Friday Night Screening: Friday the 13th 1980

Friday the 13th

Bacon’n switch

Yeah yeah, real cheesy. Posting a review of Friday the 13th on friday the 13th? Sue me.

In all honesty, I did want to review this movie for quite a while now, ever since I decided to review the whole Nightmare on Elm street saga, so that when I’ll get to the 8th installment, I would have some ground to stand on.

But if you read my review on the first Nightmare on Elm Street, you know I’m not really a fan of the first Friday the 13th, and since I couldn’t blackmail Mel to do it for me, guess I don’t really have much of a choice but to buck up and review this little movie where the tale of Jason began.

An old lake camp with a tragic past is opening again after years and a bunch of teenagers soon-to be counselors have a get-together to put the camp into shape. But as the days of fun and hard work go by, they slowly realize that they are not alone, and someone with one hell of a grudge decides to crash the party and takes the horny little bastards one by one, and even their Ned Flanders impersonator can´t save them.

stupid sexy flanders

So let´s get this out of the way, I don´t really like this movie. not because it´s a bad movie or anything, actually it´s a hell of a watch with a great twist to it, but because it´s not a good Friday the 13th movie.

So my disappointment came from what I expected from the sequels, exactly the same problem I had with Nightmare on Elm Street. When you think of Friday the 13^th, the very first thing that comes to mind is the machete wielding man-child zombie behemoth known as Jason Voorhees, and if you’ve watched this movie, or the first five minutes of scream, or literally any other slasher, you know why I’m disappointed.

But, let’s watch this movie in its own merit, let’s forget the sequels and imagine that we are the very first audience to watch this flick in 1980. What’s my opinion then? It’s amazing.

As a stand-alone movie, I adore it. The effects are great and campy, the acting is so over the top that it’s a miracle there’s any scenery left to chew when the killer is revealed and the story and the twist are pretty well thought up. And trust me that the last five minutes of the movie will have you jump in your seat.

As said before, the effects are great, why? Because it’s none other than Tom Savini’s handiwork, my favorite special effect expert of all times. There are also some pretty big names here, mainly a pre-career Kevin Bacon, and Betsy Palmer of all people. Even though she dismissed the movie and hated it for years, lately she had admitted that she saw it as a part of her life and she felt slightly proud to have worked on it.

So is this a good movie? Hell yeah. Is it a good Friday the 13^th movie? Not really. It’s amazing how far this franchise has stepped away from its source material, but somehow I think it was for the best, because I actually really like most of the sequels. So if you’re interested in finding out how Jason Voorhees began his rampage and bask in its glory, prepare to be disappointed. But as a stand-alone movie it’s still amazing and will leave you wanting for more

What I’ve learned from “Friday the 13^th”

- Weird how Kevin Bacon and Johnny Depp both seem to have the same gravity-defying blood.

- Nothing’s more menacing than slowly riding away on your wonky bicycle while spewing criptic nonsense

- Strip monopoly sounds like a pretty good idea actually…

- Tom Savini is a dick to snakes

Personal rating: 6/10

Critical rating: 7/10

Jason Voorhees


Kill Count so far: 
XD hahahaha


Best kill in this movie: 
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Best kill so far:
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