In celebration of the DVD release of Friday the 13th (June 16th) I will be reviewing the entire series culminating with the new DVD. Unlike my other review threads (Jim reviews SNME or the IC title thread) updates will be done on a more regular basis. (Day or two wait at the most.) Each will have a similar layout:
The story - Summery of what happens in the film
The characters - Brief bios of the main characters in the film
The verdict - My review of the actual movie
The extras - death count, boob count, best kill and rating out of 10 bloody machetes
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The Story
The film starts out in 1958. Two camp counselor heads up stairs in a cabin to have some fun. In the middle of this, an unknown person comes up and kills them both. The camp (Camp Crystal Lake) eventually shuts down for years. We jump ahead some years and the camp is being reopened up. Due to a string of bad luck (A drowning in 1957, the two kills in '58 and other issues that kept re-openings from happening) locals have given the camp a new name, Camp Blood. Owner, Steve Christy, puts together a new crew of workers and counselors. With just days before the first batch of kids arriving, it's a race against time to finish setting things up.
On her way to Camp Crystal Lake, Annie, the camp cook, meets up with Ralph. Ralph is the town crazy who predicts more bloodshed if the camp is opened up again. Hitchhiking to the camp, Annie discovers just how true Ralph is really. With the unknown killer on camp grounds, one by one the new counselors are killed off. Being the final one alive, Alice (The former lover of Steve) comes face to face with the killer. Mrs. Voorhees was the camp cook back in 1957 when he son drowned because the counselors were not paying attention. Desperate to keep the camp from opening up again, she declines more and more into insanity. To avenge his death, she has killed everyone as if they were the staff back at the time of the drowning. Alone with Alice on the beach, Mrs. Voorhees slaughtering night comes to an end when Alice decapitates her with a machete.
The sole survivor climbs into a canoe and drifts off into the middle of the lake until help can arrive. While dawn breaks and serene music plays as the police arrive, Alice feels safe. Just then coming out of the lake is the remains of the boy who drowned, looking to pull down the girl who killed his mother. Alice wakes up in a hospital room surrounded by doctors and the town sheriff. The cop confirms that everyone else is dead. When Alice asks about the boy, the sheriff is puzzled for his men found Alice alone that morning. The film ends with Alice realizing that that boy must still be out there. Jason is still waiting...
The Characters Alice - An inspiring artist, she starts off the film unsure about whether she wants to stay or not. Although having a past fling with Steve, it seems as if she not has an attraction towards Bill.
What she brings to the movie: The ability to chop off heads.
Steve Christy - Taking over the ownership of Camp Crystal Lake from his parents, Steve looks to reopen the camp to all. While Alice appears to be over Steve, he still seems to want to be in a relationship with her. Steve spends most of the film away in town as everything goes down.
What he brings to the movie: Rocking out in short shorts without a shirt.
Bill - The quiet handyman appears to be Steve's right hand man. Throughout the movie, he becomes Alice's knight in shinning armor. The true hero in the film.
What he brings to the movie: Cuts up a snake with a machete.
Brenda - This old fashion woman comes off as one of the more annoying characters. Not much is known about her and is perhaps the most pointless counselor.
What she brings to the movie: Strip Monopoly.
Ned - Ned is your classic lonely, over sexed, joker who spends most of the time annoying his fellow workers. He would be the blue-print for future Friday characters.
What he brings to the movie: The thought of always checking the top bunk.
Jack and Marcie - Friends with Ned, they act as your normal couple which gives the excuse for a filmmaker to show sex scenes.
What they bring to the movie: The first full sex scene in Friday history.
Crazy Ralph - Ralph is the old crazy man in town. He becomes a top suspect for who the murderer may be due to always trying to warn people of the camp's terror. Ralph ends up being the last visitor the camp has before the blood shed.
What he brings to the movie: A lovable and memorable crazy character.
Mrs. Voorhees - The former cook, we only meet Voorhees at the very end of the movie. She is revealed to be the major surprise of the film.
What she brings to the movie: The kills...duh.
The Verdict
The aspect that stands out the most is the acting. To put it bluntly, it's atrocious. Especially early on, the teenagers are not believable at all. All they're doing is reading the script and doing as it says to do. However, you're not going to watch a Friday the 13th movie and expect a Meryl Streep-like performance. Putting that aside, the best aspect of the movie is the originality. This first film is so different than any of the other Friday's. Contrary to popular belief, it's not a rip off of Halloween. The only similarities is a killer who likes to stalk and a good amount of kills. The whole POV kill wasn't even originally done by Halloween. If anything, this is a loose remake of The Bay of Blood. The first time seeing the film (Unless you have it spoiled for you which I assume is just about anyone once this series became a huge hit), you're wondering who's doing all this. There's only been a few horror movies at this point with a woman as the killer. Since then, I can really only think of the Sleepaway Camp movies and Scream 2 for women slashers.
The other great thing about the movie was it's revolutionary makeup effects. Tom Savini was able to bring these unique kills to light without any computer effects. Suddenly, there were now ways to show an arrow popping up through a person's neck without any cutaways.
The biggest single weakness of the film is the story. For the most part, there isn't one. Unknown kills camp counselors. Those four words pretty much sums up the whole movie up until reveal of the killer. You don't need some long complex story line for a slasher, but giving us something would of been good. The love triangle between Steve, Alice and Bill could of been something. Even that was never really addressed besides a comment by Steve and Bill giving Alice a small kiss on the cheek near the end. The driving force of this film is the deaths. Once one death scene occurs, you're just waiting for the next one with some filler in between.
It's a decent enough start to the film and even better than a lot of rip offs later on, but there were some things to improve on.
The Extras Death Count: 10
(In a series that is known for high body counts, it's a great way to start out the series)
Boob Count: 1
(Just one lonely boob. Don't worry, there's plenty more to come)
Best Kill: Jack (Kevin Bacon)
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