On average Friday the 13th occurs 1.7218 times a year. This year Friday the 13th is occurring in October, the best and spookiest month possible. To celebrate, I am reviewing the first three Friday The 13th films. These include Friday The 13th (1980), Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981), and lastly Friday The 13th Part III (1982).
In 1978 a little known movie would come out called Halloween by the one and only John Carpenter, a famous horror movie director best known for The Thing (1982). This movie would spawn a subgenre of horror known as slashers; a genre based less on pure scares and more on creative deaths and kills. Michael Myers would become the first of the big slasher icons, and the next would be soon to follow.
In 1980 the first Friday The 13th would be released to an astounding success making 60 million to a $550,000 budget. In case you don’t know this movie’s famous twist and you don’t want it spoiled stop reading and go watch the movie since I can’t review the movie without talking about this one fact. For those readers still here, in the first movie Jason Voorhees is not the killer. Instead Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), Jason’s mother, is the killer. Actually, surprisingly, this movie feels almost like a mystery rather than a pure slasher, although it is still definitely a slasher. Often nowadays this movie is forgotten compared to the franchise’s many sequels, but why is that?
Part 1
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Many often think of the Friday The 13th franchise as the movies with the big guy wielding a machete and wearing a hockey mask, but that wouldn’t happen until the third movie. Instead, in the first movie, Pamela Voorhees is the killer. Let me back up: the film follows a group of newly hired camp counselors at the infamous camp Crystal Lake’s reopening. The camp is infamous due to two counselors being killed in 1958, and no killer being found. We follow all of the counselors, but primarily Alice, a kindhearted counselor who might leave because of dissatisfaction with the camp. Over the course of the film we see that there’s a hidden third party involved, a stalker who watches over the campers. As night falls this third party reveals themselves and begins murdering one by one each and every counselor.
The mystery of the theme is very unique and adds a sense of intrigue to what could’ve been just a standard slasher flick; however, that doesn’t mean that the mystery is perfect. Pamela’s character isn’t revealed up until the last 30 minutes, which breaks the element of the audience trying to guess who the killer is. Pamela’s introduction is, however, a great scene. After seeing the dead body of one of her friends, Alice freaks out and runs outside to find a car pulling up. Believing the person in the car is safe, Alice runs up and finds Pamela Voorhees, an old lady who says is a “friend of the Christy’s.” In the scene Pamela’s fake kindness slowly turns disturbing as she starts explaining the death of her son, Jason Voorhees. This introduces us to the main theme between these four movies: revenge. Pamela of course wants revenge on any camp counselors for not watching her son and causing his death. Pamela is a good villain and makes for a great mystery film, but isn’t up to snuff with the other slasher killers.
Overall the original Friday The 13th is creepy and and a good time; it’s a classic 80’s horror film that still holds up, but can sometimes seem slightly boring to modern audiences because or the pacing. Another huge positive that almost carries the horror of the film is the amazing and uneasy soundtrack by Harry Manfredini. The classic “kikikikiki” will always hold up as I give the film a 7.5/10
Part 2:
The second Friday film is much the same as the first, but with a lot more of the franchise’s famous killer, Jason. The film also follows a group of camp counselors who slowly get picked off one by one by a killer. Overall the film feels almost exactly the same, but with a slightly worse cast. At first everybody seems kind of unlikable, but as the movie progresses characters do get better, notably final girl Ginny (played by Amy Steel) who seems a little annoying at first, but ends up being quite the survivor. A huge positive this film has over the original is the killer, Jason Voorhees (played by Warrington Gillette). He’s big and menacing, but wait where’s the mask? In this film Jason wears a bag over his head with one eye hole. Funnily enough in this movie Jason more resembles Ghost Face from the “Scream” franchise because it seems like almost anything can make him stumble and fall. Another pro this movie has over the original is the kills which end up being much more creative. For example in one scene, paraplegic Mark (played by Tom McBride) is slashed in the face by Jason and we watch as his wheelchair holding him goes flying down a long staircase outside. Of course Harry Manfredini is back for the score again and it sounds just as menacing if not creepier than the original. In my opinion though, the best part of the movie has to be the scene in which Ginny finds Jason’s shack, and the rotting head of his dead mother. The scene is horrific and smart as Ginny uses Pamela’s sweater and Jason’s childlike brain in order to convince him that she is Pamela. It works and Ginny is almost able to kill him, but at the last second he snaps out of it. This wonderful scene manages to be even better than any scene in the original.
