cricketbat Wow. Friday the 13th is actually pretty awful. The whole story is about people separating themselves from the group and then getting killed. There is no character development or meaningful interactions between anyone or even much backstory, just people getting killed. This pattern becomes predictable and even laughable. The only reason I'm rating it this high is because of the horror icon that this film "created."

moviemattb As a child, I was not allow to watch any of these movies, as they are R rated horror flicks that contains nudity, violence, etc. I do remember one of my vague memories when "Friday the 13th: Part 3" came on TNN before it became Spike TV, and Paramount Network, I remember seeing Jason in a hockey mask chasing some girl at a barn. Heck, I remember when my uncle brought a copy of the movie when he rented from a video store, and I sneakily put the tape in to see Jason on an old VHS tape and seeing a brief snippet of him he did look quiet scary. After that, my mother caught me, and I turned it off. Never intend to watch it, I just only wanted to see Jason for a bit and that was it. With that said, here is my review of the first one that started it all, before Jason became the main killer, as well as putting on his iconic hockey, brought back as zombie, going to Manhattan, Hell, space, fighting Freddy Krueger, and being rebooted. The first film's plot is pretty simple, as you have a group of teenagers that are trying to reopen Camp Crystal Lake, but something evil is lurking them as it kills its victims. When I first saw this movie, I really love it, but as time goes by, I began to recognize its flaws. Nevertheless, its far from being a bad movie, and it is not the worst thing ever as critics make it out to be when it first came out. There is a lot of good things to say, where is the bad isn't that much, nor that big of a deal. To start off, I thought that Tom Savini's makeup FX are outstanding, and really is a master at it. The movie does have some great kills such as putting an axe on Jeannine Taylor's face, as well as having an arrow into Kevin Bacon's neck. The music by Harry Manfredini is completely unforgettable, he made that theme sound so iconic and everyone always like to remember that theme, when something bad is about to happen when you hear "Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma." Totally classic. Taking place in the woods is great, and really does have that surreal atmosphere quality as you do feel somewhat unsettle as if you were alone in the woods. The characters I'll admit, aren't really three dimensional as you would seen in other great horror films, but at the end they are still likable. The acting isn't the greatest, but its really not that bad either. They all did fine for what they have to do; the best actors, in my opinion are Adrienne King and Betsy Palmer. For King, she really does have a natural beauty, and for having the girl next door type. Now for Palmer, she is having a blast with this role, and you can't take your eyes off on how fun she is for playing Jason's mother. The plot is simplistic as it needs to be, and the direction by Sean S. Cunningham is very solid. While as much as I love Palmer's performance, it would have been interesting if she had more screen time, if the audiences would have thought that she is a nice woman, before the twist ending is being revealed that she is the killer. Imagine that. Also, while I do love the character of Alice, I do notice a character error, where she runs away from Pamela Voorhees as she gets into the Jeep, but doesn't drive off as she screams by one of the victims that Pam killed. Don't get me wrong, I do love the climax, but for a realistic standpoint, she should know that the Jeep has gas in it, and could have turned the keys over so she can get herself out of there. The Jeep has gas, when Pam first arrives at the camp. Just saying. Lastly, I do love the last scene, which I'll admit, I did get jumped by the last scene, where Jason played by Ari Lehman jumps out off the water to pull Alice into the water. Very scary, to say the least. All in all, no matter what flaws this movie has, "Friday the 13th" is a fun thrill ride that has great kills, scare factors, unforgettable music, and likable characters. I'm giving this movie a 9 out of 10.

Sam Panico After the success of John Carpenter's Halloween, every studio wanted a piece of the horror pie, which to this point had been exploitation fodder. Paramount Pictures was first. Sure, critics salvaged the film, but after $40 million in profit, no one really cared.Produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham (Last House on the Left), this movie was envisioned as a roller coaster ride. The script came from Victor Miller, a soap opera scribe. And spoilers - but this movie doesn't even really have Jason in it!The movie starts in the summer of 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake, where two counselors sneak off and have sex before being killed. This sets up one of the many rules of slasher films: never screw in the woods.The camp closes for 21 years, but on Friday, June 13, 1979, that's all about to change. That said, no one in the town wants it to happen. When Annie Phillips arrives in town, everyone treats her strangely or acts like Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney, who shows up in the next film and was the narrorator for Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood). She lasts for about five minutes, as she gets killed after her third hitchhike of the day. I'd say this is more of a warning against hitching in the late 1970's than I would serial killers in the woods.The other counselors - Jack (Kevin Bacon!), Ned, Bill (Harry Crosby III, son of Bing), Marcie, Alice and Brenda (Laurie Bartram, The House of Seven Corpses) - and owner Steve Christy all show up to get the camp ready. This is where you'll notice just how different fashion is. Becca and I have seen this live several times in a theater now and everyone laughs as soon as Steve shows up in his short shorts and bandana.Ned is killed pretty quickly, then Jack is killed with an arrow and Marcie takes an axe to the face. Brenda is murdered as she responds to the voice of a child. Steve gets killed on the way to camp. Before you know it, Alice and Bill are the only ones left, but Bill lasts pretty much seconds. Then we have another future slasher trope: every body is discovered, hung like trophies.Now, we have our Final Girl: Alice, who ends up meeting Mrs. Vorhees, who tells the tale of how her son Jason drowned and the horrible counselors who allowed it to happen. Much like the giallo/pre-slasher film Torso, the movie now focuses on the battle between Alice and the real killer. Alice ends up beheading her and sleeping in a canoe. As the police arrive, she has a dream that Jason rises from the water to kill her. This scene wasn't in the script, but speical effects king Tom Savini thought a Carrie-like ending would be more powerful. Another way that the film pays sort of homage to Italian filmmaking is in the snake scene. It was another Savini idea after an experience he had in his own cabin during filming. The snake in the scene? Totally real, including its on-screen death - someone alert Bruno Mattei!Some trivia: the film was shot just outside Lou Reed's farm. The rock star performed for the cast and even hung out with them! Sweet Jason?To me, the film works because of how great Betsy Palmer is as Jason's mom. It's a fine film, but nowhere near the excesses that the series would grow into. This was also the start of critics really hating on slasher films. Gene Siskel was so upset about Betsy Palmer being in the film that he published her address in his column and encouraged people to write her and protest. Of course, he published the wrong address.

adonis98-743-186503 A group of camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp which, years before, was the site of a child's drowning. From the many horror films of the 80's i think that this is without a doubt the worst of them all. The marketing is out of place with the Poster where it makes you think that it's Jason who kills all of those kids but in fact it's his mother, the acting is terrible, the kills are predictable (poor Kevin Bacon). The characters are thin and the overall story is boring of course the Franchise became worse with each installment but this one i think it's very overrated as it is. And the fact that a bunch of teenagers can't kill an old woman makes it even more ridiculous and if there's a good thing about it? It's the final shot of Jason getting out of the water and drag a woman inside the water but other than that? It's not something special to brag about. (0/10)