'Friday the 13th' is like one of those old '80s heavy metal albums I own. It's not exactly great but there's something so dark and creaky about it that every time you slap it on it's like visiting an old friend. The first of many (sadly), the first instalment of this long-running saga of slasher films is most certainly the best. It's the sort of film that would spawn a thousand imitators, and most of these were pretty poor, and it's one of only a handful of films to create a legendary movie monster - Jason Voorhess. However, in the first movie of the franchise Jason Voorhees (in fact the hockey-mask wearing maniac doesn't emerge fully masked until the third flick) is nowhere to be seen as we follow our bunch of main teenage actors to Camp Crystal Lake - a seemingly cursed area known for its history of murders and tragedy. Of course, the woods are all too tempting for a bunch of young lovers who only have sex, drugs and more sex on their minds. Of course, like in all good (and bad) slasher flicks, those who loiter in the camp quarters and surrounding woods are bumped off by a mysterious and unseen killer leading us to a rather chilling climax...which I won't give away here in case you haven't seen it!
'Friday the 13th' works for most of the time, and it's great to see young burgeoning actors such as Kevin Bacon appearing...and then getting slaughtered! Much of the 'Friday the 13th' franchise has a cult following but it's only this movie, and parts of the sequel which deserve any sort of attention from horror fans. The simple effects - in the gore and music department - are impressive, the acting better than average, and whilst the plot now seems stagnant and cliché, this movie was certainly slightly ahead of its time and has not dated too much considering the amount of other slasher flicks that followed in its wake. It IS a shame that 'Friday the 13th' has become such a joke, but if you want to watch a real slasher film then I'd suggest you grab yourself a copy of the original.
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