Friday The 13th

Sean S Cunningham had struggled to find an identity for himself as a director, after producing Wes Craven's 1974 classic LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.

A handful of feeble rip-off family films later, Cunningham saw the light and realised that horror was where it was at (as did every independent film-maker in the US at the time, due to HALLOWEEN's unprecedented success!).

And so, FRIDAY THE 13TH was born. With a title concocted by Cunningham (although there was already a B-movie thriller from many years before bearing the same title) who also boasted to potential investors that his film would be "the scariest ever made", the movie actually owes more to four more significant participants:

Victor Miller. The guy who wrote the thing. Miller realised that by taking every modern horror cliché and throwing them into a bare-bones plot that raced along with frequent gore-stops on the way, was the paving the path to success. He also gave us the concept of premarital sex equating death (something he admits to stealing from HALLOWEEN, but surely Bava should receive the credit for?!) and created quite a unique villain - with a bona fide motive for committing the murders!

Adrienne King. A pretty, vulnerable screen heroine - likeable from the start, yet not so vulnerable that her eventual fighting back becomes implausible. And easily the strongest link of the mostly young cast.

Tom Savini. Of course. Would this film mean anything without it's genre-defining 'teenkill' showcases? Considering the film's budget and age, Savini's FX hold up very well indeed (they're certainly less ropey than some of the stuff you see in DAWN OF THE DEAD!!).

Harry Manfredini. For the score - iconic in horror circles, and lending a credible eeriness to proceedings.

Cunningham's direction is, at best, competent. The non-scare scenes are handled in a decidedly flat, uninvolving manner. Thankfully, Miller has paced his script well with enough jolts and murders to keep the film going … just.

I haven't mentioned the plot … need I? I assume everyone is overly familiar with this film. If not, here goes: a group of teenagers are employed as counsellors at Camp Crystal Lake. The camp has been closed for several years, following a tragedy that occurred many moons ago. Needless to say, someone starts picking the teens off one by one in satisfyingly gory fashion. It all links back to the tragedy from years before, you see …

FRIDAY THE 13TH was a big deal upon it's theatrical release in 1980. So much so that it's impact has been considerably lessened over the last two decades by countless sequels, parodies and imitations. It's hard to believe that younger genre fans weaned on the likes of SCREAM will do anything other than laugh at the sheer dumbness of the characters and plot mechanics on offer …

That's not to say there isn't enjoyment to be had. Although FRIDAY is not a great film, it is fun in an old-fashioned 'humourless' way. It takes it's horror seriously - Cunningham really wants to terrify his audience - whether he succeeds at this is another argument altogether.

The disc from Warner Home Video is a good one.

The film is presented uncut (throat-slashing of the hitch-hiker is intact), and in a newly remastered anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer. It looks superb - sharp, clear, without trace of grain, artefacting or colour bleeding. You couldn't have hoped for better (well okay - a couple of the night scenes struggle with contrast, but not enough to distract).

English Audio is presented in 1.0 mono and holds up well. A little on the quiet side at times, but thankfully free from hiss or dropout. You also get the option to watch the movie dubbed into Italian or French (the latter is the loudest of the three). Numerous subtitle options are available, including English for the hearing impaired (removable).

Boring, static menu pages (sans sound) lead into some interesting extras.

The theatrical trailer is nice to see, but hardly revelatory.

The commentary track is advertised on the cover as being solely by Cunningham - there are actually contributions from numerous cast/crew members. For the large part, it sounds like interview snippets that have been brought together from various sources - but it works!

Best of all is the documentary "Return to Crystal Lake: Making Of Friday The 13th". This is full-frame, and includes all-new interviews with the likes of Cunningham, Manfredini, Miller, King and actress Betsy Palmer. Where's Savini?!

At 22 minutes long, it's perhaps a little too short. But it'll suffice - we're not talking about the greatest horror film ever, after all?!

This disc satisfies in almost all areas (a 5.1 surround remix would have been great). A Special Edition will no doubt arrive from the US in time - but it all depends on how much you care for the film. For me, the thought of having it uncut and remastered, with commentary and documentary attached, is more than enough. And Warner have had the sense to price this cheap!!

The film has 27 chapters (at 92 mins, that's pretty good going). It's presented in a keepcase - with an unforgivably shit cover - and is Region 2 PAL encoded.

Review by Stu Willis