| "They were warned...They are doomed...And on Friday the 13th, nothing will save them" |
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Friday the 13th
DVD/APPROX. 92 MINS/1980/USA R18+
DVD/APPROX. 92 MINS/1980/USA R18+
10
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Lets go back to 1980 when most of the slasher franchises were only just starting, hockey masks were only seen at hockey games and Jason was
the reason for the slaughter and not the perpetrator of the carnage.
Hard to think in this day and age of endless sequels and remakes that Sean S. Cunningham and his crew had intended Friday the 13th as a little
horror pot-boiler intended to kill time and make a bit of cash until the next movie and not start a franchise it would some day become.
For those horror fans who have not yet seen it (and if you are in that very small group, shame on you) the plot goes a little like this: we start in
the year 1958 and two camp counsellors get bored of the camp fire sing-a-long, so they sneak off to have sex (and who can blame them?) but
before they can get uniforms off an unseen assailant sneaks into the room and murders them both cue credits and Harry Manfredini's classic score.
These first murders have been the subject of some discussion among Friday the 13th fans as on screen you don't see the female counsellor’s
death but in a few genre books there is a picture of the poor girl getting her throat cut.
After the credits we move onto Friday June 13th present day (aka:1980), Camp Crystal Lake has been closed since the murders of 58 and we find
out a few time they have tried to reopen them but something always goes wrong (fires, bad water etc.) but our new owner Steve Christy (Peter
Brouwer) is not going let bad things and the superstitions of the locals including the memorable Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney one of the select few
actors to appear in more than one Friday the 13th film) he has a team of youngsters to clean and fix up the place, the camp grounds are in
fantastic shape for a place that has been closed for 22 years.
Steve heads off to town for supplies so the work crew (include the likes of Kevin Bacon,Adrienne King and son of Bring: Harry Crosby) decide it's
time for swimming and strip Monopoly: but when a storm sets in and night falls a unseen intruder turns up and start to slaughter there number
one by one, who is this intruder and why are they doing this? for the few who not seen this classic I will leave these questions unanswered.
Even though the slasher film had made its debut in 1963 with Mario Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much and Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)
and the likes of Black Christmas (1974) would start to set some of the slasher film patterns it was Friday the 13th and Halloween (1978) they
set the blue print for all the fuck and die films that flooded our screens in the ‘80s.
A past evil act, a group of adolescences who are in a place of isolation where help can not reach them or will take a long to get to them and last
but not least a ominous lurking presence who slaughters them one by one (or sometime in couples) until the maniac faces off with the final girl
(aka: good girl who does not smoke, drugs, sex) who defeats them but most of time we are left with the notion that they may not be dead and will
be back for a sequel(s) depending on how well it does at he box office.
Sean S. Cunningham says all he wanted to do was give us a scary movie and that is just what he does, he has a very workman like approach to
film making that works very well. The young cast is very good with Adrienne King making a very real and likeable lead, she come across as a girl
who does not really want to be there but needs the cash (I think we can all relate to that) and future star Kevin Bacon comes across as a bit of a
wimp and special mention to Betsy Palmer (who only took the job to buy a new car) does a great job with her role (can't say too much about it).
Another huge plus is Tom Savini's FX make up, any film that features his work gets at least 2 more skulls (please Tom come back to FX work).
Warner Brothers have given the first Friday the 13th film a decent DVD release, nice clean print but only mono sound, the extras include a audio
commentary, not a true scene by scene commentary but Peter M. Bracke author of the fantastic book Crystal Lake Memories gives us an insight
into the making of the film, from time to time we get cast and crew sharing stories and information: lots of interesting things to be shared, myself I
would have preferred a traditional AC but this one is very welcome none the less. Next up is a 22 minute documentary: Return to Crystal Lake: The
Making of Friday the 13th, an all too short look at where it came from, lot of the stories are repeated from the audio commentary and there are a
few people missing (Tom? and Kevin) the doco comes across very rushed but still worth a watch, Betsy Palmer come across as a very charming
woman and note to Adrienne King you have aged very well. The extras are finished off with a trailer.
Every horror fan owes it to themself to have this classic in there collection next to the likes of Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre etc. It's not
the perfect DVD but it will hold us until July 1st 2009 when a new Special Edition is due for release.
So what are you waiting for? get out there and see the one that started it all!
the reason for the slaughter and not the perpetrator of the carnage.
Hard to think in this day and age of endless sequels and remakes that Sean S. Cunningham and his crew had intended Friday the 13th as a little
horror pot-boiler intended to kill time and make a bit of cash until the next movie and not start a franchise it would some day become.
For those horror fans who have not yet seen it (and if you are in that very small group, shame on you) the plot goes a little like this: we start in
the year 1958 and two camp counsellors get bored of the camp fire sing-a-long, so they sneak off to have sex (and who can blame them?) but
before they can get uniforms off an unseen assailant sneaks into the room and murders them both cue credits and Harry Manfredini's classic score.
These first murders have been the subject of some discussion among Friday the 13th fans as on screen you don't see the female counsellor’s
death but in a few genre books there is a picture of the poor girl getting her throat cut.
After the credits we move onto Friday June 13th present day (aka:1980), Camp Crystal Lake has been closed since the murders of 58 and we find
out a few time they have tried to reopen them but something always goes wrong (fires, bad water etc.) but our new owner Steve Christy (Peter
Brouwer) is not going let bad things and the superstitions of the locals including the memorable Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney one of the select few
actors to appear in more than one Friday the 13th film) he has a team of youngsters to clean and fix up the place, the camp grounds are in
fantastic shape for a place that has been closed for 22 years.
Steve heads off to town for supplies so the work crew (include the likes of Kevin Bacon,Adrienne King and son of Bring: Harry Crosby) decide it's
time for swimming and strip Monopoly: but when a storm sets in and night falls a unseen intruder turns up and start to slaughter there number
one by one, who is this intruder and why are they doing this? for the few who not seen this classic I will leave these questions unanswered.
Even though the slasher film had made its debut in 1963 with Mario Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much and Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)
and the likes of Black Christmas (1974) would start to set some of the slasher film patterns it was Friday the 13th and Halloween (1978) they
set the blue print for all the fuck and die films that flooded our screens in the ‘80s.
A past evil act, a group of adolescences who are in a place of isolation where help can not reach them or will take a long to get to them and last
but not least a ominous lurking presence who slaughters them one by one (or sometime in couples) until the maniac faces off with the final girl
(aka: good girl who does not smoke, drugs, sex) who defeats them but most of time we are left with the notion that they may not be dead and will
be back for a sequel(s) depending on how well it does at he box office.
Sean S. Cunningham says all he wanted to do was give us a scary movie and that is just what he does, he has a very workman like approach to
film making that works very well. The young cast is very good with Adrienne King making a very real and likeable lead, she come across as a girl
who does not really want to be there but needs the cash (I think we can all relate to that) and future star Kevin Bacon comes across as a bit of a
wimp and special mention to Betsy Palmer (who only took the job to buy a new car) does a great job with her role (can't say too much about it).
Another huge plus is Tom Savini's FX make up, any film that features his work gets at least 2 more skulls (please Tom come back to FX work).
Warner Brothers have given the first Friday the 13th film a decent DVD release, nice clean print but only mono sound, the extras include a audio
commentary, not a true scene by scene commentary but Peter M. Bracke author of the fantastic book Crystal Lake Memories gives us an insight
into the making of the film, from time to time we get cast and crew sharing stories and information: lots of interesting things to be shared, myself I
would have preferred a traditional AC but this one is very welcome none the less. Next up is a 22 minute documentary: Return to Crystal Lake: The
Making of Friday the 13th, an all too short look at where it came from, lot of the stories are repeated from the audio commentary and there are a
few people missing (Tom? and Kevin) the doco comes across very rushed but still worth a watch, Betsy Palmer come across as a very charming
woman and note to Adrienne King you have aged very well. The extras are finished off with a trailer.
Every horror fan owes it to themself to have this classic in there collection next to the likes of Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre etc. It's not
the perfect DVD but it will hold us until July 1st 2009 when a new Special Edition is due for release.
So what are you waiting for? get out there and see the one that started it all!
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