Friday the 13th - Part 1

Quick Note: For irrelevant reasons, this review has been delayed in the writing, so please disregard the date reference and such.

How creepy was thing going to be? Friday the 13th was this past Friday, so what better way to get some entertainment with some friends then to delve into some of horror's most popular psycho killers? Of course, making the motion picture debut/origin of Jason Voorhees part of the night's queu with the same title as the cursed date was a must (Considering we hadn't seen it before). Just add in the fact that, technically, by the time the tape was popped in and the bar of expectation for suspense was set (Which was actually pretty low considering the average viewing experience of "Nightmare on Elm Street" we had all partaken in just previous), it was 1:30...technically making the devilish Friday the 13th a day of the past, and you have quite the pile of disappointment rotting in the dark corner of the fog-infested room.

As far as plots go, it doesn't get much simpler then this film's. For starters, we get a brief flashback to the 50's decade where we witness, rather undramatically, the murder of a couple through the first-person view of the killer (At the time of the film's original release it may have been spine-tingling but, since we know it's Jason [Or so we think], a piece of the menace is missing). Fast-forward to 1980, where we are introduced to Annie, a cook going up to Camp Crystal Lake for the summer to work as a counselor. It isn't long before she is successful in her hitch-hiking attempts, only to find herself dead in the woods. 1 down, 7 to go. The remaining seven are made up of six naive teens and the owner/attempted restorer of Camp Crystal lake. ***Complete Spoiler Ahead*** As tradition would have it the more brain dead among them are killed first, only or one two quite gruesomely, leaving the "nice" girl the lone survivor left to confront the killer who turns out to be Jason's mother, not Jason himself (A fact that, before the 9.5 sequels, might have been quite the whiplash effect) also makes the trapdoor ending anit-climatic...I expected to have some looney killing these people, not a insane grandma character seeking revenge for her childs unfortunate death. Still, the final fraction of the film where the time to set up Jason's backstory, the reasoning for his future mayhem, and an impressive last minute-and-a-half shock is taken, the film manages to live up to some of its hype.*End Spoiler*

Despite my want to give this slasher flick as much power in the form of fear that I wanted to (Or maybe that was the liter of Mountaiw Dew talking), nothing could save this. Mediocre acting only added insult to the wound that was etched into our intelligence first by the character's stupid choices regarding running out into an open field in the middle of a stormy night because one thinks they heard the faint shouts of a boy for help. I can forgive the film's puppet masters briefly for the stupid antics they make their characters run to. because of the film's age, alot easier then the way the story is stretched to paper-thin length so it can run over an hour. The film hasn't aged well, that goes without saying, I think, and testimony to this fact can be found in several special effects glitches along the way (Wouldn't you think if you got a gashing wound, blood would start flowing immediately after the wound was administered, and not after you take several gasps of shock). Simply put, the movie is a bottomless pit that many horror movie weaknesses fall into to escape constant, logic-based, criticism.

It seems the reason that many of the people who claim this film, and many of its contemporaries, as frightening is because they snuck into their local theater at a young age and were prematurely exposed to such high levels of fright that, at the time, were the best anyone could get. Nothing against 'em; If they enjoy the movie and feel provoked to recommend it, I would just have to disagree. A chapter in horror's history that need not be studied...So, with better stuff to do, why bother with it?