Customer Reviews

Friday the 13th 1 [VHS]

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What can I really say that hasn't already been said about this first venture into the life of Jason Voorhees? Before the Blair Witch was haunting the woods, before the werewolves of Dog Soldiers were stomping around in the dark, before countless other copy-cat wannabes, there was the menacing killer of Friday the 13th.

To be sure, John Carpenter hit the nail on the head a few years prior with the classic Halloween, but Friday the 13th also opened audience's eyes to a new breed of horror movie - the gory serial killing scream-fest.

For those in the know, Jason doesn't make an appearance until Part 2, but his legacy is revealed in fine family fashion here. The simple plot entails a small boy who drowns at a summer camp while the counselors are busy getting busy. Needless to say, his mom is rather pissed and unforgiving, and Jason just might not be dead...

The killings, for early 80's, are quite inventive - an ax through the head, an arrow through the neck, and lots of fun at the archery range are just a few of the treats in store. Effects were good because the master Tom Savini was just getting his shoes muddy and honing his skills. Love it.

Kevin Bacon, for those of you who were born under a rock, makes his screen debut here, rivaling Johnny Depp's nasty demise in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The ending is one of those great surprises in film. If you didn't gasp or scream the first time you saw it, you're lying.

No horror fan should miss this. The sequels however, particularly after the 3rd one, can be thrown in the trash and burned. Ugh.

I was working in a cinema in 1980 when this film was first released, No one expected it to take a light and it opened in one of the complex's smallest screens. Big mistake. From day one queues formed for this film and many wannabe punters were somewhat peeved for being turned away. Those who got in though experienced a genuinely scary horror film and it remains one of the best audience participation films that I have ever seen. Throughout the film, the suspense runs along and builds up to a crescendo prior to each slaying or to a false moment of fear.
The ending, however is something else. Sure it ain't exactly original but boy is it effective. I have never seen an audience scream so loudly and in total unison, and have some people visibly shaken and in tears sometimes afterwards.... Night after night, the result was the same and Friday The 13th became one of the 'sleepers' of 1980. Watch out too for a young Kevin Bacon as one of the teens in peril.
The passage of time has seen it take its place in the pantheon of really scary horror films and deservedly so. If you have not yet seen this film, then give it a go. Enjoy and be prepared to be scared.

There is so much more to this movie that anyone gives it credit for. When you mention Friday the 13th, many people either dismiss it for being "just a slasher flick" or a "Halloween rip-off." Most people do not see the artistic value in Friday the 13th because they simply do not expect it to be in this kind of movie or do not want to acknowledge it, as a result of already having their closed (typical critic know it all) minds made up.

First off, Friday the 13th is not a Halloween rip-off. When Carpenter's equally classic Halloween generated top box office revenue in 1978 and 1979, many eyebrows raised within the film industry. Among those were the brows of a few people in particular. Sean (director) Cunningham, Victor (credited writer) Miller, Ron (unaccredited writer) Kurz, Steve (producer) Miner, and Georgetown (independent film production company) Productions all wanted in on the profit made by the Halloween. The only sensible thing they could think of doing was to produce a similar product, which became Friday the 13th.

Sean wanted to make the same kind of money that John made, but he knew he would have to make his film a little different. Instead of just having a walking masked madman on the loose, he and Victor came up with a story that is quite brilliant. Sure, certain scenes in Friday the 13th may have been taken from Halloween, but you can say the same thing about Halloween taking some scenes from Psycho. Friday the 13th, whether it was on purpose or not, utilized a couple of really good themes in their story telling, beyond the typical moral theme that everyone associates with these movies like sex leads to death.

The first theme that Friday the 13th throws in your face is the idea of isolated mass hysteria. Camp Crystal Lake and the town of Crystal Lake are haunted. They are not haunted by ghosts and goblins, but by unsuppressed dark memories of a little boy drowning and a string of unsolved murders among other things, in which all have to do with Camp Crystal Lake. Every person in town believes that there is a "Death Curse" upon the camp, and they refer to the place as "Camp Blood." When Annie walks into the restaurant and asks some people how she can get to Camp Crystal Lake, they all look at her and two people try to warn her to stay away from the place. They say the place is jinxed and has a death curse.

