Friday the 13th (1980) - Review Blitz
Originally published March 2015.For the first time in a long time, we have two Friday the 13th's happening in two months in a row. Since February is exactly four weeks (except on leap years) it means that if there is a Friday the 13th in February, then there will be one in March. Since we've already done a drinking game for the horror franchise of this not-holiday, it seemed prudent to also do some movie reviews for the series since the spirit of the day is still with us. So, leading up to March 13th, we’ll be posting a review a day about the various Friday the 13th movies, including Freddy vs Jason and the 2009 remake.
Friday the 13th (1980)
With the movie fresh in my memory, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is the boredom I felt while watching it. I think that’s probably one of the worst things you can feel when you’re watching a so-called classic, as nothing indicates that a movie could not stand the test of time better than a bored viewer.
When comparing the first film to its sequels, it’s actually not as interesting as some of the others manage to be, which is different from what you’d typically expect from a film franchise. I’m not saying that the movies necessarily get better, just more entertaining. When comparing the original Friday the 13th to its fellow slasher classic, Halloween, it also has trouble standing up. In my opinion, Halloween had much better suspense and tension throughout the film, along with a likable protagonist. But before we get knee-deep in comparisons, let’s just review Friday the 13th on its own.
Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
As a horror movie, Friday the 13th follows a lot of the cliches and archetypes that make up the slasher genre. Granted, the genre was still new at the time of the movie’s release with the main competition being Halloween and Black Christmas. If I were to place myself in that era of having never seen that type of horror movie before, I suppose I could see how the movie would be scary. There are some long sections between the murders of the various people that help build tension and suspense, or at least that's their intention. These moments can get excessively long in certain areas and often hurt the movie more than help the suspense. In some areas, the absence of interesting action can get to a ridiculous level with characters going around and doing the most mundane of things like making coffee or playing what some consider the longest and most boring of board games, Monopoly. Since they showed the process of making coffee in its entirety, I'm surprised we didn't have to sit through the four-hour slog of a typical Monopoly game.
When people are killed, it mostly happens off-screen or just out of view. So, even though the series became known for its gore effects, there are only a few moments in this one where that would meet those expectations, not least of which is Kevin Bacon’s character’s death. Since the special effects were done by Tom Savini, the artist who worked on horror classics like Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow, and countless others, there is some quality to the special effects. However, when watching the remastered movie in a higher resolution, the blemishes in the effects are much more noticeable. So even the work of Master Savini falls flat.
Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
The acting is pretty bad all around, with the exception of Mrs. Voorhees, played by Betsy Palmer. It’s unfortunate that she doesn't show up until the third act, for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that since she’s the best actor of the movie, it would have been nice to see more interactions with her and the other characters and just get a chance to see her character develop more. Instead, she just feels like she’s been thrown into the film at the last minute to solve the mystery of the film. Which leads me to the other reason she should have been introduced earlier.
The other I mentioned as a footnote to the drinking rules but I’ll expand on it here. (Spoilers, as if you need one for a movie that was released in 1980 and you haven’t seen Scream yet.) Mrs. Voorhees is the killer of the film. The revelation of her violent tendencies comes within 5 minutes of meeting her, which causes a lot of issues in terms of storytelling and tension. One of the basic rules of writing is that by the third act, you should have all your characters and plot points introduced. Throwing anything else into the story by that point is going to confuse and distract the audience. I’ll give a couple of examples of good movies that make the same mistake, but we were able to forgive simply because of the quality of the rest of the film:
Why do people scoff at the scene at the end of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King when the eagles show up and save Frodo and Sam? Because they were able to fly, from wherever they came, straight to Mt. Doom and save the heroes with minimal effort and direction. It’s as though they could have done it the entire time and saved our heroes a lot of trouble. The eagles were briefly introduced in the first movie with Gandalf, but that was the last we saw of them and not nearly enough to know that they were capable of making it all the way to the center of Mordor where the whole adventure could have been cut short.
