45 Years of Fear: A Friday the 13th Series Review Part 1: A Long Night At Camp Blood

The Friday the 13^th film series means a lot to anyone who grew up with it, it was part of the very fabric of 80s pop culture.  It held a grip on the teens in the same way that Saturday Morning Cartoons did the grade schoolers and cocaine did on wall street.  It was as much a part of growing up in the 80s as being taught Soviets were the bad guys was.
       It started as Sean Cunningham thinking he came up with a great title no one had used (he was technically wrong, but money can rewrite history if spent quickly enough,) after being, let’s say inspired by the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween.  Having been a producer on Wes Craven’s Last House On the Left before doing a series of low end child based comedies, Cunningham wanted to capitalize on the momentum of slashers and saw it as a way to make a film quick and turn a profit.  To that end he bring in Victor Miller to write a script that Miller originally called “A Long Night At Camp Blood.”  Now the details of how this went down was debated in court and actually shut the franchise down in full between 2017-2024.  Odd side note, Miller went on to be the head writer on multiple soap operas in the 80s and 90s, which after rewatching the first Friday film, I can see why, he handles meaningless melodrama as background element really well, he manages to imbue characters with just enough depth to make you care just enough.

       After putting the script to his title and taking care of some book keeping to clear it up the brought in the legendary Tom Savini (mainly due to his iconic Dawn of the Dead work.).  Savini handled the visual effects and did stunt work in the film (hes the body double for Brenda’s window crash).  Savini is considered the “designer” of Jason, kinda sharing the credit of creation with Victor Miller.  Savini would later work on things such as The Burning, The Prowler, Creepshow 1 and 2, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Friday the 13^th:The Final Chapter.  For me his two most interesting credits are an episode of the PBS show Ghostwriter and he along with others designed the mask of The Grabber from Black Phone.  I think Savini is a damn artist, one of the best ever to do practical effects in film history.  With that said killing a real snake without permission from the things owner was a dick move bruv, dick move.

An often under mentioned person in the early history of Friday film series is Steve Miner.  He acted as Associate Producer on first film and would actually direct the 2^nd and 3^rd films.  He was an associate of Cunningham and was considered a go to guy on set of first film to get things done.  After his time with the Friday series concluded he would make Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken (a personal fave), Halloween H20 (adding more ties between the two series), Lake Placid (under rated classic), Day of the Dead (again numerous ties between Friday series and Romero’s classic Of the Dead works) as well as numerous tv shows including The Wonder Years and Felicity. The thing that most people know about Friday series even if they never have seen them, well besides the hockey mask, which doesn’t even show up until the third film, is the music sting.  Harry Manfredini does an amazing job with the sound and music in this film.  The KeKeMaMa part is one of the most iconic sounds in film.  You make that noise around any 80s or 90s kid and they get the reference instantly.  The inspiration’s from Jaws using music to note the presence of the shark is unmistakable but welcomed.I’m not really familiar with much else of his work (other than Swamp Thing which was good too but not as iconic at all) but I’ve heard his work as much as any song writer if not more.

       Ok enough with the foreplay lets get into the movie.  We open in the past, 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake (played by Camp NoBeBosco in New Jersey, a real Boy Scout Camp) were some teens sit around a campfire doing some Kumbaya sing along stuff, couple starts to eye each other up and then run off after the song to have some private time.  They are interrupted by a first person killer.  In this scene we learn one of the fundamental truths of Friday series- that is sex equals death.  The fact that it was scene as loss of purity or innocence of whatever the reason it is established at the very beginning that this is the result.  In an interesting turn that was obviously in no way intended at the time this was part of the thing that added depth to the series.  In the 80s we dealt with the rise of AIDs, a disease that at the time meant death and one of the most common ways of transmitting it was with sex.  The fact that safe sex was a big part of our education growing up and the fact we all grew up watching these movies, it meant that the sex equals death thing rang truer than they had ever intended.
       After these kinky camp councilors are disposed of we flash to modern day (well 1980, then modern day) were a young girl named Annie is trying to get to Camp Crystal Lake.  Which kinda makes the locales think shes a nutter cause she wants to go to “Camp Blood”, so we get a touch more back story bout the history of the camp and why its not a good place to go.  It is during this scene we meet the single greatest thing Victor Miller ever created, Crazy Ralph.  Crazy Ralph is the classic doomsayer, a stock character that dates back all the way to the classic Universal Monster films of the 30s and predates that in literature by hundreds of years.  He plays the role of a character that knows bad things are coming but is so insane that no one will believe them,   A true great of a character, he is well remembered by those who knew of him.  Although his existence and what we know about Camp Blood raises an interesting question.  Why would anyone go there or send their child there?  Even in the late 70s/early 80s “rub some dirt on it, just walk it off, ride in the back of the pickup, share them needles its just saving money” era of thinking I do not think many parents would send their kids to a camp with a history like that.  I say that but then just remembered that Action Park had only just opened in New Jersey a year before this film was made and there have been books,films and documentaries that explain the clusterfuck that it was so maybe that is just me thinking too much, but I digress.

