IMDb > Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th
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Friday the 13th (1980) More at IMDbPro »

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Friday the 13th (1980) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   24,453 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Victor Miller (written by)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Friday the 13th on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
9 May 1980 (USA) more
Tagline:
On Friday The 13th, They Began To Die Horribly, One......By One (UK - Theatrical Tagline) more
Plot:
Camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to re-open a summer camp that was the site of a child's drowning. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
4 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(171 articles)
User Reviews:
A classic, in spite of itself! more (552 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
A Long Night at Camp Blood (USA) (working title)
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Runtime:
95 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The movie was filmed at Camp Nobebosco in New Jersey. The camp is still in operation to date, and they have a wall of Friday the 13th paraphernalia to honor the fact that the movie was set there. more
Goofs:
Miscellaneous: In the French translation of the movie, Mrs. Voorhees calls her son Jackie, even if the character is named Jason in the English original version. The translation was corrected in Friday the 13th Part 2. more
Quotes:
Officer Dorf: You kids keep your noses clean, you understand? You'll be hearing from me if you don't! We ain't gonna stand for any weirdness out here! more
Movie Connections:

FAQ

How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
Is it possible Jason could have also killed people in this movie?
Why would Brenda walk all the way through the rain to the communal bathrooms only to brush her teeth and wash her face when a sink is clearly shown in her own cabin?
more
26 out of 36 people found the following review useful.
A classic, in spite of itself!, 7 August 2003
7/10
Author: Bryce David

I consider Friday THE 13TH a classic, despite everything seemingly going against it. Yes, the original Friday THE 13TH part 1 and part 2 owe a lot to BAY OF BLOOD (or TWITCH OF DEATH NERVE). There's no question about it. The similarities between the two films are obvious. The film is responsible for spawning an endless number of truly awful sequels. The acting is nothing spectacular. The script is barely there. And the film sorta drags a bit in the middle. And the ending of Friday THE 13TH is an indirect rip-off of the ending in CARRIE. But the backwoods atmosphere/mystique behind Friday THE 13TH is totally original and effective (much more than any of the sequels), and the ending of FT13 is, imo, WAY better than the ending of CARRIE. The ending of FT13 makes the movie. The entire FT13 series exists merely on the strength of that ending. It created a myth, in the name of Jason. The story (or script) is wonderfully absurd (when you think about it) which gives the murders an even more psychotic edge to them, and in my mind, are more effective than the ones in BAY OF BLOOD or in any other Friday THE 13TH sequels because of the kooky reasoning behind them. Watching Jason kill his victims in the sequels quickly got boring. And the fact that Tom Savini created the excellent gory FX is a definite plus. The acting is average (some of it even poor) but let's face it, the characters, aside from their individual death scenes, don't have a lot of dramatic things to do, except for Betsy Palmer and Adrienne King, who is good but is not the best "last surviving female" actress ever to appear in a slasher. On the other hand, Betsy Palmer is amazing as Mrs. Voorhees. She's a combination of total sweetness, insanity and camp all rolled into one. Once Betsy appears on screen the film is thrilling and she adds a lot of life (no pun intended) to the whole proceeding, which was lacking from a good part of the film. And let's not forget the good score. Very effective even if it sometimes sounds derivative. And the original poster is great!

The funny thing about Friday THE 13TH is that when I first saw it 20 years ago I thought it was good but not as good as HALLOWEEN. Fast forward 20 years, and today I sorta prefer Friday THE 13TH slightly more than HALLOWEEN now, which has lost a lot of its luster, due mainly to HALLOWEEN's awful sequels and their stupid story-lines. Artistically, HALLOWEEN is still the better film of the two. There's no comparison there. But it has lost its edge, while FT13's trashiness has oddly kept it fresh. While HALLOWEEN has irremediably lost a lot of its mystique with each subsequent sequels, Friday THE 13TH, on the other hand, actually gained more credibility with every release of its seemingly endless number of ultra-stupid sequels. After seeing some of those sequels, the original FT13 looks positively brilliant compared to those horrendous sequels. It's a classic in its own special way.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Friday the 13th (1980)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
What is the song.... panman87
Did Steve do something to Alice? bustamanterichard58-602-531546
Jasons mum was righteous h-mason30
Did the music remind you of 'Psycho'? Kloth23
WHY SO UNDERRATED??? PiotrWeselak
Your favorite F13 films in order SsubzeroO
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