Friday the 13th is a 1980 American slasher film produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, written by Victor Miller, and starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, and Kevin Bacon. The film tells the story of a group of teenage camp counselors who are murdered one by one by an unknown killer while attempting to re-open an abandoned summer camp.
Prompted by the success of John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), director Cunningham put out an advertisement to sell the film in Variety in early 1979, while Miller was still drafting the screenplay. After casting the film in New York City, filming took place in New Jersey in the summer of 1979, on an estimated budget of $550,000. A bidding war ensued over the finished film, ending with Paramount Pictures acquiring the film for domestic distribution, while Warner Bros. secured European distribution rights.
Released on May 9, 1980, Friday the 13th was a major box office success, grossing over $59.8 million worldwide. Critical response was divided, with some praising the film's cinematography, score, and performances, while numerous others derided it for its depiction of graphic violence. Aside from being the first independent film of its kind to secure distribution in the U.S. by a major studio, its box office success led to a long series of sequels, a crossover with A Nightmare on Elm Street, and a 2009 series reboot.
Cast
Betsy Palmer as Mrs. Voorhees
Adrienne King as Alice Hardy
Harry Crosby III as Bill Brown
Jeannine Taylor as Marcie Cunningham
Laurie Bartram as Brenda Jones
Kevin Bacon as Jack Burrell
Mark Nelson as Ned Rubenstein
Robbi Morgan as Annie Phillips
Peter Brouwer as Steve Christy
Rex Everhart as Enos
Ronn Carroll as Sgt. Tierney
Walt Gorney as Crazy Ralph
Willie Adams as Barry Jackson
Debra S. Hayes as Claudette Hayes
Sally Anne Golden as Sandy, the Diner Waitress
Ari Lehman as Jason Voorhees
Plot
In 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake, counselors Barry and Claudette sneak inside a storage cabin to have sex, where an unseen assailant murders them. Twenty-one years later, camp counselor Annie Phillips is given a lift halfway to the reopened Camp Crystal Lake by a truck driver named Enos, despite an elderly man named Crazy Ralph warning her. While driving, Enos warns Annie about the camp's past, informing her about a young boy who drowned at Crystal Lake in 1957 and the two murders. After being dropped off, she hitches another ride from an unseen person, who chases her into the woods and slashes her throat.
At the camp, counselors Ned Rubenstein, Jack Burrell, Bill Brown, Marcie Cunningham, Brenda Jones, and Alice Hardy, along with the owner Steve Christy, refurbish the cabins and facilities. As a thunderstorm approaches, Steve leaves the campground to stock supplies. Ned sees someone walk into a cabin and follows. While Jack and Marcie have sex in one of the cabin's bunk beds, they are unaware of Ned's body above them, with his throat slit. When Marcie leaves to use the bathroom, Jack's throat is pierced with an arrow from beneath the bed. The killer follows Marcie into the bathrooms and slams an axe into her face. Brenda hears a child's voice calling for help and ventures outside to the archery range, where the lights turn on. Later, Steve returns and recognizes the unseen killer, who stabs him.
Worried by their friends' disappearances, Alice and Bill leave the main cabin to investigate. They find the axe in Brenda's bed, the phones disconnected, and the cars inoperable. When the power goes out, Bill goes to check on the generator. Alice heads out to look for him and finds his body pinned with arrows to the generator room's door. She flees to the main cabin to hide, only to be traumatized further when Brenda's body is thrown through the window. Soon after, Alice sees a vehicle pull up and rushes outside, thinking it is Steve. Instead, she is greeted by a middle-aged woman named Mrs. Voorhees, who claims to be an old friend of Steve's.
Mrs. Voorhees reveals that her son Jason was the young boy who drowned in 1957, blaming his death on the counselors who were supposed to be watching him, but they instead were having sex. Revealing herself as the killer, Mrs. Voorhees attempts to kill Alice, but she knocks Mrs. Voorhees unconscious. At the shore, Mrs. Voorhees tries to kill her again with a machete, but Alice gains the advantage and decapitates her. Exhausted, Alice boards and falls asleep inside a canoe, which floats out on Crystal Lake. Just as she wakes up and Jason's decomposing body attacks her, she awakens inside a hospital with a police officer and medical staff tending to her. When Alice asks about Jason, the officer says there was no sign of any boy. She says, "Then he's still there", as the lake is shown at peace.
Categories:
1980 filmsEnglish-Hindi language films,1980 horror films,1980s horror thriller films,1980s mystery films,1980s serial killer films,1980s slasher films,American films,American horror thriller films,American mystery films,American serial killer films,American slasher films,American teen films,Films about summer camps,Films directed by Sean S. Cunningham,Films scored by Harry Manfredini,Films set in 1957,Films set in 1958,Films set in 1979,Films set in forests,Films set in New Jersey,Films shot in New Jersey,Friday the 13th (franchise) films,Paramount Pictures films,Teen thriller films,Warner Bros. films