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Friday THE 13TH (1980)directed by: Sean S. Cunninghamstarring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, and Kevin Baconplot: Seven camp councilors head to Camp Crystal Lake to fix it up for the summer. Despite warnings of a dark past and a 'death curse', the teens decide to have a good time anyway, and at night indulge in sex, drugs, and strip poker. Unfortunately for them, a psycho killer is prowling the camp grounds, picking them off one by one. When only one is left, she must discover the identity of the killer and fight for her life.my thoughts: Ever since I can remember, I've loved this film. When I was a child, it scared the crap out of me. That chilling noise playing in the stalk sequences (which has now become the most famous sound in horror films) haunted my nightmares, and some of the gore scenes were really graphic.Viewing it now, it is no longer that scary but it is still a lot of fun. I liked how these earlier Friday films ignored the stereotypical teenage characters. There's no slut, no jock, no token anything. Every character felt really natural and for some of them, I cared when they died.The gore scenes are great, thanks to Tom Savini. We get stabbings, decapitations, and plenty more. Gore hounds will love this. Well since every gore hound has seen this, gore hounds mostly already love this.And then there's the two key things in making a good horror film. The directing and the music. Sean S. Cunningham is a really good director and establishes the camp setting perfectly. He adds beautiful shots of the wind blowing against the trees, the lake at sunrise, that you wouldn't find in later entries.The music is also great. Harry Manfredini is one of my favorite composers, because he makes the chase scenes so much more exciting. The music in the final scene also works like a charm.I forgot to mention that this film has one of the most popular and remembered horror endings of all time. And while it may have stolen from CARRIE, it works just as well here and is the cherry on top of a classic slasher film.
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