Friday the 13th (1980 version): A Review.
This is a 1980 American Slasher film, made on a budget of an estimated $550,000 grossing $37,465,200. It is considered by some to be one of the pioneers of the more contemporary gore-fest slashers that we recognize of the past few decades and has pawned a large franchise of sequels, crossovers and parodies up the wazoo .
It is about a group of teenagers (“good-looking kids who you might see in a Pepsi commercial.”-Cunningham) helping in the re-opening a camp at Chrystal Lake, widely regarded by the local townsfolk as Camp Blood (which was part of the original working title of the film before it was changed) for its gruesome history, who are being murdered one by one by a mysterious stranger.
Before getting into the meat of this nostalgic review, a bit of History:
Friday the 13th was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, who worked with filmmaker Wes Craven beforehand on the film The Last House on the Left (1972), though Cunningham strived to distance his film from his previous work on the film as much as possible. The Film was inspired by the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) but you can also see influences from other horror films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), particularly within the construction of the killer.
After viewing this is a film, I can see why it was both a hit in the box office, maintaining a cult following, but at the same time why many critics during that time gave it negative reviews, despite the more retrospective positive ones it garnered later.
The biggest strengths of the film lie in the technicals:
The camera work to start with, was very well done. In most of the movie, interactions with the killer are kept from the visual point of view of the killer, a cinematic style obviously taken from the opening of Halloween, yet in this movie’s carrying it on throughout most of the film.
The Make-up work, done by Tom Savini was deliciously gruesome, reflecting his earlier work in Dawn of the Dead, with some creative uses of the mise-en-scene of the camp to provide the means of most of the murders. With the Arrow being shoved upwards through the neck of one of the victims from below, one of the most effective and strongest of Savini’s work here (though I understand the bubbles were unintentional, merely a result of the tubing used as Savini blew into the tube to encourage the fake blood to flow up and out).
Then there is the film score.
The recognizable “Chi, chi, chi; ha, ha, ha” was created by Composer Harry Manfredini, which was actually “Ki, ki, ki; ma, ma, ma” to reflect the “Kill, Kill, Kill; Mom, Mom, mom” rendition that Manfredini imagined was going through the killer’s mind during one of the best scenes in the film when the killers madness is fully revealed. The simple use of this device of Manfredini uttering the syllables on a microphone through a delayed effect was excellent at establishing the creep factor, and heightened the tension with the other music, particularly the discordant violins, and the camera work, aiding the story well.
Outside of the technicals, there is some decent moments where you see that the attention to audience reaction was very much taken into consideration, such as the scene in which two of the teenagers are making love, and you think to yourself that they are about to be murdered within that moment, but no, the film instead goes against that expectation and instead reveals that they are making love on the bunk below the murdered body of one of their friends, completely unaware. The fact that none of the teenagers, with the exception of Alice, the lead, sees the other bodies was actually a really good, and somewhat original, touch.
Finally, while there are some flaws in the set-up of the killer, Betsey Palmer as the killer was just delightful to watch. Despite the fact that her fans didn’t like seeing her in this role, and she was mainly doing it to help her buy a car, retrospectively you can’t help but see only her in this role, hugging hysterical teenagers one minute, then swinging a machete at heads next in that tasteful sweater. Her part is one of the few good solid performances in the film.
Now let’s get on to the weak points, because boy howdy does it have them.
There is a really stupid character in this film, and I mean the queen of stupid, the crown of which is held by Annie, who enters a town on its last legs filled with people that stare at her when she asks about Chrystal Lake, in a clear creepy vibe of “wtf girl, do you want to die?”, then Crazy Ralph pops up and tells her Chrystal Lake is cursed, soon followed by a creepy and awkwardly pervy middle aged man (though to be fair, most of the male characters are have a strong pervy vibe) who gives her a ride and tells her exactly why its jinxed, stating she should, then for that added cherry on top, drops her off outside a freakin’ cemetery, all of this in the space of 3-5 minutes. She tra la-la-la’s her way through out her sequences without an ounce of trepidation.
What makes her character even more painful to watch is the wasted time on her point in the plot, when in the end, she was utterly pointless to the overall story, she didn’t need to be there, and in the end, adding insult to injury, was supposed to be the cook for the camp, a spot that could have been used to establish the killer much more solidly into the film.
This leads us into the next issue, which is, despite the great acting, the killer itself.
The thing is the killer itself, when revealed is actually not so bad. In all aspects, they come across as completely harmless in presentation, more like an old aunty who invites you to tea or something, even dressing in that very non-threatening lavender blue sweater. Then when the killer shows its reverse Norman Bates routine, it does come across as legitimately creepy. As I said earlier, there is nothing wrong with the killer’s scenes themselves, the problem is that I felt that the killer needed to be established early into the film to connect her to the victims, the protagonist, and the setting more solidly and coherently. This is perhaps where some early critics likely might have had an issue with film.
There is no excuse as to why it couldn’t have happened. the killer itself was an employee of the Camp owner’s family, and could have been continuing on in that employ in the camp, that way when the big reveal happens, it actually makes sense within the context of the plot, instead of going “Who the fudge is that?” no matter how awesome the killer is, instead of rushed exposition in some vague attempt to establish her in the story.
Her grandmotherly appearance could have been carried through the story, and it would have come as a great twist; hell even having her with the teenagers for a brief moment in the beginning before going off to do her own thing would have helped establish the killer better. Both ways would not have infringed on the first person POV scenes, and actually might have been strengthened even more so.
Finally, the (possibly fake?) ending, one of the weakest points of all.
Because neither the killer nor Jason was established throughout the film concretely enough, Jason’s sudden attack on the main character in the end made no sense, even if it did spawn later films. In fact, the idea of bringing Jason in on the end was suggested by Salvini. Jason was originally supposed to stay dead, a plot device in the original script, centering the antagonist spotlight on the mother only, which was the preference of Victor Miller, the script writer, who did not approve of Jason’s presence at the end, and didn’t approve of Jason as the killer in the subsequent sequels. It was there solely for the benefit of the audience as a jump scare, and while I get that, it gave the ending an overall WTF experience, and not in a good way, coming across as a bit slap dashed and definitely superfluous.
Overall, despite its inherent weaknesses, I can still say I don’t regret watching it. The film has a certain charm to it, moments where I was legitimately creeped out and surprised, where it did give me the sense that I was on a carnival ride, and you do sort of become invested in seeing it through to the end, if just for the experience of it. Hell, there were times when I laughed, particularly when Crazy Ralph popped up at the camp. I can understand after watching it why it has a cult following, despite its flaws, and I would still recommend watching it, if just for the experience of doing so.
Film Clip:
Film Trailer:
Film Franchise Parody Example “Robot Chicken: Jason’s Deceiving Speed”: