Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th
In 1957, a young boy named Jason drowns in a lake near Camp Crystal Lake. The next year, two counselors are murdered. In 1980, a descendant of the original owners reopens Camp Crystal Lake with some counselors' help. The counselors gets killed one by one by a mysterious person. Could it be Jason, out for revenge?
Jacob O’Neal reviewedJune 11, 2025
In honor of the upcoming date of Friday, June 13, 2025 I have decided to rewatch and review all 12 Friday The 13th movies.
Sean Cunningham, producer of Last House On The Left, directed this film after looking for what he said could be a Halloween rip off. He took elements of the slasher genre that was in its infancy at the time, some influence from mystery films (one could argue Giallo movies specifically) and cast a bunch of fresh faces. But before he could do any of that, he needed money. So he took out a full page ad in Variety magazine with the title and a tag line telling them it was the scariest movie ever made. The plan worked and he got funding. The story revolved around a group of young camp counselors at a summer camp being stalked and killed by a psychotic. Notice I didn’t say “Jason”. Jason was the son of a former camp employee. He was playing in the lake one day when the counselors too busy getting busy to pay attention. Jason drowned in Crystal Lake. Years later they reopened the camp and kids start dying.
This movie is far better than it has a right to be. Perhaps it’s looking at it through a nostalgic lens where I see all the tropes the film developed and built upon. The movie was cast with young and attractive people. One of which became very famous - Kevin Bacon. The make up effects person had already built a name for himself with Dawn Of The Dead, but Tom Savini became a rock star in the horror world after this. The movie was so influential that it is hard to remember that there is a somewhat decent mystery/slasher film underneath.