User Reviews

Greetings from Lithuania. "Friday the 13th" (1980) isn't a great movie by any means, it is not a particularly good in a first place. But what makes this film stood out its his low key approach to a slasher genre that was nearly born with this one. Following after the success of "Halloween" this film was a huge success, and thus the franchise was born. This film has its moments, but seen it without a nostalgic or cult status prism this film is mostly bad. Acting here is what you expect from 80's low budget slasher flick - no wonder no one except for Kevin Bacon made it trough later. The gore effects are pretty good here, but it isn't a gore fest. Music is simple yet effective. Overall, "Friday the 13th" is more famous i think do to its iconic title and nostalgia to a genre then pure film making. It is a fun film to revisit once in a decade or so if you are in a mood near the Halloween season.

Released in 1980, Friday the 13th set the foundation for the franchise, though the film still reeks of the late ’70s. The camp counselors seem more interested in sex, drinking, and smoking than watching the kids, leading to ridiculous moments like a strip Monopoly game before inevitable deaths. This mix of sleaze and minimalism, often parodied later, became the franchise’s trademark tone. For those expecting Jason, this first entry can be disappointing — he doesn’t appear at all. The killer, whose identity is hidden through first-person shots, is effective but far from terrifying. While putting the viewer directly in the killer’s shoes is an interesting touch, it’s the film’s only real creative idea. The murders are gory but uninspired, and the pacing is uneven, with bursts of violence followed by long stretches of nothing. Although savaged by critics and even nominated for Razzie Awards, the movie was a box-office success and spawned countless sequels. Kevin Bacon appears in an early role, and the French dub humorously renamed Jason “Jacky.” Ultimately, this first installment is among the weakest: poorly acted, sluggish, and lacking tension, it’s hardly essential viewing to understand the rest of the saga.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The original Friday the 13th is a decent horror film from the early 80s. While the payoff is unexpected and can Garner movie companions because throughout the film we have no idea who the Killer is and the killer ends up being someone previously not introduced so it's really confusing. Other than that Tom savini special effects are always amazing and the acting is decent especially from Betsy Palmer who plays Mrs voorhees. It will never not be iconic. Like I said the ending Where Mrs Voorhees is revealed to be a killer is somewhat disappointing depending on your point of view because she was previously not showing at any point in the movie so it feels like it comes out of nowhere. That's why I give it the average score. It's decent but not amazing, this is one of those Series where the first movie is not automatically the best

Um grande clássico que deu vida a vários outros, simplesmente incrível esse filme principalmente o plot twist.

It’s a classic, it’s not the greatest but it’s worth a watch. It has a higher rating because this is the movie that started the Jason franchise as we know it today.

An early entry in the '80s blood-n-guts slasher boom, the first Friday the 13th checks a broad number of boxes: gratuitous amounts of gore, hormone-driven teen victims, secluded setting, mysteriously prophetic locals... even a quick flash of skin. In many ways, it's also a bridge from the clunkier horror flicks of the preceding decade. The effects are often laughable, the acting is paper-thin and the production values seem extremely cheap and dated. Very few of the characters are even remotely likable, either, which makes their relentless slaughter into something of a spectator sport. Once it ditches the hammy teenage dialogue and vague premonitions that flood the first act, the film settles into a nice groove: stalk, scare, chase, kill, repeat. The mainstream success of Jason as a horror icon even gives this first entry a little boost, misleading first-time viewers into a surprise reveal at the climax (and, of course, an infamous jump-scare just before the credits). From a critical perspective it's not good, but lasting influence and dogged determination carry it a long way.

The film that started a franchise. While it may not be the best horror film it's legacy is very influential. It is one film everyone must watch once. Friday the 13th is a classic horror movie. Some sequels do a better job but this is still a great movie in the franchise.

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Definitely iconic, but this film just did not live up to my expectations for such a lauded and long-running series. Of course, nobody is expecting fleshed-out characters and complex storytelling, but Friday the 13th still leaves much to be desired. None of the teenaged characters stand out from each other in any way and the head of the camp is completely useless. None of the kills are particularly memorable, even excluding the fact that the film is so dark you can barely see them anyway. The one thing that brings this film out of the red is also its only memorable moment. The boat scene at the very end is something that caught me completely off guard and left me wowed. Aside from that, I could take or leave this movie.

