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Okay, I'll admit, I'm not the biggest fan of the Friday the 13th franchise. I only saw two in theaters, partly because the films didn't hit the cinemas in my area, and I was busy watching the awesome weekly horror films at the Hazel Dell Tri-Cinema. You only had one week to catch the feature, but they showed Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Fulci's Zombie, and some amazing Roger Corman produced features. And later in the 80s and early 90s, theaters were showing unrated films like Evil Dead II, Re-Animator and Dead Alive. Yeah, my weekends were a bit busy hunting down these gems, instead of looking for another Jason film.
That's not to say I didn't watch them on home video, and several have ended up in my DVD collection, at least the ones I liked. However, a few months ago, I had the money to pick up the Blu-Ray box set from Shout (Scream) Factory, released back in 2020, at a good sale price.
So now, with a bit of trepidation, it's time to delve into the series, see how the continuity holds up (yeah, based on what I remember, this wasn't a concern with the filmmakers) and talk about how the films hold up as a whole. After all, this is an influential slasher series, with 12 films, a host of comic series and a very popular video game (until the recent lawsuit) keeping it in the public eye for decades. While it wasn't the only slasher film released in 1980, it was the most successful, and the biggest target of critics decrying the depictions of violence only hinted at in 1979's Halloween.
The plot for the first film is pretty simple. Two camp consolers, in the middle of building up to hot sex, are killed at Camp Crystal Lake in the late 50s, causing the camp to close down. Cut to the present (1979), as Annie is heading to the camp, which is reopening. And things don't go well for her, as Tom Savini's effects deliver the first nasty kill.
I said take a little off the top!
Okay, the first two kills are bloody to a point, but the filmmakers didn't show anything overly graphic. The stabbing of the male camp counselor took place off screen, while the female counselor doesn't die on screen. But Annie's death is a graphic, gory throat slashing, making it seem like a middle finger to how slasher movies depicted death on screen. While movies have shown bloody deaths well before this, with makeup artist Dick Smith (The Exorcist, Altered States, and so many others) leading the way, the difference is Smith's makeup effects were in service of the story.
Tom Savini's effects in this film were the story. Sean S. Cunningham wasn't interested it telling a compelling tale, he just wanted to up the ante set by John Carpenter's Halloween,. And it shows, with the disposable characters, lack of artistic style, and just plain let's-kill-these-kids story telling. I'm not saying the film doesn't deliver, but it lacks the artistry that makes Carpenter's film so creepy and unnerving.
Oh, and I'll be spoiling the hell out of this film at this point. So if you're a horror fan and haven't see this movie, check out now.
Don't say I didn't warn anyone.
The film moves to the camp in modern times, as a new group of counselors are getting ready for the kids to arrive. And here we meet our final girl, Alice (Adrienne King), as well as a bunch of disposable victims, including Kevin Bacon (in his second film role). We also get slasher film staple Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney), the harbinger of doom so well spoofed in Cabin in the Woods.
As the movie progresses, we see the counselors picked off one by one by some nefarious person. At this point, the film follows standard Giallo cliches, as we never see the killer, except for their hands, and the film delivers a red herring with Bill (Harry Crosby, son of Bing Crosby, who appeared in several of his father's televised specials before signing on to this film, and later becoming an investment banker). His character, wearing a red raincoat, is either a great red herring (get it?), or someone involved in the movie watched too much Star Trek: The Original Series.
Either way, it doesn't end well for him.
As Alice locks herself in a cabin, the film introduces Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), who worked at the site back in the 50s and claims to be a friend of the camp's owners. Surprise, the newly introduced character is the killer, taking revenge after her son, Jason, drowned while the counselors were having sex. She killed the two councilors at the beginning of the film, and has sabotaged every attempt to reopen the site since, before becoming homicidal.
What, after all your fellow consolers were murdered, you didn't think me showing up suddenly was suspicious?
It's an okay reveal, but the script never explains why the authorities never suspected the woman who lost her son a year earlier about the deaths of two people, or about the repeated acts of vandalism. That oversight in the script, as well as her character's introduced in the final few moments of the film, telegraph her as the killer.
