Login'Friday the 13th' may have been panned by critics when first released but since then it is one of the most famous and influential horror films, the franchise containing one of horror's most iconic villains. The film is popular enough to become a franchise and spawn several sequels of varying quality and generally inferior to the one that started it all of.
Is 'Friday the 13th' an original film in terms of overall story? No, having been, and still is, compared to 'Halloween' (released two years earlier). One can see why somewhat, it is derivative in a way but to me it didn't come over as a direct rip off. 'Friday the 13th' is far from the best when it comes to acting, excepting Betsy Palmer (very good) and Adrienne King (charming). The others are average at best, though it was interesting to see Kevin Bacon in an early role pre-stardom.
Nor is it the best when it comes to dialogue. Much of it is very crude and cheesy. Or character development, while the characters are actually still easy to sympathise with to some extent they are stereotypes that we don't know an awful lot about generally.
However, while it may not be a "great" film, 'Friday the 13th' is great guilty pleasure fun and it is very easy to understand its popularity and influence. It's very gory and gruesome, though not pointlessly so, but it is also very frightening and suspenseful.
This is apparent in the deaths, which couldn't have been more creative or shocking, and the hauntingly eerie music score. 'Friday the 13th' is assuredly directed and moves along at a lively pace. The late reveal is for the better and works very well. The climax is a long way from a petering out one, instead the film goes out on a very strong bang, right up to the unexpected and freaky final jolt clearly inspired by 'Carrie'.
Overall, good fun and very scary even if not exactly classified as great. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Friday the 13th (1980) Reviews
Freaky Friday
Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 January 2024 10:38
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Freaky Friday
Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 14 August 2022 05:54
'Friday the 13th' may have been panned by critics when first released but since then it is one of the most famous and influential horror films, the franchise containing one of horror's most iconic villains. The film is popular enough to become a franchise and spawn several sequels of varying quality and generally inferior to the one that started it all of.
Is 'Friday the 13th' an original film in terms of overall story? No, having been, and still is, compared to 'Halloween' (released two years earlier). One can see why somewhat, it is derivative in a way but to me it didn't come over as a direct rip off. 'Friday the 13th' is far from the best when it comes to acting, excepting Betsy Palmer (very good) and Adrienne King (charming). The others are average at best, though it was interesting to see Kevin Bacon in an early role pre-stardom.
Nor is it the best when it comes to dialogue. Much of it is very crude and cheesy. Or character development, while the characters are actually still easy to sympathise with to some extent they are stereotypes that we don't know an awful lot about generally.
However, while it may not be a "great" film, 'Friday the 13th' is great guilty pleasure fun and it is very easy to understand its popularity and influence. It's very gory and gruesome, though not pointlessly so, but it is also very frightening and suspenseful.
This is apparent in the deaths, which couldn't have been more creative or shocking, and the hauntingly eerie music score. 'Friday the 13th' is assuredly directed and moves along at a lively pace. The late reveal is for the better and works very well. The climax is a long way from a petering out one, instead the film goes out on a very strong bang, right up to the unexpected and freaky final jolt clearly inspired by 'Carrie'.
Overall, good fun and very scary even if not exactly classified as great. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Is 'Friday the 13th' an original film in terms of overall story? No, having been, and still is, compared to 'Halloween' (released two years earlier). One can see why somewhat, it is derivative in a way but to me it didn't come over as a direct rip off. 'Friday the 13th' is far from the best when it comes to acting, excepting Betsy Palmer (very good) and Adrienne King (charming). The others are average at best, though it was interesting to see Kevin Bacon in an early role pre-stardom.
Nor is it the best when it comes to dialogue. Much of it is very crude and cheesy. Or character development, while the characters are actually still easy to sympathise with to some extent they are stereotypes that we don't know an awful lot about generally.
However, while it may not be a "great" film, 'Friday the 13th' is great guilty pleasure fun and it is very easy to understand its popularity and influence. It's very gory and gruesome, though not pointlessly so, but it is also very frightening and suspenseful.
This is apparent in the deaths, which couldn't have been more creative or shocking, and the hauntingly eerie music score. 'Friday the 13th' is assuredly directed and moves along at a lively pace. The late reveal is for the better and works very well. The climax is a long way from a petering out one, instead the film goes out on a very strong bang, right up to the unexpected and freaky final jolt clearly inspired by 'Carrie'.
Overall, good fun and very scary even if not exactly classified as great. 7/10 Bethany Cox
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A great underrated movie
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 20 August 2010 08:39
From the 3 big horror movies that launched some major franchises in the 80’s (‘Halloween’, ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, ‘Friday the 13th’), my favorite one has always been this movie. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I saw it almost 20 years ago, way before the rest and that I'm being nostalgic and all. I believe that, after I-don't-how-many sequels, people simply forgot that the first one was actually a pretty good movie. Indeed, the first time I watched it, I remember it as if it was yesterday, a friend of mine suggested to see it, and, to be honest, I thought it would be some serious crap. Boy, I was wrong, that’s for sure. Indeed, eventually, it turned out to be really entertaining and pretty scary. On top of that, I usually hate it when they give such a twist at the end but this one was actually really good and it really worked very well. Eventually, it did try to watch the 2nd installment but I was so disappointed by this sequel that my original interest in this franchise completely vanished and I would never ever watch another installment, except for ‘Freddy vs Jason’ the crossover with Freddy Krueger which I saw many years later. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I really enjoyed, it is definitely worth a look and it remains a must see for any decent horror fan.
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