The slow build, but impressive sets captivated audiences; but it was Friday the 13th's twist ending that made it a huge success and allowed it to continue.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Friday the 13th is the first film in the cult franchise of youth slashers. But he seemed to me one of the most boring. Friday the 13th is a terribly long plot, most of the film is not directly dedicated to Jason Voorhees. Of course, if we consider Friday the 13th strictly as a separate film, without looking into the sequel, the first part looks much more presentable. But personally, it seems to me that Friday the 13th cannot be watched as one movie, you need to watch sequels right away. In general, Friday the 13th for 1980 was not bad. But it's inferior in everything as the opening film that Carpenter's Halloween, that A Nightmare on Elm Street. However, it's more interesting than Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Фильм давший начало франшизе об серийном убийце Джейсоне Вурхизе, но что пародоксально его знаменитую хоккейную маску я практически не видел, все будет в следующих фильмах серии и лагере «Хрустальное озеро» где и происходят данные события. Этот фильм скорее ознакомительный, с предысторией знакомит, что произошло, когда, и кто виноват. Советую смотреть ночью или вечером, не помню пугал ли он меня когда я его смотрел впервые. Для своего времени фильм неплох, собрал оглушительную кассу, собственно из-за этого и пошла франшиза.

Esta película hay que verla con la mente abierta, no tanto con lo técnico o lo cinematográfico sino disfrutar del gore y la revolución que trajo los efectos especiales del aclamado Tom Sabino, disfrutar de la icónica banda sonora de Harry manfredini o la atmósfera espeluznante que está te puede llegar a generar, y no estar tan centrado en lo malo, porque obviamente la película no es perfecta. Tiene relleno y se nota la serie B que trae y las actuaciones poco creíbles de los actores. Pero si dejas atrás todos esos puntos bajos y disfrutas de los efectos especiales y la música, te aseguro que como visualizador de películas horror slasher ochentera, te lo pasarás muy bien y un rato entretenido. (Recalco que esto es solo en base a mi opinión)

Friday the 13th is a bad movie, the characters are very unlikeable and the villain is unintimidating

An ok first movie for the franchise, but in my opinion, the best parts of this movie is the score, Betsy Palmer, Kevin Bacon, and the Kills, other than that this movie is kinda boring.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I dont know why they started with Jason's Mom and not Jason. The only thing scary about her is her smile.

Was pretty shocked at how completely awful the first hour of this is, slow pacing and low tension really drag it down. The final 30 minutes picked up a good enough amount for me to not completely dismiss it. Although that fight was more comedy than thriller.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Meh. It's essentially Halloween 1978, made by someone who doesn't understand Halloween 1978. Also it doesn't have the charm and enjoyable silliness of the later movies. I would've given it a 2, but the last 25 minutes were amazing. Oh, and the music is good.

Friday The 13th didn't have any originality compare to other horror original classic like Halloween, Carrie, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare On Elm Street, and Psycho, the movie is a classic only because of the title and Jason, the movie itself compare to the movie that i mention before isn't any horror Masterpiece, example, the first person perspective is more of like copying than inspired by Halloween, the music is more of like copying than inspired by Psycho, and the ending also more of like copying than inspired by Carrie, the classic and usual horror movie story including bunch of dumb teenager was fine if it's the character was fine to me too, well i don't like three particular character in this movie but the rest are fine, and i like the main character Alice, in the more positive way Friday The 13th did have a pretty brutal unpredictable death which is a great thing because predictable death is of course not a good thing in a horror movie, the movie also still pretty intense, and terrifying, the performances mostly was fine thankfully, so overall Friday The 13th is indeed the worst horror original classic compare to the movie that i mention in the beginning for me, but as the movie itself, it was ok.

nice movie but not the best what was really annoying is that the movie is very slow and was made very cheap but its a look worth

This is an absolute favourite film of mine. It totally nails the new formula and refines it over the next few films. It actually defines so many of the tropes that these slasher films use. Some credit this to Halloween (1978) but that, in my opinion, is a slightly different sub-genre. This may have been inspired by Halloween but it does its own thing with it. The filmmaking techniques are sometimes dated like the freeze frames, off-camera violence and cutting on dialogue but that’s because the ‘the present’ in the film was before I was born. There are also some beautiful filmmaking techniques like reverse looking room and every shot is practical. The strong female characters and their perfect hair are really engaging. Some of the acting is weak but that adds to the entertainment, just like some of the scare sequences which are pretty badly made by modern standards but this somehow adds to the charm. Sometimes it’s very comical and that’s entertaining. There is just so much personality in this series which is missing from so many films. One gripe though, the mother and the crazy old guy on a bike overacts so much.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This movie absolutely ****. This is definitely one of the most overrated horror films ever made. The only part of this movie that I enjoyed were the ending credits. This is an overall boring movie and I would not recommend this to anyone you know if they are trying to get into the horror movie genre. I give this movie two thumbs down

the original friday the 13th the beginning for one of the most beloved horror franchises. this is a very average movie this is not a masterpiece piece of cinema like halloween but it is not so bad that you hope you die in the next 30 seconds after the credits role like jaws the revenge. so the the things I like the acting is amazing they do really well for a movie with only a 700000 dollar Budget and also the makeup effects by Tom Savini are great. Now for the things I did not like *most* of the kill sences like for example the first pair of kills the killer gets its just the girl in a cornier and screaming and then a blinding white light and title card and also a lot of the kills are just a stab to gut or just the character dissipering and there boys there 20 minutes later overall average film 5/10 2.5/5

Great thrilling action and great cast members with memorable kills, god rest your soul Betsy Palmer. And long live Adrienne King!