       Annie, played by Robbi Morgan, is a great girl next door type.  We set her up as our main character and see Trucker guy get a  handful of her butt as he helps her into his truck.  The trucker is the voice of Maurice from Beauty and the Beast.  I just saw Crazy Maurice get a handful of ass from a girl Belle’s age, that is disturbing.  But Annie gets a further history lesson from Trucker Maurice before getting dropped at a crossroads and being allowed to continue on her way.  She gets picked up by a Jeep, now this is clearly a reference to my best friend Harry wrecking his Jeep after leaving my house 17 years after they made this film.  Nothing good every comes from getting in a Jeep.  
       Annie gets put away by the killer, although we are not shown them, with the second most traumatizing kill in slasher history.  I’ve seen Friday the 13^th more than any horror film with possible exceptions for Nightmare 3, Halloween and Scream, and this was likely the first (maybe The Fog or The Shining before this but not sure) and this might be the first slasher kill I ever saw and have since developed a major life long fear of having my throat cut.  Years later an accident during a hockey game instantly made me think of this kill, that’s how impact it had on me.  They went, as Dead Meat James put it, the Full Savini right out of the gate.

The look of Crystal Lake is next level.  For a low budget horror film it has some truly great cinematography in it.  Some of the shots of nature and the forest/lakes in the area could be posters in a lodge no problem.  Crystal Lake is the place we imagine when we think of Summer Camp Horror or Summer Camp in general, thats how iconic this place is.

We quickly meet our modern day meat bags.  Steve Christie, a 70s porn star looking bad at wood chopping, even worse at hitting on young women who are obviously not interested, his family owns the camp and while it is never stated, in my head cannon he was a member of the group of councilors from the day Jason died.  Next is Alice, the lovely Adrienne King, a slightly boring but incredibly nice young woman, after the fake out with Annie (nice nod to Psycho) she is our final girl.

       We are next introduced to Kevin Fatback, the lovely Marcy and the goober Ned.  Kevin Guanciale was a star in the making and you could tell in this he has something special to him.  Marcy is his girlfriend, one of my earliest crushes, wish they had more scenes in the film really.  Ned on other hand was an HR nightmare waiting to happen, guy endangers co workers with arrows, sexually harassed them and does a casual Red-Face bit.  This was an era before required FBI background checks, offing this guy might have saved a bunch of kids a traumatic summer.  Brenda is the responsible den motherly type, one of my fave characters in series history as seemed to be bridge character between young irresponsible kids and the adults.  The other character is Bill.  Bill is one of the ……. characters in Friday history.  He most definitely existed.  I guess the only real note of interest in him is that he was the son of Bing Crosby.  Not the character the actor.  I find that interesting on personal level due to Bing’s version of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” being a personal fave.  It is why my first published work was called “Baby It’s Cold”, available in Christmas Chaos anthology (get your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Chaos-Twisted-Holiday-Terror/dp/B0DNTH14BL).  But other than that hes just there.

We then waste some time till the killings kick in again.  Lots of beautiful shots of nature, lots of young attractive people in tight outfits, Marcie in a bikini that young Nate thought was greatest thing ever, a classic Kevin Pork Belly flop and some basic character work, nothing horrible just kind of slow.  Best part of this section is Crazy Ralph just chilling in the pantry.  How long was he in there, how long would he have stayed there?  Idk but that crazy speed walk away he does has lived rent free in my head for almost 40 years.

