Customer Reviews
Arguably the most influential slasher film of all time - By: Daniel Jolley, 28 Oct 2008 
The original Friday the 13th is not the first, the most original, or the best slasher film ever made, but it is arguably the most influential. You almost have to take off one of your socks to count all of the sequels (and impending remake) this slasher granddaddy has spawned, & I daresay the majority of slasher films littering the genrein all the years since were constructed on the generic & simple framework of the Friday the 13th formula. Critics are still foaming at the mouthin indignation over this film all these years later, so you know it did something right. Of course, by today's standards Friday the 13th registers low (if at all) on the fright meter & really isn't all that gory, but no one can dispute the fact that this film set the stage for innumerable bloody slasher films to come.
Halloween, which is technically a much superior film to this one, had already been released & made lots of money, so it's easy to see why Sean S. Cunningham (who had already cut his horror chops on The Last House on the Left) wanted to try his hand at creating a scary slasher film of his own. Cunningham did not have a big studio backing him, so he had to make this an independent, low-budget (barely more than half a million dollars) project. With almost all of the action taking place at Camp Crystal Lake, all Cunningham had to do was to find a viable old campsite, populate it with unknown actors (one of which, Kevin Bacon, went on to become a household name), kill his charactersin compellingly different yet simple ways, & smack an ending on top of it. In some ways, it sounds like an almost haphazard project. The controversial gotcha scene near the very end, for example, was neverin the original script - instead, it was added latein the game on the advice of special effects makeup guru Tom Savini, who had just seen Carrie. That is only one of several obvious influences worked into the film - even the famous Jason music leaves a trail of musical crumbs back to the shark musicin Jaws (30th Anniversary Edition). Despite of everything, though, Paramount liked the final product, bought up the distribution rights, & the film hit box office gold. The rest is horror - & cinema - history.
As we all know by now, little Jason Voorhees drownedin 1957 while the counselors who should have been watching him were busy having sex. A year later, two counselors at the camp were brutally murdered (as they were getting it on, of course), with the murderer never being caught. That was more than Camp Crystal Lake could endure, & it soon closed its cabin doors for good. The residents of Crystal Lake know to stay away from the lake & "Camp Blood," but Steve Christy has decided he's going to open the place back up. He's supposedly been working to get the place ready for a year, but it's still a run-down dump. He's hired all of the requisite randy teens to serve as counselors/murder victims (anybody who plays strip Monopoly outin the middle of the woods is practically begging to be eviscerated by a mad killer), though, so everything isin place for good, old-fashioned bloodbath. All we need is a killer.
The one thing I've always admired most about the slayingsin the Friday the 13th movies is the sheer efficiency of them all. Even at the beginning, before Jason himself ever lifted his first machete, the killer is all about getting the job done & going on to the next victim. That's not to say the murders aren't stylish & impressive, though. I just wish they would have been a lot gorier. Clearly, this film does have a few problems & doesn't deserve five stars on its own merits. When you figurein the immense influence this film has had on the horror movie genre & pop culture itself, though, I think it rightly deserves that fifth star.
If you've never seen the original Friday the 13th, you need to see it - especially if you've watched several of the sequels. After all, an incorrect answer to the question of who did the killingsin the original Friday the 13th film will get you banned from all horror fan clubs for life.
MINDLESS SLASHER FILM - By: Lou Almighty, 17 Oct 2008 
Why is this considered a classic? Or a cult film? Its pure garbage. A bloody murder. A scare. A bloody murder. A scare. That's the the story. Is it really scary? No! Is it exciting? No! It's dull, lame & utterly boring. Only the special FX by Tom Savini might make this film watchable ONCE. So rent - DON'T BUY.
Pretty Good - By: Langdon Ulder, 07 Aug 2008 
Friday the 13th is a pretty good slasher flick. It has a solid story, creative deaths (arrow through Kevin Bacons throat), evil killer & girls running round with almost no clothes on!
Yes, the film is incredibly cheesy, dated & the acting is pretty bad (with the exception of Betsy Palmer), but overlook that & you will see a hugely enjoyable horror classic.
A good film. - By: Film King 365, 24 Jun 2008 
Don't get me wrong, I think this is a good horror but it wasn't up to the standerds I espected. Espeicially with the budget they had...
a question - By: Mr. M. J. Woodward, 02 May 2008 This isnt actually a review as such, but an enquiry & a response to the other reviews on here....I have the original British VHS release of this film, which is one of my most treasured collection items. I am aware that the UK video release wasin fact the full uncut version (the only fully uncut video release outside of the US I think). Sadly, the tape itself is barely watchable these days & I want to replace it with the DVD release. Can anyone tell me if the standard UK DVD release is uncut? Thanks.