I wasn't expecting that at all. This '80s atmosphere is simply gorgeous. Well, let's keep in mind that it is another time because (I hope that) no trucker would have the audacity to touch a young girl's buttocks to "help" her get into his truck. The scenario is interesting. I found Annie really attaching, really cute in her naive way. Other main characters are not always interesting nor that attractive but they all bring something to the movie in their own way. Overall acting is great excepted for the scenes in which characters have to face death. However we can really feel the despair and ineluctability growing as the movie goes on and on. Soundtrack and music makes everything really better. The very end is really tricky, a bit confusing and doesn't seem like a true end, surely because there are eleven other movies coming after this one... Sound effects are okay but those weird breathing sounds we hear when the killer is near can quickly become unbearable. The sex scenes are a bit too present and represented according to me as it completely breaks the rhythm. The pace is weird and the movie takes a long time to start. If you manage to get over the intense boredom I think 'Friday the 13th' has more to offer than you think.

Solid classic horror movie. The acting wasn't particularly great but it's hard to be too critical of a movie that came out 40 years ago, 6.5/10.

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I know it's a classic, but it didn't do much for me. It is a good movie with a good twist, but it has aged very poorly. I bet it was crazy scary in 1980, but I would take Halloween over this any day. Again, this movie has aged terribly, but it is still pretty fun. I give it a 6/10 and a C+.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

First of all, this movie was more of revenge-suspense drama and not horror. The main idea of this film came only after "The Halloween (1978)". The acting was less than satisfactory. Actors could've done a lot better. It took a little too long getting going. It was the last half hour when the main screaming and offscreen killings and action happened. Some of the fighting and action was cheesy and kinda funny. Overall, it is famous for giving character like Jason but this part was not that good. It could have been much better.

Too slow to start, but last 20 mins are excellent. The actors are a bit hit or miss. Soundtrack is good.

Viernes 13 (1980) *No se porque carajo se llama Martes 13 en latinoamérica, pero bueno* Sinopsis: El campamento de verano del lago Cristal reabre sus puertas tras permanecer varios años cerrado a raíz de un accidente. A partir de ese momento, comienza a aparecer gente muerta en extrañas circunstancias. Opinión: Tiene más pifias que el Festival de Viña, pero su estatus de culto y éxito financiero la respaldan, además de que sus secuelas fueron en su mayoría mejores que esta, en lo personal es la que menos me gusta pero tiene lo suyo. Valoración: 3 de 5

Friday The 13th may have the staying power and the franchise backing behind, but this first film lacks some of the more interesting aspects of the later entries. Where the film shines is the score and the look of the film, both of which work really well to set up the tension as our characters get picked off one by one. Unfortunately, the acting and writing of said characters means we don't care as much when they get picked off. That being said, Betsy Palmer gives a good performance as Mrs. Voorhees.

*SPOILERS AHEAD* This review is for the unrated cut which has a touch more glorious Savini gore. It's crazy to think how this franchise started. Because when most of us think of it, we refer to the incomparable Hockey mask clad Jason Voorhees whose only in the movie a smidge and not in the form we most know him. The killer is Mrs. Voorhees played amazingly by Betsy Palmer. As we all know she targets the group of counselors trying to reopen the camp blaming them for the death of her son and judging them with brimstone and fire morals. She slices and dices them in increasingly impressive ways from sexy Kevin Bacons throat piercing to his girlfriend getting an axe in the face and so much more. It all culminates with her glorious beheading and one of the best jump scare endings of all time, if not the best. Revisiting it all these years later it's easy to see the film's many imperfections but also see why it spawned a 12 film franchise with a 13th hopefully on the way. It's formula of suspenseful atmosphere and gruesome quick kills is something almost every horror film has replicated in various degrees, some better and some worse. Bit one thing is absolutely certain to me the film us deservedly and undoubtedly a genre classic. 4.25/5

For some reason, people hate this movie but it had a great plot twist and awesome kills.

Though Friday the 13th defined the horror genre for decades to come, the first installment of the series hasn't aged too well. Sure the kills are awesome and Betsy Palmer’s spine chilling performance as Pamela Voorhees is great, but everything else is just an hour and a half of sex-driven teens running around and slowly, and I mean dreadfully slowly being picked off one by one by a murderer. Maybe back then it was horrifying to watch, but nowadays it's just one of those movies that you put on your TV, but don't really pay too much attention to anything besides the kills and the climax.