Did you ever start to feel like you were having your patience tested in Inception when they started talking about Limbo for the first time? In the first 2 acts of Inception, we are introduced to the various complex concepts that make up the movie and its premise, which is fine. We as the audience need to be told how dreams work in the movie and what we can expect our heroes to encounter. Half the movie is preparing for the big mind heist, which is the perfect time to explain everything. Yet, the word or concept of Limbo is never mentioned or so barely hinted at that there is no way of knowing that it’s even a thing the characters are going to have to worry about. The other characters who are supposed to be experts, but don't know about Limbo, get upset at the idea just as the audience would; their anger at having this plot bomb dropped on them is supposed to distract and alleviate ours. Nonetheless, it doesn't change the fact that since everything has been explained during the preparation, we aren't expecting to have more lessons once the operation has started. Why do we have to stop to learn more stuff about this world? We are ready to continue the story. If the word "Limbo" had been mentioned somewhere before, or that it was the fourth dream layer, or some sort of mention of its definition had made its way into the movie by the time the operation had started, it would have been an easier pill to swallow.
So what does all this mean in relation to Friday the 13th and Mrs. Voorhees? If she had been introduced at any point during the first two acts, her reappearance would have been met with more tension and suspicion, as well as shock at the reveal of her malicious intent. We would have had enough time for her character to sit in our minds as this simple little old lady who lived in the woods and seemed relatively harmless. Then, after everyone else we know has been killed and she shows up, the possibility that she was the killer would have been on our minds along with the doubt we might feel due to the fact that we as the audience would have gotten to know her better. Without that introduction, there is no doubt. The reveal is no surprise and the tension is fueled simply by WHEN is she going to flip a lid as opposed to IF AND WHEN.
Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
The late arrival to the plot also just creates a problem with her character’s behavior in general. The only behavior she’s exhibited up to this point in the movie is silent, ruthless, murder without hesitation. Suddenly, in the scene where she makes her appearance, she’s briefly gentle, comforting, and approachable. She shares dialogue with the character Alice for a bit and kinda toys with her by putting on a bit of a charade before blasting us with another writing faux pas (exposition) and getting herself riled up into murder mode. This behavior is completely inconsistent with how she’s been. All we have to go on as the audience is this, versus her ruthless, silent killing. If she did this with everyone, then sure, it’s her method. Yet, only in this part of the film does she behave this way. Let's make another Halloween comparison.
We don’t know Michael Myers’ motivation, but we do know his methods. He stalks and he kills. He’s consistent to the end of the film. He doesn’t suddenly toy with his victims, he behaves the same way from start to finish. The same is true for Jason Voorhees when he takes over in the killing. When characters are inconsistent, the immersion is broken, and the fear is lost. If we’d met her earlier, even if Mrs. Voorhees had done the same reveal towards the end, it would still make it easier for us to accept her change in behavior. We’d have spent enough time with her to see the multiple dimensions of her character, especially with the whole split personality thing going on in her dialogue at the end.
Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
Lastly, I’ll briefly mention the best jump scare of the movie at the end with the canoe. This particular scene I think is particularly well done in that it comes out of nowhere and is particularly exciting because of the fact that it’s juxtaposed by really uplifting music. I won’t go into much more detail other than that I agree with James Rolfe of Cinemassecre.com in how the ending is ruined by what follows that scene. If you want a quick refresher of the movie done by a guy who knows his horror movies, I recommend watching his reviews of the Friday the 13th movies he just did this year for similar reasons as myself.
I’m going to close out this review with some quick Pros and Cons and a final verdict, but before I do, I’ll say that most of the reviews that follow will be much shorter. The sequels aren't really considered classics and often follow the formula of a slasher film so closely that I'd just be reviewing the same movie over and over, save for the specific moments that stand out in each of them.
Pros
Mrs. Voorhees steals the show when she appears, despite her late arrival
Tom Savini’s special effects are still pretty gruesome
While small in number by the standards of the series, there are some boobies
The final scare of the movie
A good movie to watch before watching Cabin in the Woods
Cons
If you can’t put yourself in 1980 and get past the cliches, the movie will be very boring because it isn’t even laughably bad during the downtime
Late arrival of Mrs Voorhees
They killed a real snake for this movie
Does not age well
Bad acting that is not entertaining
Final Verdict: Friday the 13th (1980)
Is it worth seeing? If you have any interest in seeing where the franchise or where all the cliches of the genre came from, it’s worth a watch. This is far from my favorite in the series, but as you'll see later, you could do a lot worse.