Friday the 13th (1980)

Conceived out of creative admiration (or envy), Friday the 13th manages to take its derivative material and capitalize on its strengths while not fully accounting for its weaknesses.

Often, Friday the 13th is bashed for ripping off Halloween (1978); and this is an understandable position. Friday the 13th is an admitted Halloween derivative, blatantly lifting key parts of its formula from Carpenter's film. But in fairness, the slasher formula is older than both of these movies and the two do remain distinguishable.

We experience a significant depreciation of quality in Friday the 13th relative to Halloween, chiefly felt in the villain and music. The story quality and characters are comparable to Halloween, though you will find no Laurie Strode in this lot.

Nonetheless, much like our young characters, the film does spend time seeking its own identity.

Camp Crystal Lake feels authentic, lived-in, and most importantly, drenched in its own private bloody history. This provides a good backdrop for the antics of our young counselors. The atmosphere early in the film is a rush of never-ending tasks punctuated by moments of brief youthful reprieve.

Another area of distinction is the music, which, despite not recreating the success of its inspiration, does possess its own personality which matches the film. Strange, creepy, whispered chants fill the air when the film seeks to fill us with tension. However, it must be noted that overall sound mixing is poor. Dialogue is often lost, music is often overbearing, and the two mingle together poorly.

Visually, the film is a mixed bag. Some of the depicted methods of killing result in powerful imagery, a credit to Tom Savini’s practical effects skills. In terms of cinematography, some shots are captured with total clarity, detailing our characters' faces vividly. Other times, it is as if the director of photography forgot the word "focus" even existed. However, oddly, the rough visual aesthetic matches the pulpy material on hand, and works in its own way.

The movie is unsurprisingly sexed up, a consequence of the film's derivative writing; if one waters something down, they may find they need to add something a bit strong to bring the flavor back. Sex is framed as a means by which our characters become vulnerable to their killer, with Friday the 13th helping to establish this as a horror trope moving forward. True intimacy is in short supply but that is fitting given the ages and relationships among our characters and the dime-store-novel-level characterizations.

All these elements, pilfered and otherwise, solidified into a horror mold that would prove durable over the coming decades. Whether it is derivation, inspiration, or a total ripoff, it doesn't really matter; the film finds success in its efforts regardless of how you term its unoriginality. Debates about sources of inspiration aside, slasher fans will still want to mark their calendars for Friday the 13th.