So whilst the late Wes Craven is something of an icon perhaps almost as much is Sean S Cunningham who had produced the directors controversial ‘Last House on the Left’. Both started in the industry around the same time but while Craven went on to make the disturbing ‘The Hills have Eyes’, Cunningham went on to make a mix of comedy and horror films to far less acclaim and his career was beginning to suffer accordingly. But it all changed for him when he saw one the one 1970’s great horror films, ‘Halloween’ John Carpenter’s low budget independent film that made a fortune. It was a slasher film that saw a masked maniac murder his way through a suburban neighbourhood. It was enough to give Cunningham inspiration for what would be Friday the 13th.
The films saw a group of camp counsellors trying to reopen a summer camp called Crystal Lake, which has a grim past, are stalked by a mysterious killer and one by one they are bumped off in a variety of gruesome ways.
It followed the Halloween template with its own masked villain Jason Voorhees that became one of the great horror icons that would return for a sequel…and another sequel …..and another and another and another and another.
The success of Friday the 13th was huge and immediate released in May 1980 the low budget slasher found an audience that revelled in the gory kills courtesy of Tom Savini hot off the success of Romero’s ‘Day of the Dead’ and provided kills that ranged from facial axe wounds to decapitation to most famously of all the arrow through K the then fledgling star Kevin Bacons throat. And just when audiences thought it was all over they were given one last fright with a terrific jump scare that took its inspiration from Brian DePalma’s ‘Carrie’. And from its low budget it earned almost $40m internationally assuring a sequel or in fact to date 10 sequels all of varying quality that took in 3D (the third film obviously and the film that saw Jason sport a hockey mask from thereon) and later saw him facing off to Wes Craven’s iconic Freddy Krueger.
Critically mauled at the time it’s now recognised as a significant entry in the horror genre having adopted the trope of premarital sex punished by death but also contributing to the last man standing being female akin to that Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Halloween’.
The film is now deservedly getting its upgrade to a 4K UHD release with a host of bonus features that includes:
On-Disc Special Features Commentary by Director Sean S. Cunningham with Cast and Crew
Friday the 13th Reunion
Fresh Cuts: New Tales from Friday the 13th
The Man Behind the Legacy: Sean S. Cunningham
Lost Tales from Camp Blood – Part 1
The Friday the 13th Chronicles
Secrets Galore Behind the Gore – Friday the 13th
All of these bonus features are well worth the price of the disc with the reunion being a fun look at the cast decades later though without the late Betsy Palmer who played Jason’s mum. It’s the cast and crew commentary is great as is the featurette ‘Secrets galore behind the gore’. Though the film was never had the cultural impact of such horrors as Texas Chainsaw or The Exorcist it gave us one of the three great icons of horror alongside Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger and though the title was little more than clever marketing its one of the great slashers of cinema.
related feature : Neil Jordan on Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst & making interview with the Vampire
related feature : Why remake ‘Silent Night Deadly Nigh’t (2025) – writer-directer Mike Nelson explains
Here’s the trailer……
