Like its predecessor, the script demonstrates some smarts with characters that are not complete dunces - a VW bug that has trouble starting and a counselor with a background in child psychology, all which of serve a purpose in the harrowing third act. Steve Miner takes over where Cunningham left off - with a mystery about the little boy in the lake - and continues the senseless slaughter of horny, inappropriate young people. With the success of the first movie, a sequel was bound to happen, especially at a time when the practice was quickly becoming commonplace. The plot keeps the identity of its killer a mystery for a shocking reveal, one which owes a great deal to Hitchcock's ' Psycho.' With memorable music by Harry Manfredini and gory effects by legendary makeup maestro Tom Savini, 'Friday the 13th' remains a blast. None of the characters do stupid things purely for narrative convenience they are hunted and attacked while in the middle of regular activities.
The story's "Final Girl" is very plainly defined with a thick air of innocence and vulnerability so that when it comes time to fight the killer, it's somewhat surprising to see her also be resourceful, quick on her feet, and capable of defending herself. It also introduced the setting of youth camps, the sort bursting with misbehaving, reckless teenagers too preoccupied with their hormones to notice a killer on the loose.Īlthough its all-too familiar formula has largely lost its effectiveness, especially with modern audiences, Cunningham's film still possesses some small semblance of originality. The horror at Camp Crystal Lake is almost single-handedly responsible for kick-starting a craze of scary movies that flooded theaters in the early part of the 1980s, a short period of time sometimes affectionately referred to as "The Golden Age of the Slasher" by horror aficionados. Cunningham's 'Friday the 13th (1980)' which cemented the relatively-new-at-the-time subgenre into a viable blueprint that could be easily imitated. While ' Black Christmas (1974)' and ' Halloween (1978)' paved the way for what later became the holiday-themed "slasher" movie, it was Sean S. The box set has been assembled as a result of the strategic distribution alliance between Paramount and Warner announced last fall, granting Warner exclusive video distribution rights to over 600 Paramount titles. Many years later, the camp becomes the scene of a number of murders – all of which are either committed or motivated by the avenging Jason, who forever lurks at Crystal Lake with his finely-honed machete. The film that turned psycho killer Jason Voorhees and his infamous hockey mask into a pop culture icon has also bested the horror competition as the #1 home entertainment seller.įriday the 13th focuses primarily on the character of Jason Voorhees, who drowned as a young child at Camp Crystal Lake due to the inattentiveness of camp counselors.
This intense slasher series is one of the longest-running and most successful horror franchises in film history, surpassing the domestic theatrical box-office grosses of such legendary series as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.