Friday The 13th

Review by Peter

Production Year: 1980
DVD Release Date: October 19, 1999
Studio: Paramount
Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Cast: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King
Genre: Horror
MPAA Rating: R

In the 1980's the horror genre got a major boost with the creation of many new horror franchises. It all began with the release of Friday the 13th, a small budget film about mysterious murders that happen at Camp Crystal Lake. While not a critical favorite, Friday the 13th, like the earlier Halloween, would achieve a box office success that would spawn numerous sequels and eventually make the hockey-masked Jason a horror movie icon.

The story begins with Camp Crystal Lake being closed following the mysterious murders of camp counselors, murders that left many town residents calling the camp cursed. Years later, with the camp now under new ownership, it is about to be re-opened. A new group of camp counselors has been assembled and the scene is set for another massacre. It’s not long before the current crop of comely counselors are fighting for their lives on Friday the 13th.

Those looking for a Jason gore fest will not find it here, as the bloodletting became more pronounced in the later part of the series. While I will try to limit my spoilers, I will say that the Jason that most of us have come to know and and love actually does not appear in this movie. Friday the 13th, while not the best in the series, certainly helped the horror genre gain momentum in the 1980s. And in the 80's alone the franchise would be responsible for eight horror movies, Friday the 13th through Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan.

Video Quality

Presented in the widescreen format enhanced for 16x9 televisions the picture for the most part is better than what I expected. The picture was presented with good color accuracy, including skin tones. Minor flaws were also present, most notable with some print flaws, though none that would distract the viewer. While not specifically a transfer problem, at times lighting issues seemed to cause the picture to be a little darker than it should be, best described as shadowing.

Audio Quality

The disc contains two Dolby Digital Mono tracks, one an English track and the other a French track. While the audio was decent and the sound levels were at an acceptable volume, it would have been nice to have seen the soundtrack enhanced to at least Dolby Digital 2.0 if not Dolby Digital 5.1. With the film taking place mostly in the woods surrounding the camp you can imagine the luxury of creepy ambient sounds that might be present. For those who are hearing impaired, English subtitles are also provided.

Special Features

The only special feature that is evident on the DVD is a theatrical trailer. While it’s interesting to see how the movie was originally promoted, it does not add much value to the DVD. It is hard to believe that simple things like an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes footage or even a retrospective on the film were too difficult to obtain for the DVD release. It leaves me thinking that once a big anniversary comes the DVD will be re-released in a special anniversary edition.

Summary

While the DVD does have numerous shortfalls, it is hard to not recommend this disc to horror fans, especially those who are fans of the Friday the 13th franchise. I can’t believe that a complete re-mastering of the video and audio isn’t possible and that the studio would have trouble creating a few special features. With the movie’s 30th anniversary looming in 2010 I would be hard pressed to not believe an anniversary edition is right around the corner. But until then horror fans will have to be pleased with this less than spectacular offering.