horror franchise loaded with campy, laughable sequels has this film to thank. I'm eternally grateful.