Love it or hate it, it is THE archetype for it’s genre. But worth watching to see 1. if I’m correct, and 2. to see if you love or you hate it.

This old but scary clone of Halloween might not be the best horror film ever, but it is at least pretty solid. Thanks to an interesting plot, a creepy villain, and plenty of memorable moments, Friday the 13th is a film that is good, and that's what matters.

Friday the 13th is very dumb and disgusting movie. Yes, it's classic, but that doesn't make Friday 13 a good movie. Unlike Halloween (1978) and Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), this film does not create its own unique atmosphere, does not bring something new to the horror genre. This movie is just boring.

Plot already worn out, if there's any. I can understand the FX not being at their best because of the year it was filmed, but the acting?! It's terrible. We are kept watching a movie for 70 minutes until we get any understanding of what's happening. Bad writing, direction, not original at all.

Quite Nostalgic Friday The 13th isn’t quite a masterpiece like Halloween or A Nightmare On Elm Street, But this is still a classic movie.

Friday the 13th may have started one of the longest running franchises in horror history, but it unfortunately has not aged nearly as well as the films that followed.

Friday the 13th is a true 80's Film, ingrained into Western pop culture (Although Part 2, and 3 do it better). It lives off Nostalgia and controversy from its time. When Watching the film it makes you feel you in the '80s. The Acting is ok. Betsy Palmer is really good and to see a young Kevin Bacon is crazy. People go to see these movies for the kills (Again Part 2, and 3 did better). What people forget Friday the 13th comes from the Golden Age of slasher films and set the bar for Future parts of the franchise. It not for everyone, but if you get a chance give it a watch.

Of all the "classic" slasher films which started a franchise, this is most definitely the weakest one. First Nightmare movie - top notch. First Halloween movie - top notch. First Evil Dead movie - top notch. First Friday the 13th - .... bleh ..... I don't mean it's bad and **** but is totally rough. I find the Friday the 13th franchise to be most successful among the ones I mentioned, including Exorcist franchise, but it doesn't have anything so investing for me to be passionate about this franchise whatsoever. The first movies in the other franchises had something that kept me intrigued, even though the rest were mostly trash. . . Good : Betsy Palmer gives a very creepy and unsettling performance. She was the saving grace of the movie to some extent. The final twist in the end, seems a bit clichéd today, but wasn't so common back then (I think), anyways, it worked for me. Even though it gets unnecessarily loud sometimes, it works for a movie like this. And throughout the movie, it has the "point of view" style of telling the story, the kills in particular. It helps to build the suspense throughout the film, until the final twist in the end. And, the practical effects, holy **** They have not dated at all. The decapitations, the impaling, the axe to the face ..... they look very good. That's probably the biggest positive of this film. . . Mixed : A lot of kills happen off-screen. Some are just slitting the throat stuff, which isn't too exciting, but some were totally insane kills. I would've loved to see them. But again, this movie had very little to do. Showing all those kills would've meant a gore sequence after a gore sequence, rather than an actual film. That would've made me love this film even less. . . Bad : The biggest flaw of this film is that it doesn't feel exciting. The excitement is there, but when we get the "point of view" style things indicating a kill is going to take place. And, towards the end of the movie. Even the way they end it is stupid. When someone could've been killed easily, the person was just knocked down a couple of times before getting killed. And, the way they decided to end this film for good wasn't so appreciable at all, if they were to bring Jason Voorhees back in the second film. The screenplay was mediocre at best. The director could've done a better job. If only John Carpenter or Wes Craven directed this film, it would've been a little better to watch. The acting, except that of Palmer, looks really fake. The plot is really thin, and my main complaint won't be that. But, they could've made it more interesting and thrilling. The first Nightmare on Elm Street movie had no big, twisted and complicated plot. But it was damn good and exciting right from the beginning to the end (before the twist). It didn't have so much of a better script, it just had some creepy dialogues for Freddy, and may be some creepy imagery. But the majority of the credit for the film being good goes to the direction of Wes Craven, rather than his screenplay. So here, by the same rationale, I would blame the director for the movie being inferior to its contemporaries. The movie is like everything is normal, wait let's kill him/her and make it exciting for a brief period of time, and it's normal again. There are some pretty good jumpscares, especially the one involving Jason Voorhees. But the rest, even though they're good, they are so illogical and sometimes it's clear that it was just the screenwriter's convenience. None of the characters, except that played by Betsy Palmer, are interesting. The backstory of Jason was interesting but I don't think I would ever want to see a solo Jason story, unlike a Freddy's origin story. . . Conclusion : It's just an old film, people feel nostalgic about, and was the one which marked the beginning of perhaps the most successful horror franchise in the history of American cinema. Hence, it's a "classic". If you haven't seen it till date, and think it's one of the best old films that got everything right, it's not a movie like that. . . Rating. . . Score : 6.2/10 Grade : B