The idea of strip Monopoly blew my mind as a young lad.  Ned looks jealous of Kevin Lardo and Marcie.  Do not blame him, Marcie damn.  Wait were was I? Oh yeah more killings, as Kevin Pancetta gets to live my dream we pan up to see Mister Ned. Ned is dead, we see his head, on the bed, lots of red, the mortal coil he hath shed.  Also that is two for two in non flashback kills that include a throat cut, I think we have a signature!

In another kinda prophetic idea, it isn’t just sex that kills you in the 80s, but drugs going to get you too.  AIDs, through sharing needles, and DARE because of it and other reasons made this resonate way more than I think they ever intended, but it lined up perfectly with the reality it was released into to be a powerful message. Kevin Pork Jowl doubles down on death request by sparking a dooby after getting the booty.  Our killer complies by with one of the most iconic images of 80s film, full stop.  The story is well known and it doesn’t look as great in High Def on big screens but its still considered one of the best kills ever.

We then get the single most traumatic scene in film history, first we get some great shots of Marcie looking like everything young Nate wanted out of life, we then get the worst thing ever put to film as the take Marcie away with n axe to the face.  0/5 stars, would not watch again…Ok not really but way to break our hearts.  Great kill, the makeup on the face looks brutal.

       Mother nature preserves the purity of Alice right before she was to pay her debt in the Monopoly game.  Brenda and Bing’s baby boy Bill get robbed of a glimpse of Alice’s undergarments so Brenda calls it a night and Bill and Alice flirt a bit.  After they find a bloody axe in a bed we learn how shite Steve Christie really is.  Dude locked the only phone in his office, left a bunch of teenagers unattended, chills out with coffee and pie then gets back only to get gut cut after casually strolling up to killer?  Fuck that guy.

       OMG the fucking coffee making scene.  I hate this scene so much.  I have often cut movie off right here because I hate it so much.  It just goes on forever with nothing going on.  I like tension but damn.  We find Billy boy shot with arrows (damn that one in the eye) and pinned to the door.  After a waste of time barricading a door that opens to the outside we instantly get Savini Brenda coming through the window.  Then right after the body flies in we see car lights and Alice runs out to be introduced to Miss Pamela Voorhees.  I wonder if she is any relation to that Jason fella everyone told me about?  Good thing she is an old friend of the Christie’s so someone can let them know about Stevo the skeevo.

       Betsy Palmer kills this.  She ordered all the ham and shares it with everyone.  I mean that in the best way possible.  She understood the assignment better than anyone (besides Crazy Ralph, that walk was Oscar worthy).  The little mental flashes that Voorhees has about her drowning son are actually heartbreaking if you ignore the fact that he will return and butcher the fuck out of hundreds (thousands by time Jason X wraps up).  Also big shout out to Betsy for the way she embraced the fandom in a way that Kevin Capocollo never did.

       We have begun our final girl circuit.  Knife vs fire poker, quick match but Alice does not double tap Pam and takes off running instead.  She runs past a falling Steve Christie (the logic and physics of this blow my mind but hey) before another struggle ensues.  This one includes yarn being thrown, some shitty looking stage slaps that you can see make contact and a gun getting smashed into the No-No Square of a senior citizen.  We then get some frying pan vs machete action.  (Shout out to Dead Cells.)  We end up lake side for some fun but not great fighting until Alice cuts Pam’s head clean off.  The slow-mo decap shot is great, love that shit.

Alice goes onto the water in a bout for a quick nap before a jump scare zombie Jason, played by Ari Lehman, jumps out of the water in a scare stolen right out of Carrie.  Alice then awakens in the hospital and they tell her they didn’t find any boy.

       Ok my ranking?  I give it *** out of *****.  It has some great stuff in it but has some really slow stuff in it as well.  You can see why the main writer went on the work in soaps and can see why Savini is a legend.  Watch it for Marcie stick around cause not much time left after it.

In February I’ll do Friday the 13^th Part 2 and I will release another review every Friday the 13^th going forward until I catch up.  I love this series and it is one of the inspirations for our upcoming Anthology Summer Camp Collection (still taking submissions until July 15^th if you have a story you want to tell).