Friday the 13th
I'm not exactly sure what to think about Friday the 13th. In one point, it is very scary and gory, but in another point, it is cheesy and not very well made. Does it really matter though? I mean, this movie is the first of it's genre (from what I understand) and it started a mass of teen slasher flicks in the 80's. Those movies have since vanished and have never been produced since (with the exception of the recent Scream). My guess is that there were too many bad sequels being made and no one wanted to see them anymore.
I wonder why the writer Victor Miller didn't add any plot to this movie. I mean, you have a good killer, good actors (except when they get killed), and a very good make-up artist, why not add a plot to make it more interesting? The plot of Friday the 13th is this: 6 camp counselors arrive at Camp Crystal Lake where a dual murder had happened many years before. Of course, it happened on Friday the 13th, and the counselors arrive on Friday the 13th. During the course of the day, the counselors are killed of one by one. Big deal... are we supposed to care?
That's the strange thing though; we do care about the characters, probably because they cast good actors that make more of their parts then they are required to. But the plot is a big downfall that could have made this movie terrific. However director Sean S. Cunningham, with the help of Barry Abrams, the cinematographer, give it an edge on other horror movies. Everything is pretty much shot in the dark and it's very difficult to see things, but Abrams uses the camera to show us what the killer sees, in some shots. That's what makes this movie so frightening. One time, the camera will sneak up on a character, showing us the killer's point of view, and another time it is just the camera moving towards the character for a close-up.
Betsy Palmer and Adrienne King are the main actors in the movie. Actually, Palmer doesn't show up until the very end, but she has an essential role in the movie (if that didn't give away who the killer is, you must be an idiot). King is pretty good, but I think that Kevin Bacon has one of the best parts in the movie. He is terrific, though doesn't survive halfway through the movie. Most of the cast is murdered, gruesomely. Tom Savini, the make-up artist, does a great job with the gory details that he is required to do. In fact, the gore is probably the real star of the movie. But these days, the movie looks cheaply made compared to the movies being made now. Of course, the movie was cheaply made back in 1980.
Friday the 13th is rated R. There is some mild language, but mostly gory murders. The only real reason that I could recommend this movie is that it is the original slasher film that started the 80's Slasher Decade. But nowadays, to see a real scary movie with plenty of gore, watch Candyman or Scream. Before you watch either of these movies though, you might want to check this one out.