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Friday the 13th: Hormones and Homicide

 

 

 

Since this Friday happens to fall on the 13th, I decided to revisit the original Friday the 13th from 1980. I love '80s thrillers, and this one perfectly encapsulates that era. Although I wasn’t alive in the '80s, the film fills me with a sense of nostalgia for a simpler time—when there were no cell phones, and teenagers’ biggest worries were getting laid (and maybe getting killed by Jason Voorhees or his crazy mother). The Friday the 13th series is great for what it’s meant to be: a fun, brain-off experience where you can sit back and watch young adults meet increasingly gruesome fates.

 

 

 

(Spoilers)

 

Friday the 13th opens up on Camp Crystal lake in 1958 with campers having a sing along. Two of the counselors sneak off from the sing along to make out in an old barn when they are tragically murdered by an unseen aslant. 

 

The film begins with Annie, a young counselor, arriving in a small town looking for directions to Camp Crystal Lake, where she’s been hired to work. The locals seem shocked that the camp is reopening, and an old man ominously calls it "Camp Blood." A trucker offers Annie a ride part of the way, warning her about the camp’s dark past—a drowning in 1957 and the double murders in 1958. Despite the warnings, Annie remains determined to get to the camp.

 

Meanwhile, at Camp Crystal Lake, some of the counselors have already arrived, fixing up the camp before the campers arrive. The mood is light, with the young counselors flirting and joking, though they’re aware of the camp’s unsettling reputation. The camp owner, Steve, leaves for town to pick up supplies.

 

As Annie continues her journey on foot, a mysterious driver in a jeep picks her up. Annie’s excitement turns to terror as the driver speeds past the camp entrance. She leaps from the car but is chased down and killed in the woods.

 

Back at the camp, the counselors pair off, enjoying their time together. But as night falls and a storm rolls in, they begin to disappear one by one, each brutally murdered in different ways. Even Steve is killed as he returns to the camp.

 

The climax builds as Alice, the last remaining counselor, realizes all her friends are dead. Desperate and terrified, she encounters Mrs. Voorhees, who arrives in a jeep. At first, Alice believes she’s safe, but as Mrs. Voorhees sees the bodies, she begins to unravel, revealing herself as the mother of Jason, the boy who drowned in 1957. Mrs. Voorhees blames the counselors for his death, claiming they were too busy sleeping with each other to notice her son drowning. Her monologue becomes increasingly unhinged, as she mimics Jason’s voice, saying "Kill her, Mommy!"

 

A tense chase ensues, with Mrs. Voorhees pursuing Alice around the camp. The final confrontation occurs by the lake, where Alice decapitates Mrs. Voorhees with a machete in a desperate struggle. Exhausted, Alice takes a canoe and drifts to the middle of the lake.

The next morning, she’s found floating on the lake by police. As she awakens, a decomposing young boy, Jason, leaps from the water and pulls her under. Alice suddenly wakes up in a hospital bed, unsure if the attack was real or just a nightmare. When she asks about the boy, the police tell her no boy was found, to which she replies ominously, "Then he’s still there."

 

 

 

 

 

The original Friday the 13th is a fun, campy (get it?) slasher that’s always worth a watch. I first saw it in theaters during the pandemic when no new movies were coming out, and I’ve been fond of the series ever since. Using Jason’s origin story as an excuse to include sex scenes in all the movies was a stroke of pervy genius. The creepy mother-son dynamic, though a clear Psycho rip-off, always makes my skin crawl and Betsy Palmer (Mrs. Voorhees) really steals the show. Her scenes mimicking Jason’s voice are hysterical, and when her head gets cut off, I laughed out loud at the visual effects. If you’re in the mood for a cheesy '80s flick with bad effects and a low budget, Friday the 13th is as good as it gets.