Friday the 13th (1980)

When you think of Friday the 13th do you immediately go to Jason Voorhees? Jason is the star of this franchise but not actually in this movie. Well, he is in a scene or two at the very end but not as the Jason we are familiar with. Jason actually doesn’t start his killing spree till the second movie and it is the 3rd or 4th where he finally picks up the Hockey mask. This movie does set up the whole story of the iconic psychopath.

Jason is a deformed little boy just hanging out at the summer camp his mother works at. The kids are cruel and he gets pushed into the lake. Normally he would be rescued by a life guard but the camp counselors who should be watching are off having sex, so Jason drowns.

This movie wastes no time getting to the hack and slash. In less that five minutes the counselors who should have been watching are killed while fooling around. The difference between this scene in 1980 and the same scene now is the fact that the over the top gore is missing from the 1980’s version. It also has everything a horror movie should have. Knife wielding maniac, high body count and a crazy town loon who keeps yelling about the death curse.

Much like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre there is blood and gore but it isn’t over run with bucks of blood. This is one of those movies that is full or stupid characters making even dumber decisions. If I walked into a cabin and found a bloody ax on my pillow I wouldn’t stick around to find out why it’s there. I’d either be locked in a closet with something sharp and pointy or booking my butt out of there as fast as I can. I’m not much of a runner but I’m sure even the Flash would have a hard time catching me.

This is goofy and cheesy and I love it. I watch this when ever I can and really try to for Halloween and any time it is Friday the 13th. One thing I also really like about these early horror movies is seeing the actors who get their start in them. In this movie we get to see a very young Kevin Bacon and his acting is pretty bad in this. Friday the 13th has such a cult following that I remember when I was younger there was a series of books all about Camp Crystal Lake and Jason’s reign of terror. I was to young to read them but I had a friend who swiped them from his older sister and he would tell us all about them.