# 5 -- Friday the 13th (1980)

Director: Sean Cunningham

Rating: 5 / 5

This is it. 1980. Where it all began.

It wasn't the first of its kind, no, but it was the greatest. Some would argue that Halloween started it all, and in a way it did. But horror would not be what it is today without Sean Cunningham's masterpiece, Friday the 13th. 

From what I can gather from Making Friday the 13th: The Legend of Camp Blood, a book by David Grove, Sean Cunningham started off making softcore porn movies. But one day, after seeing John Carpenter's Halloween, thought he'd try his hand at horror. And Friday was born.

So yes, in a way Halloween could be considered the godfather of modern horror films. But it wasn't until we met the loveable Pamela Voorhees that the baby boom of slasher movies began. "The slasher craze of the '80s." 

I don't think there is a horror fan out there (or even anyone who isn't) who doesn't know the basic story of this movie. So I'll skip the walkthrough. Instead, I'll delve a bit deeper.

Jason Voorhees, son of Pamela and Elias Voorhees, drowned at Camp Crystal Lake in 1957. He was eleven years old. His mother, very distraught, returns to the camp one year later. There, she works as a cook. Her broken heart and her grief have driven her to insanity, and she can no longer stand it. Two lovers go into the barn, and Pamela follows. They are kissing, being naughty, and she can't help but remember...That is what those kids were doing when my boy drowned. She sees these two lovers as the ones who killed her son. They should have been watching; they should have been paying attention. But they let her boy, her sweet boy, die. And they must be punished.

1980. The killings seem to have stopped there. But, after a string of bad luck (fires, poison in the lake), the camp is re-opened. And once again, kids are being murdered. 

Body count
1 & 2. 2 lovers: stabbed.
3. Annie: throat slit.
4. Jack: stabbed through the neck with an arrow.
5. Ned: killed offscreen, but apparently stabbed or throat slit.
6. Marcy: axe to the forehead.
7. Steve:stabbed.
8. Bill: shot repeatedly with multiple arrows, hung onto a door.
9. Brenda: killed offscreen
10. Pamela Voorhees: beheaded with machete by our Heroin and sole survivor, Alice.

This, to me, is more than just a great horror movie. It is about the relationship between mother and son. If you know anything about the series, you know that Jason was a special child. He was physically deformed, and mentally challenged. But his mother loved him very much, regardless. And after losing her son, she was sucked into the pit of insanity. She begins hearing his voice, begging her to kill those who wronged him. And she listens. She needs to make her sweet boy happy.

Friday the 13th, and Jason Voorhees, have become very iconic over the last three decades, spawning eleven sequels, a documentary, and several rip-offs. I have even heard of Halloween attractions based on the series (haunted houses and such). Iconic, definitely. And there will never be another quite like it. They can try, but our dear Jason can never be duplicated.