Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th, Our first review!

                                         Friday the 13(1980)- Directed by Sean S. Cunningham

  

     The one that started the franchise, the first installment is a trip down memory lane. Its 2015 so I'll skip the in-depth synopsis. Teens working for a summer camp get killed one by one by an unknown assailant its old and tiresome BUT, when this movie came out it was a pretty fresh concept. The movie's seemingly main character Annie (a teenage girl with a care free attitude and the first camp counselor we see after the intro) dies early and the film has a hard time explaining who the main character is until the final counselor is left. Speaking of main characters...OH SHIT IS THAT KEVIN BACON! why yes it is, young 22 year old Kevin Bacon in one of his first movie roles,.who says horror actors don't make it big?.

that is,in fact, Kevin Bacon

  The film says it stars Betsy Palmer though you wouldn't know because she only gets 15 minutes of screen time though her performance is solid and you feel for her character. Jason himself is seen very little and that actually is a good thing as it sets up later installments and gives him a reason to exist.The gore in this movie is quite tame with most kills happening off screen or with little blood (compared to today's standards) the audio and camera work fit with the time and there are a few instances where you can easily see how the effects where done. The antagonist is a little bizarre as it seems the person/thing would not be able to really accomplish these things, but suspension of belief is the name of the game when it comes to these kinds of movies. The ending really paths the way to the sequel. 

Betsy Palmer

  If you are looking to watch a marathon of "Friday the 13th" watch this first then the '09 as this gives you much more backstory and the 09 reboot only delves into this movie for 5 minutes and ruins the ending.

   Here are a few things I noticed, some would call them mistakes,goofs or small details

During the rousing game of strip monopoly She does not roll double sixes he rolls a 2 and what looks like a 3 

In the beginning the lady in the diner says its says 20 miles to the camp but later the sign outside of said diner reads: 12 miles to crystal lake.

The trademark Jason sound effect is heard though out the movie and its explained (kind of) what its suppose to be but it feels clunky in this movie because of the lack of said antagonist of the franchise in the film to make the well known sound

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Kill count 8

Audio- 7/10 the aforementioned trademark sound and a few gripes but its stood the test of time well and the music is pretty nice especially the soothing ending theme

Video- 6/10 the camera work is good for its time would have been an 8 in the 80's so we can just imagine it as an 8

Story- 8/10 the reveal of the killer and their motives makes the story compelling other then that the concept was fresh and underutilized for its time. Now a days a new "camp in the woods with a killer" style is a saturated market, back then not so much.

Special Effects 5/10- easily seen prognostics are easily reconizable, an under usage of blood and gore is a nice change to today's movies.

Overall score  79/100
 I like this movie and franchise, however this movie has not aged well in the effects side of things other then that I feel its solid and worth a watch. this series holds a special place in my heart and would recommend it to anyone looking into getting into horror but I would say start with Halloween (1978) first.- Rosanderman