Day 22: Friday the 13th

22. Friday the 13th (1980)
Dir:Sean S. Cunningham
Cast:Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Kevin Bacon

Let me just start by saying that I think this is one of the most overrated horror franchises of all time. Then again are any of the films really perceived in any kind of positive light by critics? Well the first one has 70% on Rotten Tomatoes and if you ask me that is far too high. "Why review a movie you don't even like?" some may ask, well as much I think this is a pretty bland and forgettable slasher flick, I can't deny it's impact on the world of horror movies. Though l mostly just added this to have a full horror movie timeline, so I'll be brief.

So a bunch of horny teenagers re-open an abandoned camp (Camp Crystal Lake) that was closed down in the 50s after some retarded kid drowned and then there were like some murders or something. So in modern day we have all the counselors refurbishing the camp even after some dude tells one of the counselors that they're doomed and soon enough they all start getting killed. Oh yeah, and at some point we learn that boy who drowned in the lake was named Jason Vorhees... So has Jason risen from the dead to get revenge? Well not in this one, as a matter of fact it turns out to be Jason's middle-aged mother which is rather anticlimactic, if I must say. So she battles it out with the last surviving counselor, gets her had chopped off and that's that. There's actually a kind of spooky "Dream sequence" at the end where the main character imagines Jason jumping out of the lake and pulling her in, but don't worry it's only dream... At least for now, this film was just itching for a sequel.



As we all know Jason would go on to the main antagonist of the series. He would appear grown up for some reason in the second film killing people with a sack on his head and eventually don his infamous hockey mask in part 3. Now I've never really thought much of Jason or the series, but you can't deny his popularity up there with some of the other notable slasher villains like Freddy Krueger, Leatherface or Pinhead from Hellraiser. I'll admit his machete and mask makes for a pretty memorable image but that's about all I can say that's positive. All the other films I've seen in this series have been absolutely terrible.

Fright Fact: A remake is set for release on February 13, 2009 but with Jason as the lead villain instead of his mom. It's being directed by Marcus Nispel who also directed the god awful remake of Texas Chain Saw Massacre so this will most likely be terrible as well.

Horror Highlight: Here's the ending of the film which is surprisingly scary. Probably the only good part of the movie.