Not that the film was trying to blaze new territory. Screenwriter Victor Miller admits in the special features that Sean S. Cunningham contacted him to write a script ripping off Halloween. So Miller headed out to catch Carpenter's classic in the theaters, come up with the rules established in that classic film, and mimicked them.
Cunningham also contacted Tom Savini, fresh off Dawn of the Dead, to create the effects, and he delivers some stunning work. Of course, the MPAA required some trimming to get the film an R-rating, but I think some of the edits works in the film's favor. Watching the unrated version, I think Kevin Bacon's death is a bit too long, allowing you to see the seams in the effect. But that's viewed through the eyes of someone who's seen plenty of practical effects since the 80s. However, the extended version of Pamela's death is really good, and fitting for the climatic kill.
Okay, this stylist doesn't know the meaning of a little off the top.
But let's get to Alice, the final girl. King's performance is solid, no surprise as she started acting at 6 months old, and appeared in soap operas, advertisements and off-off-Broadway productions before taking the role of Alice. But, as with Laurie Strode in Halloween, Alice is not what would become the troupe of the Final Girl in subsequent slasher films.
For starts, it's implied that Alice is sleeping with her boss, and the camp owner Steve Christy. Look, I know the extras in the Blu-Ray release says it's "hinted at," as Steve brushes Alice's hair during a private moment between the two. But just a few seconds earlier, Alice seems to admit having drawn a portrait of him while he was sleeping. So much for being virginal.
Later in the movie, Alice goes hunting down some weed and grabs a beer before joining into a game of Strip Monopoly. Sure, she doesn't get naked, but she comes close to losing her top before the game ends after a blast of wind opening the door. It also leads to counselor Brenda (Laurie Bartram) commenting that the game was over before it got interesting. I'm not saying that aside would have lead to anything. But like Laurie before her, Alice was not the chaste girl associated with the Final Girl Troupe.
Aside from those issues, Alice falls asleep while Bill goes out looking for answers as to the other counselor's disappearances, which is silly. No matter how much I enjoy King's performance, the script fails her at every step, until she confronts Pamela on the shore of the lake. Than, it's full on take no prisoners.
Yeah, I swing a mean machete. Come get some,
Again, this isn't a criticism of King's performances, which is great. I just wonder when the idea of a pure, virginal Final Girl overcame the slasher became the stereotype. In fact, I don't remember any slasher films where the Final Girl is as pure as the stereotype claims. Okay, maybe Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2, though it will take a rewatch to confirm that. Perhaps watching the other entries in this series might lend me a clue. I'll get back to you on that.
Oh, the things I do for this site.
Don't lie, dude. You'll be happy to watch this film again
Let's talk about Betsy Palmer's performance as Pamela Voorhees. She's admitted she wasn't a fan of the script, and reportedly took the role to purchase a car she had her eyes on. I'm fine with that, as actors have to earn a living like the rest of us. But she's introduced too late in the film for anyone not to expect her to be the killer. But she sells it, and I will stand by that till my dying day. Despite wanting the paycheck, Palmer doesn't phone it in. She goes full bore into the role, cementing the film's place in shaping horror movies.
One final note. The ending scene, as Alice is adrift on the lake, looks beautiful. Sure, Cunningham and Miller were setting up a Carrie ending, and dragged out tranquil scene might push the endurance level of modern audiences. But even though it's a rip off of a better film, it's beautiful, and makes Jason jumping out of the lake more impactful.
Well, it was so tranquil until you showed up.
The Shout Factory Blu-Ray release delivers both the R-rated and Unrated versions of the film, in a 4K Remaster from the original negatives. The film looks great, and if you're a fan, this is the edition to buy.
Regardless of the critical response, which was unsurprisingly hostile, Friday the 13th is an important moment in horror films. Much like Blood Feast, it ushered in a more graphic wave of horror films. And with distribution by a major studio (Paramount), the film inspired a bunch of further rip-offs of Halloween that upped the gore-for-profit ante. Despite the misgivings of the heads at Paramount, they were unwilling to kill their cash cow for several features, which says a lot for this film's place in horror history.
No, I don't want to make another. Oh, wait, how much money did it make? Let's do Part Two!
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