Psychology is only a little more then 100 years old, but we know that parents have a strong "connection" to their child even after the umbilical chord is severed. For a parent to have to burry their own child is probably the most devastating thing that can happen in their life. Mrs. Voorhees looses her son to a tragedy and little by little she snaps. She tries to give him life by giving him a voice at one point (just like Norman Bates did for his mother in Psycho), and that voice tells her to murder those responsible for her son's death.

Of course for the horror fan there is enough blood and murder to please. All in all Friday the 13th is a powerful tragic but frightening story of love, loss, superstition, and murder with an ending that is sure to make one jump (no pun intended) right out of one's seat. Also, not revealing the murderer until the end makes the film more suspenseful then showing the murderer in the opening sequence like Halloween did.

Although this first installment in the highly successful slasher series lacks what it is most famous for - serial killer Jason Vorhees - it is the best in the series. The infamous score by Harry Manfredini is excellent and scary and carries the film very well. The cast of basic unknowns adds to the sense of isolation that the makers of this film knew was a key element to making it as frightening as it is.
Critics love to trash this movie but it must have done something right to spawn more sequels than any other.
The plot probably needs no explanation but goes simply like this: Counselors setting up a camp in the middle of the woods are killed one by one in, each in a different grisly manner, but who is doing the killing?
Many people take so many aspects of this film for granted because it has been ripped-off so many times (although, to be fair, it is somewhat a rip-off in itself of Halloween - using a holiday and a slasher killing teens). But this film introduced many elements into a genre it would actually almost invent by itself - the slasher film.
First off all, we have the wooded setting, next we have a series of gruesome and creative killings (tamed by today's standards), using the camera to make you, the viewer, see the slaying of the victims through the eyes of the killer.
The shock-ending of this film was probably the most effective of its kind in movie history and during its run at the theaters, you would inevitably hear a tremendous letout of screams right before the movie ended (I won't mention what this is just on the slight notion that someone doesn't know what I'm talking about). But the reason this scene succeeded so well was simple...because the film effectively created a genuiune feeling of terror and suspense for the first 85 minutes and took viewers by surprise.
FRIDAY THE 13TH looks great in this digitally remastered widescreen DVD and helps to eliminate the dated look it was taking on due to increasingly poorer VHS releases. The only special features that this film does have are the trailer (which is not remastered but shows the great contrast between the remastered and unremastered prints) and chapter selection. Unfortunately this is not the un-cut version but for some reason does contain a few extra seconds of blood in one scene (the third killing in the film of Annie) and a few deleted scenes in another (the decapitation near the end of the movie) and also contains a few extra seconds of the sex scene. An uncut version or collector's edition has been cried out for amongst the many fans of FRIDAY THE 13TH but has been inexplicably ignored by its distributor, Paramount Pictures, who basically view this cash cow as a blemish on the face of their film catalog.

The first Friday the 13th will go down as the turning point in the slasher genre. John Carpenter scored big with Halloween but the slasher genre was still somewhat of an untouched subject until this movie rolled around.

It has everything that makes it a slasher flick, teenagers, sex, blood, and horror, alongside all the killing. A thoroughly enjoyable movie in the Friday the 13th series.

Recommended.

"Friday the 13th". Anyone that hears those words either thinks of superstitions or the slasher series that graced the 1980's with sex, drugs and gore. The first was the best, and it had some originality to it (unlike the 8 sequels), a great heroine, a perfect chase scene and numerous deaths. Not one death is the same. If you don't know the plot by now you must be living under a rock. Camp Crystal Lake has been closed for over 20 years after two murders, a drowning, fires, bad water, etc. In 1980, the owner decides to reopen the camp, hiring 7 counselors to clean up the place before the season begins. Now these counselors are sex crazed, immature, pot smoking, loudmouthed goofballs, perfect beings for one psycho lunatic to knock off. As night falls, an unknown killer (but by now everyone knows who it is, although I won't say who for the sake of anyone who has not seen the film) murders several counselors in various ways: a throat slashing, spear through the neck, axe in the face (my personal favorite), an archery range death (need I say more?), an arrow in the eye and a nice decapitation! Ok, so this isn't Oscar material btu I think it is highly entertaining. I mean, if it wasn't entertaining do you think it would have given birth to countless imitations and 8 sequels! Little tidbit of information for anyone who doesn't know: Jason is NOT the killer in this. He makes a very small cameo in the end as a little boy. No hockey masked loon in this one. Anyway, there are a few scares in this, so rent it.

