This film review was first published in conjunction with the Friday the 13th Blu-Ray SteelBook release.
Before there was Jason Voorhees, the iconic hockey mask wearing unstoppable killing machine, there was simply a boy named Jason who died at Camp Crystal Lake and left behind a heartbroken mother. Following the smash success of John Carpenter’s Halloween , executives put out a mandate to rip off the formula and create their own money making machine. Director and producer Sean S. Cunningham collaborated with writer Victor Miller to create a low-budget slasher flick set at a summer camp. The resulting product ended up catching fire at the box office and inadvertently paved the way to countless sequels that would become commonplace in horror. Jason Voorhees as a horror icon may hold more cultural currency than the original Friday The 13th itself, but, without this little movie that could, the genre of horror movies would be missing one of its Mount Rushmore figures.
A year following the tragic drowning of a boy at Camp Crystal Lake in 1957, two camp counselors are killed when they sneak off to participate in some intercourse in a storage cabin. Twenty-one years later, the owner of the camp has decided to open Camp Crystal Lake after a series of unfortunate incidents on the premises has left it abandoned for years. They are a few weeks away from welcoming kids back when the counselors arrive to help get the property refurbished to its former glory. As any good horror fan can tell you, it does not take long before an unknown figure starts picking people off one by one. The counselors provide a wide-range of archetypes from the insufferable goofball ( Mark Nelson) to the horned-up couple ( Kevin Bacon and Jeannine Taylor) to the even keeled final girl, Alice ( Adrienne King). The plot is simple, but very effective. The film does not waste time getting to know these characters because the filmmakers thought it would be cruel to the audience when they were just going to be picked off. They are just fodder for an interesting escalation of violent kills that crescendos in a final reveal and confrontation.
Friday The 13th has earned its place in the pantheon of horror for its consistently eerie tone and gruesome special effects. The haunting POV shots of the killer with the iconic, creepy whisper sounds creates an atmosphere that is truly unsettling as you await the unfortunate fate that is in store for these young people. Unlike later entries that lean more on the supernatural, this situation is just an unstable person with access to weapons and a desire for some type of vengeance. Special effects master Tom Savini continued to hone his skills that made him a name with Dawn of the Dead by delivering some practical, gory effects that were especially convincing for the time. There isn’t an abundance of over-the-top kills; the movie relies mostly on just having a killer with a penchant for hacking and stabbing. There is one particularly gnarly kill that involves an arrow that will get you a little choked up. New movies can have their fancy CGI killings; Friday The 13th endures because of the practical aesthetic choices it made.
It is hard to imagine where the franchise would eventually lead when you view this film for the first time. The sequels are very much hit or miss depending on the entry, but the original Friday The 13th works incredibly well independently as a well-executed piece of low-budget horror. The cast is not performing Shakespeare, but they inhabit their roles well enough, and it is a blast to see a young Kevin Bacon making his mark. The shoestring quality of the film gives it a more visceral, real-life feel that makes the scares that much more terrifying. If you are a classic slasher fan, you have likely seen this one a million times, but viewers new and old owe it to themselves to check this one out again to see the foundation of one of the most enduring franchises in film history.
Paramount presents Friday the 13th with a 2160p transfer in its 1.78:1 aspect ratio sourced from a 4K scan in Dolby Vision/HDR. This new master was first released on Blu-Ray by Scream Factory a couple of years ago in their massive box set, and then individually by Paramount. The film has now been given a chance to show its full potential in true 4K UHD, yet this particular effort from Paramount proves to be somewhat of a disappointment. Many of the traits that dazzled with the original Blu-Ray remaster have been replicated or improved here, such as the rendering of the natural film grain that brings out more true detail and clarity in the landscapes, the production design, the special effects and more in the base master.
The original remaster looks terrific; the issue with this particular release seems to come from the HDR/Dolby Vision grading that was applied. When it comes to “dark discs” such as the highly controversial Heat 4K UHD, I tend to be less sensitive than many as long the core details are still shining through with a lovely clarity. In the case of Friday the 13th , though, something seems to have gone very wrong when it comes to the grading and contrast. The daytime scenes that make up the first half of the film really seem to struggle when it comes to the spectrum between the dark and the light. Most of these scenes are overly dim and give skin tones a sickly, unnatural shade that is much worse than its Blu-Ray counterpart. Yet, the highlights of the film are so viciously hot that you feel as if you are staring into the sun, such as when the counselors are out on the white floating dock on the lake.
During this stretch of the film, you will also find much to complain about shadow detail, as well, which should be refined to squeeze out the greatest nuance out of it. The majority of this particular criticism, though, will be focused on when the night falls and we truly see the quality of the black levels. Many sequences are downright inscrutable in the pitch black night. Sure, you can tell who is doing what action, but there is so much detail that is no longer visible, and the black crush is some of the most egregious we have seen from the format in some time. Distinct textures turn into a mass of darkness, which should not be happening when the original Blu-Ray remaster does not suffer the same fate to such an extent. We still appreciate the extent to which damage has been cleaned up, and some moments have upticks in detail, but we cannot say this is an upgrade with what we are seeing.
The 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc comes with the previously released DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track which continues to serve the movie really well. One of the most effective elements of the film is the combination of the unsettling score and the iconic sound effects which raise the hair on the back of your hand. Both of these elements hold up exceedingly well and are used impeccably to establish the mood of the story. The dialogue comes through with distinct clarity even during some of the more thrilling moments. Other environmental sounds such as the noises of splashing in the water and the sound of blade protruding through flesh are rendered with an immediacy that puts you on edge. The track never struggles with fidelity even when events become more horrifying. The low end of the track will not knock you sideways, but it has enough power to execute the sonic ambitions of the film. Overall, Paramount has provided a really great audio experience for this one which only could have been improved with the inclusion of the original mono. English, English SDH and French subtitles are provided for those who want them.
While the common person may forget that there was a time before hockey masks, horror fans know everything started with an effective little low-budget slasher flick that had a few surprises up its sleeve. Friday the 13th remains effective after all these years by keeping the scares within the realm of believability. Paramount has provided the film with a 4K UHD Blu-Ray release that fumbles its A/V presentation, but delivers some interesting legacy special features. If you already own the remastered Blu-Ray from the Scream Factory box or the individual Paramount release, it is probably best to stick with that.
Friday The 13th (1980) is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Paramount Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
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