Friday the 13th

 “His name was Jason.”

Welcome to the second theme month. Since the 13th of November falls on a Friday this year, I will be covering the first five Friday the 13th films. Friday the 13th and the franchise that followed was largely inspired (and takes many ideas from) by the Halloween franchise. It’s actually a bit appropriate that I’m following a month-long dive into that franchise with its spiritual sequel.

Friday the 13th was written by Victor Miller (All My Children) and directed by Sean S. Cunningham (The Last House on the Left). Friday the 13th was released on May 9th, 1980 to largely mixed reviews. Friday the 13th was made on a reported budget of $550,000, made $5,816,321 upon opening, and went on to make $39,754,601 internationally.

Friday the 13th tells the tale of a group of counselors preparing for the reopening of Camp Crystal Lake, a camp where two counselors had been murdered 22 years prior. One by one the counselors are killed by a mysterious assailant who has a significant connection to the camp.

Friday the 13th is a weird franchise. It’s iconic killer famously doesn’t take center stage until the second installment, and then it takes another film for him to begin wearing his iconic mask (and the franchise just takes stranger turns from there). Despite that strangeness, this entry in the franchise is largely pedestrian.

It’s surprising to me that a film this middle of the road spawned such a well-known franchise. The characters are thinly drawn and even Final Girl Alice (Adrienne King, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) is pretty bland. Two characters in the film stand out, fun loving (and strip-Monopoly inventor) Brenda (Laurie Bartram, Another World) and Pamela Vorhees (Betsy Palmer, The Time of Your Life); both of whom bring much needed energy to the film.

Despite the lazy characterization the film still manages to create some affective imagery. The camp setting provides a varied and isolated location and the kills work well. Alice’s discovery of the bodies of her friends and her climactic confrontation with Mrs. Vorhees provides much needed thrills.

Friday the 13th is ultimately pretty pedestrian and in several locations a bit boring, but it paves the road for the completely bonkers series to come. Mrs. Vorhees is a great villain and it’s a shame that she’s largely overshadowed by the more popular (and less interesting) Jason. Definitely check it out if you’ve not seen it, but don’t expect a masterpiece.

Rating: 2.5 dead Kevin Bacons out of 5

Other Observations:

• Does the Dog Die? A snake is killed by the counselors (and was killed in real life). While I have a serious phobia of snakes (extremely serious), I absolutely do not condone the killing of animals for the purpose of filmmaking. 

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: Kevin Bacon’s arrow through the neck. Yikes.

• Chi-chi-chi. Ah-ah-ah.

• Next Week: Get ready for more Camp Crystal Lake (it’s a theme month after all) with Friday the 13th Part 2.