Friday the 13th: On-This-Day Thursday
Every Thursday, an older film released on this opening weekend years ago will be reviewed. They can be classics, or simply popular films that happened to be released to the world on the same date.
For May 9th, we are going to have a look at Friday the 13th.
Warning: Contains spoilers for Friday the 13th.
Often considered the authentic starting point of the slasher genre, I personally find Friday the 13th — the first of umpteen — to be the slasher of slasher pictures. Take Peeping Tom or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for instance. The former film really dives into this obsession with death that a perpetrator has, as the film likens his perversions to the perfectionisms that artists have (including filmmakers). The latter spun a new lore out of real cases, and managed to create authentic fear out of a very small budget. For me, Friday the 13th castigates that all by offering just a premise and a cast to be slaughtered. That’s it. That’s also essentially what the slasher genre became, as the actual soul of the people in these films is removed.
Outside of huge fans of this franchise, does anyone remember the names of the fallen in this film? Nothing profound is even being said. There’s a blanketed statement that this is the vengeance of a mother hurt by the death of her child, but that is used as a twist. You’re looking at the majority of a film being about murders at a camp, and people wanting to know why. Outside of the opening moments, much of this film is just an excuse to see blood. Take away at least a third of the film, and you would have a lengthier short film that conveys the exact same story.
And then there were four.
Don’t get me wrong. Considering the slim budget and relatively unknown cast (okay, forget that Kevin Bacon is a massive name now), Friday the 13th still shines enough. The acting isn’t quite as half baked as the slasher genre would eventually be known for. The visual and musical moods are quite stellar, which helps push a lifeless plot along. However, it’s clearly a film made by Sean S. Cunningham and company to hop on the new wave of slasher films coming out of America in the ‘70s. It’s a fan fare film that made it huge. A mediocre rating has nothing to do with the lousy fate of the genre, especially since a lot of that can be attributed to the constant sequels that even some of the better works (like A Nightmare on Elm Street, which came later) are guilty of. A 3 out of 5 is because Friday the 13th is, in and of itself, a film that puts entertainment before storytelling. Sure. Grab some popcorn. Enjoy some carnage. Out of the big four slasher films (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween), I’ve certainly seen better.
I’m also not scoring this a 3 out of 5 based on how it holds up to other slasher films. I’m using those as examples of works that favour story telling before the fan fare. You have to build up to that. Frankly, I think even the “revelatory” moments at the end are borderline deus ex machina territory. Forget the entire franchise exists. Would Jason popping up out of nowhere really pass today? It only succeeds now because of the rest of the franchise. We know what happens afterwards. As a stand alone film, this is just a butchered story about a mother grieving the death of her child, only for the child to pop out with no rhyme or reason. If this film wasn’t successful, and sequels weren’t made, this would be an absolutely atrocious ending.
On that thought, I’m changing my review to a 2.5 (in case you were wondering why I brought up “3”s earlier). Midway through writing this, I realized I actually dislike this film more than I remember. If I continue writing, that score may only go lower. A legacy does not justify a shoddy origin.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.