Essentially, there will be two types of Second Helping reviews. First, there will be reviews for films that I previously rated but did not write a first review for. Reviews for these types of films will be similar to a first-time review you are accustomed to seeing. They will also include a dash of informal content.
The second kind of Second Helping review will be for films that I already wrote a review for. These will be very informal and compare my initial review with how I felt about the film the latest time through. Consenting opinions will be brief and only elaborate so far. In those instances where I have changed my mind about a film, expect a more in-depth breakdown of the film that provides my justification for changing its rating.
Now for the film at hand…
Friday the 13th begins with the murder of two camp counselors in 1958. Flashforward to 1979, and a group of aspiring camp counselors have gathered to re-open Camp Crystal Lake. The locals are nervous because they remember the murders and feel the camp is cursed. All warnings aside, the young folk forge ahead with their plans. Unbeknownst to them (for a while at least) they are getting picked off one by one by an unseen killer who is determined to see Camp Crystal Lake remain closed.There is a good reason why this film series gets picked on, spoofed, and referenced so much. The series as a whole is terrible but this franchise-opener actually has some promise buried in the reels. Horror films have almost always stuck to the formula of starting with a moderate sized cast and thinning the herd gradually down to a lucky (or unlucky) few. While that is certainly in play here, I like the reason for the killing, which is oftentimes not very convincing in slasher flicks. The killer has a unique and powerful motivation for keeping Camp Crystal Lake on ice. Everything surrounding this motivation, however, is deeply flawed.
Let’s start with the basics- Friday the 13th offers up little in the way of likeable characters. Instead of building up characters that we care about, we are expected to care simply because someone is trying to kill them all. Most of the would-be counselors in this film take any chance they can get to smoke dope or have sex. Maybe I’m just a prude, but when you do stupid things, expect consequences for your bad decisions. Since this is a horror film, bad decisions flow almost as freely as the blood.
Compounding our misery is the fact that the acting is, on the whole, very poor. Deliveries are unrealistic, poorly timed, and sometimes just don’t make much sense. The main female good guy (Adrienne King) does some good screaming and looks good and terrified when necessary. Aside from this, the only notable thing about the acting in this film is that Kevin Bacon is in it.
I will say that some of the special effects makeup work looks pretty good. Unfortunately the makeup artists’ work is squandered by surrounding realistic-looking wounds with ridiculous spurts, spatters, and a number of anatomical and physical inaccuracies. To top it all off, the director chose to throw in a lot of POV camerawork, even when it can’t possibly be from the killer’s POV. If you are going to make the camera bob and weave to avoid the main characters, it darn well better be the killer. As this is not (or should not) be the case many times, I have to knock this film for an unnecessary effect.
Overall, Friday the 13th is about as silly and unappealing as I remember it. The best part about this film is that the dim-witted, lumbering Jason Vorhees is not the killer. His inclusion in the final reel ultimately takes away from the film and opened the door to a number of inferior sequels. It’s a shame, because this could have been a quality stand-alone horror flick. Everything just went wrong for it though.
ORIGINAL RATING: 1.25 out of 5
NEW RATING: 1.25 out of 5
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