Sean S. Cunningham delivered us a movie classic in 1980. That classic. That classic is named Friday the 13th. I was given this movie for Christmas in 1990, and it was the best video present anyone had ever given me. I was a big fan of this movie since I had seen it for the first time on TV back in either '81 or '82. It has since become one of my top 3 favorite movies (including Apocalypse Now and the Shining). Everything about the movie appeals to me, the camp itself (Camp NoBeBoSco near Blairstown New jersey), the beautiful Pine barrens of Western New Jersey, stylized photography and lighting by Barry Abrams,good acting which is rare in horror fims!!, unbelievable makeup effects (by make-up guru Tom Savini), and what maybe the greatest Horror soundtrack ever! Harry Manfredini's score is hauntingly atmospheric. "ch ch ch ha ha ha". I purchased the DVD before I even owned a player and took it over to a good friend of mine's house. Off with the lights, on with the movie. Mesmerizing stuff! By the end, my friend, who was no big fan of horror movies was scared stupid. He actually jumped of the couch at the canoe in the water sequence. He said he actually liked it, alot. I was blown away by the superiority of the DVD movie over the VHS version. Great color and sharpness, improved sound and virtually no video artifacts. The difference between the two is amazing! Definetely the best I have ever seen between a VHS version and the DVD version. The included trailer is one of the coolest I have ever seen. Of course, being distributed by Paramount pictures is not an asset, for Paramount hasn't grassped the DVD market by the tail (at least on older releases). Hey Paramount, any other extras in your vaults?! There are two extended death scenes (Annie and Mrs. Voorhees and yes that is the correct spelling!), but that's it (except for the trailer) This DVD is anamorphically enhanced for those with 16:9 televisions. Audio is English Mono and French Mono (Get this... the French dialogue audio sounds much more clear than the English track!) Hint -> if you zoom in on Neddy's cabin when he first walks to it, you can see the face (in slight obscurity) of one Ms. Betsy Palmer. You can't do that on VHS!

Friday The 13th was made after the success of John Carpenter's "Halloween", which was made in 1978. "Friday The 13th" was written by Victor Miller and directed by Sean S. Cunningham. I agree with a few other reviewers, I don't find the movie nearly as suspensful or scary as "Halloween", but it's still a very fun movie.

It starts up at Camp Crystal Lake, in 1958, where two teens, Barry (Willie Adams) and Claudette (Debra S. Hayes) are slashed up by an unknown assasin. Due to this incident, the camp is closed down for four years, before it's reopened in 1962. But, that opening is unsuccesful, because the lake's water is poisoned! Then, in 1964, they try, yet again, to reopen the camp, only to be faced with a mysterious fire! So, they give up and shut down the camp for almost twenty years. But then, in 1979, Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer) decides to reopen despite the objection of the townsfolk. He spents 25,000 dollars trying to get the place in shape, and spends one whole year cleaning it up, and building the cabins. Then, in 1980, a group of seven counselors are heading up to Crystal Lake to help Christy out. This group includes, Alice (Adrienne King), Marci (Jeanine Taylor), Ned (Mark Nelson), Brenda (Laurie Bartham), Annie (Robbi Morgan), Bill (Harry Crosby), and Jack (future star Kevin Bacon, in his third movie role). They're all pretty excited to be going up to the camp, but pretty soon they're not gonna be. You see, this unknown killer is very angry for some reason that this camp is being opened again. Who will survive the night? Watch and see!

