Friday the 13th (1980)

Director: Sean S Cunningham
Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeanine Taylor

Synopsis:
Misfortune befalls the counselors at a campground with a dark history.

Impressions:
If you only know about the Friday the 13th franchise through pop cultural osmosis, the first entry is going to come as a surprise to you. There's no hulking monster of a man with a hockey mask and a machete to be found here. Instead we have a comparatively low-key horror film where our gang of teens get picked off one after another. The initial windup does a good job of building the suspense, aided significantly by Harry Manfredini's score, and the reveal of the killer is quite effective. (I also want to praise the performance of said killer, but I won't spoil who it is on the off chance you don't know.) Also worth noting is that this film has Kevin Bacon in one of his early roles and Tom Savini is one of the people doing special effects. This is a solid horror film and I recommend giving it a watch.

Rating:
Watch It