Camp Crystal Lake is about to reopen. It suffered from some grisly murders years before and a young boy named Jason Voorhees drowned in the lake due to that some camp counselors didn't pay attention. A group of teenagers come to Camp Crystal Lake to prepare it for the opening, but one by one being brutally murdered by some unknown killer.
This is the famous slasher movie that spawned a number of sequels and has inspired a lot of film makers to date. It was so long ago since I saw this movie the last so time it was kinda cool to watch it again. Simply because I hardly didn't remember anything.
So is Friday the 13th really such a good movie or is it just overrated? Personally I think it's a bit overrated but still that it is an excellent slasher flick that's highly entertaining and it's easy to see why.
To begin with, in all newer teen-horror flicks you always get these obnoxious teens that always go from mildly to extremely irritating. The jock's, the nerd's, the girls that are too hot for their own good and so on. All the boring and worn-out stereotypes.
Here you get normal teens, that act like normal people and who are not put into categories and trying to be something they're not. And this all makes it so much easier and less irritating to watch, as it makes you focus on the actual movie and script and not the shitty teens and what they're about.
Secondly, they know what they wanted to do with the movie and that they never try to do more than they're capable off. Unfortunately this movie was heavily cut when it came out, so if you plan to watch it, try to find the uncut version of it.
Spoiler Alert
Friday the 13th Part 1 also has a female serial killer, and when thinking about it, not too many movies do. Jason is not the main character here, he's a part of it, part of the background story and we also get a great appreance of him in the end. But Part 1 is about Mrs. Voorhees, Jason's mom, who's behind all the slayings.
To be honest, towards the end when the killer has been revealed and Mrs. Voorhees is chasing after Adrienne King, it gets a bit dull. Considering that she has killed a high number of people over the years, but this girl won't let herself be killed. Mrs. Voorhees stumbles and falls and makes all kind of stupid mistakes when she wants to off the girl. It was quite a drag to watch until it ends with a nice decapitation. So at least you get something for sitting through the mess.
If the movie would've ended this way, it would have been complete shite, luckily it doesn't. The actual ending is one of the main, if not the main, reasons that makes this movie come out great. Adrienne King, after killing Jason's mom, paddles out in a canoe in the lake and when you think all is well, Jason suddenly appears from the water and pulls her under. This scene is awesome and definitely the best scene in the whole movie and the whole thing is worth seeing only because of this, if nothing else.
Since this is a definite slasher classic, people into horror should've seen it. If you don't like it that's one thing, but at least then you know what you're talking about. You also get to see a very young Kevin Bacon which is nothing special but still a bit fun. Could've of course been more gory, but it's entertaining and a milestone when it comes to slasher flick.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: A Long Night at Camp Blood
MOVIE YEAR: 1980
DIRECTOR: Sean S. Cunningham
WRITING CREDITS: Victor Miller
GENRE: Horror, Slasher
CAST: Betsy Palmer, Kevin Bacon, Adrienne King
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 95 min
RATING: 6/10
Friday the 13th Part 1 Website/IMDB Click here
Friday the 13th Part 1 Trailer Click here
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