Friday The 13th, despite lack of good reviews and lack of a plot, is a fun watch. The actors all seem to know that they're in a bad movie, and end up having more fun with they're parts. The charecters are purely cardboard, but I don't mind. I really love Harry Manfredini's score, which sounds a lot like the score for Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". Manfredini would go on to do every sequal (except for Part VIII, Jason Takes Manhattan). The murders aren't nearly as gory as most people say (if you want gory murders, see the director's cut of Jason Goes To Hell The Final Friday), but the makeup effects are still fine, by horror makeup master Tom Savini (Day Of The Dead, Friday The 13th The Final Chapter, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2). The most popular murder is undoutebly Mr. Bacons. He gets an arrow through the throat (if you play it in slow motion, you'll notice a big glob of blood shoots into his mouth).

This DVD is actually much better than most fans credit it for being. If you're a true fan, you'll appreciate the theatrical trailer, the scene selection, and the terrific picture quality of the movie itself. It's also really hilarious to watch the film in french. An also, you may notice tw things about the movie itself. Annie's death (slit throat) is about five seconds longer, and shows her falling to the ground before the typical flash of light. And The Killer's death (I won't say who the killer is, but rest assured, it's NOT Jason) is a small tad longer. These extended murders are uncredited, but they're there!! My compliments also go to Paramount for the terrific picture they've offered to us. Throw out your VHS, this picture is REALLY good (the DVDs for Part 2 and 3 are good too, but 4 isn't that good). Some people complain that the sound's mono, but I barely even notice.

I really recommend that you by this movie, even if you have the video. The picture makes it worth the price alone. If you enjoyed this film, I'd reccomend Parts 2, 3 ,4, 6, and 9. The rest are fun, but not nearly as good.

If you found my review helpful, please make sure and vote for me. Thank you very much!!

Friday the 13th is just about the only slasher movie I've ever seen that actually built an atmosphere of psychological terror. A lot is said about how this movie intensified the use of brutal violence and gore in horror movies, but it also managed to be scary in a more subtle sense(yes, I know the word subtle is not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when you think of slasher films, but it did apply to this one.) As the people are killed off, one girl is gradually and steadily isolated in the forest.The way that the action unfolds, she has no idea that anything is wrong until well into the dead of night. Of course, by this time the phone and car have been rendered useless by the killer. Perhaps the most effective part of the film lies in how the audience is drawn vicariously into the girl's predicament. Since the identity of the killer is not revealed to the audience until it is also revealed to her, the viewer is kept just as offbalance and confused as she is. The only other time I've seen this sort of plot device work as well was in the Blair Witch Project. That movie also used gradual isolation and confusion to arouse terror in the characters, and was just as effective in drawing the audience into the plight of the people they were watching. By the latter half-hour of Friday the 13th, it is natural to feel keen empathy with the heroine, because the movie is shot in such a way that we can easily imagine ourselves in her dilemma. One moment in particular stands out for me. When she is awakened, and is not really sure why. I can remember numerous instances in which I was roused from sleep by a noise, but could not tell to save my life what that noise had been. When it happens to her, she isn't sure if it was the scream of her friend or something else. Things like this go a long way towards building an empathy between a character and the audience.

My favorite slasher movie is Halloween. I'd rank Friday the 13th second, in a tie with Prom Night(since the slasher subgenre is my personal favorite type of movie, these rankings signify a lot more coming from me than they would from the average person). While Halloween brought terror into a comfortable, middle-class neighborhood, and Prom Night ventured into the corridors of a high school, Friday the 13th used a dilapidated looking summer camp. Maybe it's just me, but ugly settings really affect the tone of a movie. The interiors of those cabins were not what I'd call inviting. Not that ugly places are necessarily scarier, but they are just so relentlessly depressing to look at. It's like, Jesus, how would you like the last thing you ever see to be that shower room where the girl gets the axe to the face? (If you think that one is ugly, wait until you get a load of Jason's bachelor pad in part 2 of the series.)

Yet, for all the dreariness of the cabins, this is a visually stunning film. The pristine beauty of Crystal Lake. The sense of foreboding, as night falls and the storm approaches. The violence of the night, not only in terms of the obvious onscreen butchery, but as reflected in the ferocity of the thunderstorm that serves as backdrop to much of the action. The final moments are not only beautiful, but also kind of surreal. Friday the 13th has a truly great finale, and you have to watch the final scene carefully in order to fully appreciate it.