With all of these pros, what are the cons? First of all the movie begins with the final girl of the original, Alice, two months after surviving the original film. We follow her for around five to ten minutes when out of the blue she is murdered by Jason. He of course is getting revenge for his mom since Alice was the one who killed Pamela in the original, but even though it makes sense the whole scene feels wrong. Alice was a good character and was unceremoniously killed off in a boring sequence; it’s a slap in the face. Also since the movie feels a lot like the first things get even more boring as you basically already know what’s going to happen, especially so since some characters feel like they were made just to be killed and nothing else.
“Friday the 13th Part 2” is a decent sequel and sticks to what worked in the original. The movie is fun and campy like the first, but with a little bit less of the original charm and horror of it. I would give the movie a 7/10.
Part 3:
Finally, the Jason most people know, the machete-wielding, hockey mask-wearing Jason Voorhees is born in this gimmicky 3D movie. To give context at the time of this film making 3D had been the rage as new technology was invented to allow it. To cash in on the fad, Friday the 13th’s third movie would be made using this technology. Throughout the movie there are scenes where something pops up really close to the camera to convey the 3D effect and make the audience feel like they’re going to get hit. The 3D surprisingly doesn’t hurt the movie that much even though most, if not all, of the 3D effects are silly and unnecessary.
For the first time in this franchise we do not follow a group of camp counselors but a group of friends out on a trip to the infamous Crystal Lake. Most notable in the group is Chris (played by Dana Kimmel) and the absolute worst Friday The 13th character Shelly (played by Larry Zerner). The whole group definitely gives off the campiest feel as they all seem at least a little goofy. Shelly, for example, is portrayed to be a loser who’s only joy is scaring his friends. Chris on the other hand is kindhearted as any final girl in this franchise is. There’s also Vera (played by Catherine Parks) who’s a great and kind character who attempts to make Shelly feel better about himself. Sadly she’s killed, but it does produce my favorite scene in the movie. In the scene Jason walks up on a small boardwalk that leads into the lake menacingly while Vera is not looking. When she turns around and sees Jason he lifts up a spear gun and shoots a spear right through Vera’s right eye, killing her instantly.
In the first half of the movie I thought for sure this would be the worst film in the franchise. What once felt campy now feels outright awful and any sense of realism seems is gone. That was until the scene in the barn when Jason kills the biker gang. After those grizzly and well done murders the film goes from one of the worst to best instantaneously. Jason feels menacing and ends up being quite fun. The kills are the most creative so far, like when Shelly gets his throat slit, but Chili (played by Rachel Howard) thinks it’s just a joke since Shelly always pranked them by faking his own murder. Or when Chili herself is stabbed by Jason with a scalding metal rod. Yet we cannot forget the fight between final girl Chris and Jason. It’s a great chase/ fight and ends with Chris putting an axe right in Jason’s head.
Friday The 13th Part 3 , although being a little slow in the start, gets really good and becomes even more memorable than the second film. Finally Jason becomes the killer we all know and love him as. I would give Friday The 13th Part 3 a 7.5/10.
This franchise is campy, gory fun if you just want to sit down for a couple of hours and have a good time. These movies might not be masterpieces and sometimes have terrible acting, but they have genuine charm. In recognition of it being Friday, the 13th, consider watching one of these nostalgic slasher films.