Will Sorg-
Friday The 13th has a very unique place in horror history: it’s the second biggest slasher film to capture the world’s movie-going audiences. Friday The 13th was originally conceived off of the name alone; the filmmakers put out an ad with the title and almost immediately received funding for the entire project. By that point, a script had not even been made, it was the title that started it all. This theme of incredible good luck would be carried through the film’s entire production cycle. Riding off the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween, jumpstarting Kevin Bacon’s career, and having Tom Savini (the same special effects director as the Night of the Living Dead franchise) basically guaranteed that this would become a genre-defining classic as well as a box office hit.
I guarantee that you already know what Friday The 13th is about. Even over 40 years later, this film’s formula has permeated popular culture. Isolated teens being sexually promiscuous are picked off one by one until the unseen assailant is revealed to the characters -and the audience- and the remaining victims try to fight back. It’s all a mechanism to spur on thrills and kills. For the slasher genre, there’s barely anything out there that adheres to conventional horror standards more than this film. Although, it could be debated if this movie really is conventional, seeing as much of the tropes built into the slasher genre were invented by the trio that is this film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween. After all, Friday the 13th gave us the now-standard settings of isolated woods and summer camps; two locations soon to be endlessly reused for the slasher genre.
Watching the film today, you definitely have to keep in mind that this was a film that tried new ideas for the time in cinematic history. The endless rip-offs and permutations and even sequels of Friday The 13th had not yet standardized everything you have read here. So, to keep that in mind while watching makes the film that much more of a rewarding experience. While I personally think this movie isn’t the best of the original slashers, I can’t lie and say it isn’t still a fantastic film to this day. The plot setup is so simple that it is almost impossible to mess up. As a result, this film lives as a fun reminder of the origins of modern horror.
I would be doing this film a disservice if I did not recognize how good the technical aspects are. Although director Sean S. Cunningham is definitely no master at the art, I think he got very good performances out of his actors. A lot of the teen characters feel plucked straight out of the average person’s mind on what victims in a slasher film should behave like. There are a lot of wonderfully eccentric performances by the actors playing the adults too, and no one feels out of place in the film. The music is also essential to this movie’s success. The iconic “ki ki ki ki ma ma ma ma” is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sound design, as each music choice and sound effect builds the tension of the film up exactly when it needs to.
Finally, I just need to talk about what a master Tom Savini is. Savini has done special effects and makeup for tons of classic horror films and has even acted in a handful. He is truly dedicated to his work and his practical effects are second to none. A lot of time and effort goes into things as small as fake blood but the dedication that Savini puts in often makes the difference between a classic horror film and an easily forgotten dumpster fire. Looking back on a film like this, you can really see how important someone like Savini is to movies. I’m very happy I got to see this movie and Savini’s work for the first time this October.