At any rate, if you like this sort of movie, this is one of the absolute essentials. Although I like slasher movies, very few of them actually scared me when I saw them for the first time. This one did. It manages to create an atmosphere all of its own, which is rare. I might also add that the resolution of the mystery is quite good. As one might imagine, there is a 'surprise' ending. The only problem is that modern audiences have seen everything, so they automatically suspect anyone who seems 'normal' or 'harmless'. The minute someone pops up who seems friendly, especially if it's towards the end of the film, everybody knows they must be the killer. So the surprise element is pretty much wasted on a contemporary audience. But it's still a strong ending.

I would highly recommend this. Most people who criticize these films are referring to the later versions, in which all pretense of being scary has been abandoned in favor of juvenile humor and mindless action. It wasn't like that in the beginning. The original Friday the 13th puts you right into the summer camp with the victims, and that effect only intensifies as the film progresses.

Hi, before I start I would just like to let everyone know that I am a 19 year old female. And the reason I feel to share that is because now a days it seems that being my age allows you to be spoiled by the standards for horror filming today. I just want to let everyone know that while I may be spoiled to it, I can also enjoy a classic such as Friday The 13th and not be biased.

I have been watching the Friday the 13th series since I can remember, but I never watched it on tape, I only saw it on TV. And while every Friday the 13th is cut in some way, it's severely cut on tv. I was very surprised to watch it on dvd, for the first time, simply because it was like I was watching it for the first time. There had been scenes that I didn't know existed, because I was limited to what they show on TV.

I have the box set, and if I were to rate that ..I'd give it a very poor 2 - 3 stars, simply because I feel that the Friday the 13th series deserves better than what it's recieved in the box set. But the movies alone, I adore.

I love the feeling of being scared, I love the feeling of thinking that something can really happen. I love the fact that I, only in my opinion, am terrified of this series and some others like it. I don't have to have A+ ratings in graphics to be scared. I just need some killings, and jump out of your seat thrills. And I think for the most part, almost all of these movies gives you that.

For the longest time I didn't like this particular part, because I was like every other juvenile teenager ..I loved Jason, and since Jason wasn't in it, I didn't care for it. Well, it's recently been played on AMC back to back, and I sat down and actually watched it ...and I loved it. I love it even more that i've actually seen the R version of the movie. Jason Voorhees doesn't have to be in this, because I feel that his mother doing the killings is probably more scarier than anything, because that's something that could actually happen.

Storyline (Not exactly in order, but the way I feel best describing) -- (Possible Spoilers)

When you sit down to watch this, you know that you're sitting down to a horror movie. But the way it comes on, dead of night, serene water, clear blue moon ..and kids sleeping silently in the cabin, you for one second feel that you could possibly be watching a family movie. Teenager counselors are singing cheesy sing a long songs ..and you feel a sense of peace.

That is ..until your hip to the two horn dogs, who clearly can not keep their eyes off of each other. The song finishes, and off they go to explore each other. I'm not entirely mad that they got killed off ..there's kids in the other cabin ..I think you should wait until you're alone, alone. That was there fault, and they get knocked off. The person was so free of mercy, that you'd never think that it was who it was doing the killings.

So, you're fully into the movie at this point ..just waiting to see who gets kicked off this time. And we zoom into this pretty, innocent, friendly looking girl named Annie. For a few seconds if not more, you would assume that she was the one who would last to the ending credits. She pets a homeless looking dog, which I love (I love animals), and goes on about her way.

She stops into this little diner, and asks for assistance to Camp Crystal Lake. Where she recieves curious, yet knowing glances that she notices, but seems to ignores. They do a little chit chat, someone calls it camp blood, no biggie, and a truck driver offers her a ride atleast have way there.

Also on there way to the serene lake is Jack, Marcie, and the ever funny Ned. They have a little fun conversation on the way ..that's what I love about this movie ..the parts that would seem slow in most movies, just flows on beautifully, I feel. I was never bored in watching the scenes where they interact with each other, I felt it put a little more depth into the movie.

