Friday the 13th (1980)

Director:

Sean S. Cunningham

Writer:

Victor Miller (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

9 May 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

On Friday The 13th, They Began To Die Horribly, One......By One (UK - Theatrical Tagline)

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.

Plot Keywords:

Lake | Summer | Camp Counselor | Revenge | Murder

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Betsy Palmer	...	Mrs. Pamela Voorhees
Adrienne King	...	Alice Hardy
Jeannine Taylor	...	Marcie Cunningham
Robbi Morgan	...	Annie
Kevin Bacon	...	Jack Burrel
Harry Crosby	...	Bill
Laurie Bartram	...	Brenda
Mark Nelson	...	Ned Rubinstein
Peter Brouwer	...	Steve Christy
Rex Everhart	...	Enos, the Truck Driver
Ronn Carroll	...	Sgt. Tierney
Ron Millkie	...	Officer Dorf
Walt Gorney	...	Crazy Ralph
Willie Adams	...	Barry
Debra S. Hayes	...	Claudette
Dorothy Kobs	...	Trudy
Sally Anne Golden	...	Sandy
Mary Rocco	...	Operator
Ken L. Parker	...	Doctor
Ari Lehman	...	Jason Voorhees
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noel Cunningham	...	Boy in 1958 Camping Circle (uncredited)
Irwin Keyes	...	Busboy (uncredited)
Tom Savini	...	Man The Knife Killer (uncredited)

Directed by
Sean S. Cunningham

Writing credits
Victor Miller		(written by)
Ron Kurz		uncredited

Produced by
Sean S. Cunningham	....	producer
Alvin Geiler	....	executive producer
Steve Miner	....	associate producer (as Stephen Miner)

Original Music by
Harry Manfredini

Cinematography by
Barry Abrams		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bill Freda

Casting by
Julie Hughes
Barry Moss

Production Design by
Virginia Field		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Virginia Field
Robert Topol		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Caron Coplan

Makeup Department
Tom Savini	....	special makeup effects
Taso N. Stavrakis	....	special makeup effects assistant (as Taso Stavrakis)
Katharine Vickers	....	hair stylist: Miss Palmer
Katharine Vickers	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Steve Miner	....	unit production manager (as Stephen Miner)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stephen Ross	....	second assistant director
Cindy Veazey	....	assistant director

Art Department
Christine Gardyasz	....	assistant properties (as Chris Gardyasz)
Alice MaGuire	....	property mistress (as Alice Maguire)
Daniel E. Mahon	....	assistant to art director (as Danny Mahon)

Sound Department
Lee Dichter	....	sound re-recordist
Richard Murphy	....	sound mixer
David Platt	....	boom
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Steven Kirshoff	....	atmospheric effects (as Steve Kirshoff)

Stunts
Tom Savini	....	stunts
Robert Tramontin	....	motorcycle stunt

Camera and Electrical Department
Phil Beard	....	second electric (as Philip Beard)
Jim Bekiaris	....	best boy (as Jim Bekaris)
Richard Berger	....	second assistant camera
Robert Brady	....	second assistant camera
Richard Feury	....	still photographer
Mike Hirsch	....	assistant camera: second unit
William Klayer	....	electric: second unit
Braden Lutz	....	camera operator
Tad Page	....	gaffer
Carl Peterson	....	grip
Larry Reibman	....	gaffer: second unit
Robert D. Shulman	....	key grip (as Bob Shulman)
Peter Stein	....	camera: second unit
John Verardi	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anne King	....	wardrobe assistant
Jan Shoebridge	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
Susan E. Cunningham	....	associate editor
Jay Keuper	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Rudy Churny	....	transportation captain (as Rudy Churney)

Other crew
Willie Adams	....	production assistant
Michael Barry	....	production assistant
Michael Calvello	....	location auditor
Michael Hall	....	production assistant
Martin Kitrosser	....	script supervisor
Ted Lowry	....	titles
Denise Pinckley	....	production office coordinator
Cecilia Verardi	....	production assistant (as Cindie M. Verardi)

Thanks
Norman Bedell	....	special thanks: Chief, Blairstown Police Department
Richard Skow	....	special thanks: Chief, Blairstown Fire Department

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (presents)
• Georgetown Productions Inc.
• Sean S. Cunningham Films

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1980) (Non-USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1980) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1981) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1981) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• T&O Film (1981) (Norway) (theatrical)
• PIC Distribuzione (1980) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Victor Michailides (1981) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1986) (Greece) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (Canada) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Das Vierte (2006) (Germany) (TV)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (deluxe edition)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2003) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sub (2009) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Bros. (198?) (UK) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray) (uncut)
• Paramount Home Video (198?) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Blairstown Fire Department  special thanks to (as Blairstown Fire Department, Blairstown, N.J.)
• Blairstown Police Department  special thanks to (as Blairstown Police Department, Blairstown, N.J.)
• Logo Music  music copyright by (© 1980, All rights reserved.)
• Optical House, The  opticals
• Panavision  lenses and Panaflex camera (as Panavision®)
• Ross-Gaffney Inc.  sound effects
• Six Feet Under  hair styles by (as Six Feet Under, Westport, Connecticut)
• TNI Casting  casting by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1980) (1985) | Finland:K-18 (2002) (self applied) | Portugal:M/18 | New Zealand:R16 | Hungary:18 | Portugal:M/16 (re-rating) | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | France:-12 (DVD rating) | USA:Unrated (uncut) | USA:X (original rating) | Chile:14 (re-rating) | Chile:(Banned) (Original rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:R | France:-16 | Iceland:(Banned) | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 (DVD rating) | Norway:16 (heavily cut) | Norway:18 | South Korea:15 (DVD uncut version) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R (Reg. No. 25901) | West Germany:18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Singapore:M18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Blairstown, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Victor Miller wrote the script in about two weeks. Moreover, Miller never went to summer camp when he was a kid.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Sgt Tierney is giving Steve a ride, he gets a call on the radio. As he replaces the receiver, he flips on the lights. In the next shot, the lights are off and are turned back on again.

Quotes:

Alice:[a snake is under the bed] I can't sleep if there's a snake in here!
Bill:I can't kill it until it comes out.
Alice:Well, call him!
Bill:How do you call a snake?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Simpsons: Boy Scoutz 'n the Hood (#5.8)" (1993)

A classic, in spite of itself!

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.