Bart Simpson said in the first “Treehouse of Horror” that by today’s standards, the original “Friday the 13th” is pretty tame. Watching it over again this afternoon from an unbiased perspective, I do agree, it is fairly humdrum with some rather bland kills. You still have to consider, though, that it’s only considered “tame” by today’s standards. Back in 1980, the acts of violence seen in “Friday the 13th” were astounding, not only getting the ball rolling on its more remarkable sequels, but kick-starting the slasher craze of the 1980s as well.
Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer) is trying to reopen the notorious Camp Crystal Lake, otherwise known as “Camp Blood”, but someone out there doesn’t want him to. As his team of pot-smoking, sex-crazed counselors show up one rainy evening to get to work, so does a machete-wielding maniac. A mysterious killer lurking in the woods gradually offs each counselor one at a time, leaving only the timid Alice (Adrienne King) left standing.
I remember watching an interview with Betsy Palmer, who played Mrs. Voorhees in the movie. She said that her first reaction after reading the script for “Friday the 13th” was “This is awful”. Watching the movie not as a diehard fan but as an objective reviewer, a part of me sympathizes with her reaction. “Friday the 13th”, when taken separately from the rest of the series and not as the genesis of the Jason Voorhees legacy, has a pretty poor plot. It doesn’t work well as a “mystery” at all, with the culprit revealing herself after well over an hour into the film and turning out to be no one we’d seen or even heard of before now. When Betsy Palmer steps out of her Jeep and announces “I’m Mrs. Voorhees”, I can only imagine the audience members back in 1980 resounding “Who the Hell is that?” Director Sean S. Cunningham tries to develop something of a red herring with Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney), but it’s a half-hearted attempt at best.
This is “Friday the 13th’s” only major flaw, so far as I’m concerned. Thankfully, it spawned ten sequels and developed an enormous legacy and mythos behind it. When taken individually from all that, “Friday the 13th” might seem poorly plotted and boring, but when looked at as the origin of cinema icon Jason Voorhees and the catalyst of his decades-spanning career, the film is far more impressive.
Sean S. Cunningham streamlines the slasher subgenre with this film, kicking off a trend that would dominate the decade to come. True, by 1989, the onslaught of knock-offs and ill-conceived slasher films would become tiresome, but let’s not blame Cunningham just because nobody else in the 80s could come up with their own ideas. Tom Savini’s special make-up effects seen here may, I reiterate, seem fairly “tame” or “generic” by today’s standards, but you have to look at it as someone from 1980. Axes to the face, arrows through the eye, bodies being strung up and hurled through windows…these things may have been done before “Friday the 13th”, but they had never looked so good. Savini’s effects remain just as realistic today as they did twenty-eight years ago, and if you ask me, that’s a real testament to the man’s talent.
The cast Cunningham assembles for “Friday the 13th” is actually pretty good. There are a few losers in there, most notably Robbi Morgan, who plays Annie. Every word out of her mouth sounds incredibly awkward, particularly during her one-sided discussion with Mrs. Voorhees in the Jeep. Thankfully, she doesn’t live very long. What impressed me about the rest of the cast was how well they had fun together. All these moments of them goofing off and paling around come across as very natural and genuine. The archetypical horror characters are there (the joker, the jock, the slut, the shy girl, etc), but they aren’t as black and white and two-dimensional as most slasher films portray them. You won’t be adoring the acting chops of the cast (not even Kevin Bacon’s), but they carry the film very well.
I guess if there’s a problem with the “Friday the 13th” franchise as a whole, it’s that there’s no “essential” installment. By that, I mean…well, look at Michael Myers. Want to see his best movie? Pick up the first “Halloween”. Want to see Freddy Krueger’s coolest flick? Grab the first “Nightmare on Elm Street”. How about Leatherface at his finest? Then go no further than the original “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. Jason Voorhees? Er…sorry, but the first “Friday the 13th” only features him for ten seconds at the end (in, to be fair, the best moment of the film). He stars in “Friday the 13th part II”, but he isn't so recognizable, as he wears a burlap sack over his head and carries a pitchfork in that one. He does get his hockey mask in “Friday the 13th part III”, but that movie is terrible. “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter”? Well, that one was pretty good and all, but it’s the fourth film in the series. Who is going to instinctively reach for that one when they’re looking for a Jason movie?
See what I’m talking about? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people whine that they rented “Friday the 13th” and hated that “Jason wasn’t in it”.
Anyway, the original “Friday the 13th” isn’t my favorite episode of the series, and it may not work so well when isolated from its sequels, but it has a quality that withstands the test of time and can be appreciated for the boost it gave to one of horror’s most beloved subgenres.
Grade: B (as in “
Wait wait wait wait wait. I forgot to mention something that has always bugged the crap out of me about this movie. That last chase scene between Alice and Mrs. Voorhees; it has to have the most annoying formula I’ve ever seen. Alice and Mrs. Voorhees struggle, Alice knocks Mrs. Voorhees out, runs away, Mrs. Voorhees gets up, chases her and then they repeat the cycle all over again. This repeats itself three times before Alice finally works up the nerve to chop off the old lady’s head. Bitch, you could have avoided a good portion of your pain and suffering if you’d just smashed the woman’s skull in the first time you had her unconscious at your feet. Or the second time. Or the third time!
Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer) is trying to reopen the notorious Camp Crystal Lake, otherwise known as “Camp Blood”, but someone out there doesn’t want him to. As his team of pot-smoking, sex-crazed counselors show up one rainy evening to get to work, so does a machete-wielding maniac. A mysterious killer lurking in the woods gradually offs each counselor one at a time, leaving only the timid Alice (Adrienne King) left standing.
I remember watching an interview with Betsy Palmer, who played Mrs. Voorhees in the movie. She said that her first reaction after reading the script for “Friday the 13th” was “This is awful”. Watching the movie not as a diehard fan but as an objective reviewer, a part of me sympathizes with her reaction. “Friday the 13th”, when taken separately from the rest of the series and not as the genesis of the Jason Voorhees legacy, has a pretty poor plot. It doesn’t work well as a “mystery” at all, with the culprit revealing herself after well over an hour into the film and turning out to be no one we’d seen or even heard of before now. When Betsy Palmer steps out of her Jeep and announces “I’m Mrs. Voorhees”, I can only imagine the audience members back in 1980 resounding “Who the Hell is that?” Director Sean S. Cunningham tries to develop something of a red herring with Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney), but it’s a half-hearted attempt at best.
This is “Friday the 13th’s” only major flaw, so far as I’m concerned. Thankfully, it spawned ten sequels and developed an enormous legacy and mythos behind it. When taken individually from all that, “Friday the 13th” might seem poorly plotted and boring, but when looked at as the origin of cinema icon Jason Voorhees and the catalyst of his decades-spanning career, the film is far more impressive.
Sean S. Cunningham streamlines the slasher subgenre with this film, kicking off a trend that would dominate the decade to come. True, by 1989, the onslaught of knock-offs and ill-conceived slasher films would become tiresome, but let’s not blame Cunningham just because nobody else in the 80s could come up with their own ideas. Tom Savini’s special make-up effects seen here may, I reiterate, seem fairly “tame” or “generic” by today’s standards, but you have to look at it as someone from 1980. Axes to the face, arrows through the eye, bodies being strung up and hurled through windows…these things may have been done before “Friday the 13th”, but they had never looked so good. Savini’s effects remain just as realistic today as they did twenty-eight years ago, and if you ask me, that’s a real testament to the man’s talent.
The cast Cunningham assembles for “Friday the 13th” is actually pretty good. There are a few losers in there, most notably Robbi Morgan, who plays Annie. Every word out of her mouth sounds incredibly awkward, particularly during her one-sided discussion with Mrs. Voorhees in the Jeep. Thankfully, she doesn’t live very long. What impressed me about the rest of the cast was how well they had fun together. All these moments of them goofing off and paling around come across as very natural and genuine. The archetypical horror characters are there (the joker, the jock, the slut, the shy girl, etc), but they aren’t as black and white and two-dimensional as most slasher films portray them. You won’t be adoring the acting chops of the cast (not even Kevin Bacon’s), but they carry the film very well.
I guess if there’s a problem with the “Friday the 13th” franchise as a whole, it’s that there’s no “essential” installment. By that, I mean…well, look at Michael Myers. Want to see his best movie? Pick up the first “Halloween”. Want to see Freddy Krueger’s coolest flick? Grab the first “Nightmare on Elm Street”. How about Leatherface at his finest? Then go no further than the original “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. Jason Voorhees? Er…sorry, but the first “Friday the 13th” only features him for ten seconds at the end (in, to be fair, the best moment of the film). He stars in “Friday the 13th part II”, but he isn't so recognizable, as he wears a burlap sack over his head and carries a pitchfork in that one. He does get his hockey mask in “Friday the 13th part III”, but that movie is terrible. “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter”? Well, that one was pretty good and all, but it’s the fourth film in the series. Who is going to instinctively reach for that one when they’re looking for a Jason movie?
See what I’m talking about? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people whine that they rented “Friday the 13th” and hated that “Jason wasn’t in it”.
Anyway, the original “Friday the 13th” isn’t my favorite episode of the series, and it may not work so well when isolated from its sequels, but it has a quality that withstands the test of time and can be appreciated for the boost it gave to one of horror’s most beloved subgenres.
Grade: B (as in “
Wait wait wait wait wait. I forgot to mention something that has always bugged the crap out of me about this movie. That last chase scene between Alice and Mrs. Voorhees; it has to have the most annoying formula I’ve ever seen. Alice and Mrs. Voorhees struggle, Alice knocks Mrs. Voorhees out, runs away, Mrs. Voorhees gets up, chases her and then they repeat the cycle all over again. This repeats itself three times before Alice finally works up the nerve to chop off the old lady’s head. Bitch, you could have avoided a good portion of your pain and suffering if you’d just smashed the woman’s skull in the first time you had her unconscious at your feet. Or the second time. Or the third time!
0 comments:
Post a Comment