Allison -- Upon seeing her ..At first I don't see her as the person that would last. I'd give that credit to Brenda ..but I guess in a sense she's more dependant than most of the girls there. After everyone arrives (excluding Annie), you get to see Steve and Allison talking ..and for a moment you feel a bit of a connection with the two that's never really touched on. I feel more feelings on his part than hers. I would've really loved to know the reason why she needed to get home, or why she didn't want to stay, but they didn't touch on that either.

Bill, is one of my favorite characters ..he's just a very nice guy, and not annoying or anything, I really felt that he would've survived to, or at least I would've rooted him on. I would've also liked to see some feelings between him and Allison.

Annie gets dropped off by the Truck Driver after contridicting herself some ..and walks on just to get picked up by another person. Which by the look on Annie's face ..seems to be someone friendly. But who's to say ...

Annie talks to the driver, but the driver never answers her ..or says anything at all. Not even a little grunt to let you know they're still alive, lolol. They just drives, and seems irritated, because they end up driving a lot faster than they were doing. They end up missing the turn to Camp Crystal Lake ..I guess by now Annie seems suspicious, since her cries for them to stop or surpassed. She looks frightened, still begging to be dropped off ..she ends up jumping out of the car.

Now she could've easily, easily ran off ..if she hadn't hurt her poor ankle. So she has to limp ..and that seems to be somewhat dangerous, seeing as what we now know is the killer back tracks and comes after her. She gives a good run for a minute ..and I guess you can figure out what happens next ..

So, back at the cabins, they're all getting settled in ..and Steve goes out to do some "Errands" Which I feel that the diner he was sitting at later that night, was probably where he was the entire time, lol. They all give each other a break and cool off in the pool ..where Ned acts like a jackass and Brenda thinks she sees someone in forest ..but of course shrugs it off.

............

Fast forwarding to the near end ..you can guess that most of the cast gets killed off, so you don't need me to explain that ..but when meeting the killer ..Mrs. Voorhees, it seems like the woman next door, baking brownies and cookies for Fund Raisers.

But she also seems like a woman that would love her child unconditionally ..and losing your only child must be kind of rough ..so in the psychological point of view you can kind of see where she's coming from.

When she jumps out of the jeep to "rescue" Allison ..you're thinking all is well ..everything's great ..Allison's gonna get out alive and she has this nice woman to think. Until she starts talking rubbish about not being afraid ..when any SANE person would've high tailed it out once they found out that "they're all dead".

She goes on some type of trippy flash back trip ..and you can see the demonic glare in her eyes ..from then on you know this woman is loopy, and Allison feels it too. Then she starts talking to ..her dead son ..and you realize that Allison better get out of there.

The fight between the two is realistic ..Allison held up her own, and she's a strong girl so you can believe that. I guess in that sense, I couldn't see Brenda holding up in this scene. The End is near ..finally, for Allison after the final strike, she is at peace ..she takes a canoe ..and moves out onto the lake.

Then before you know it ..birds are singing, the crisp, bright, sun is shining down ..the police men are out ..and it's finally over. She sits up ..and then out of nowhere young Jason jumps out and attacks her.

I don't know if that was a dream ..or if it was suppose to be real, I can never be sure. But you instantly knew that there was some type of sequel ahead. It left room for one, so you were expecting it.

All in all ..I love this movie. I love it for the thrills ..for the killings ..even for the dialogue and acting. Was it Oscar winning performances? No. But that's what I like about it ..it's not big actors and actresses taht you know of. It seems like someone was there filming everything happen. It's like it's real. The acting was that of a real person, and that makes it more appealing, in the sense that you're there, these are real people, and this is happening.

To judge this movie on it's acting ..would be idiotic, because that's not what they made it for ..the reason I think that made it for ..it does REALLY good in that area.

If you're just going to watch this to compare it to Halloween that's gonna be a waste ..I love Halloween too, but I don't see some of the similiarites that other people claim to see in it ..watch it, just to watch it ..not to compare it to other movies like it.

:-)