Rating: R | Runtime: 95 minutes
Release Date: May 9th, 1980 (USA)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director(s): Sean S. Cunningham
Writer(s): Victor Miller

We ain’t gonna stand for no weirdness out here.

I remember hating this film when I was younger. I think I was just confused and angry that it wasn’t the Friday the 13th that I had been sold from the franchise’s later entries. No giant Jason? No hockey mask? The machete only being used for two kills—one being a snake? How could the most iconic motifs be absent?

Watching it now proves I was too harsh and too preoccupied with what followed rather than appreciative of what it was. I still don’t think it’s all that great, but there are definitely moments. And I do love the twist murderer and double rug pull as far as finally adding a supernatural element in only to take it away.

So, are all the other movies that follow in Alice’s mind? Does what she do ultimately bring the boy back to life to seek revenge like his mother? I guess I need to watch the second and see if there actually is a coherent narrative progression or if they just decided to retroactively turn the series from a Psycho homage into a Halloween ripoff.

Two wild moments I can’t shake:

1) The truck driver grabbing two handfuls of Annie’s butt to hoist her up after she was already in the cab.

2) Brenda bragging about rolling double sixes in Monopoly despite one die clearly showing a two. What a cheater!

---

Laurie Bartram, Jeannine Taylor, Peter Brouwer, Harry Crosby, Kevin Bacon, and Mark Nelson in FRIDAY THE 13TH.