Greenlee Gazette's Guide to Friday the 13th

It's Friday the 13th, y'all! You know the drill!

Happy Friday the 13th everybody! If you've read this blog even a little bit, you know that I'm a cheesy horror movie fan. And there is no cheesier series of horror films than the Friday the 13th series. From the beginning, it was a rip-off (but the first one!) of Halloween. But you could safely say that Halloween as a franchise was born due to the success of Friday the 13th. The following blog post was written for my annual Halloween scary movie retrospectives. But every time there is a Friday the 13th on the calendar, these movies come back into vogue. Better get it in now, this is the last one of the year!

Original post from October 2011.

Photo from Wikipedia.org

Unlike the original Halloween, I'm not sure anyone would put Friday the 13th in the "classic" category. At least not good classics. The series is loved with a heavy dose of nostalgia, and not a lot else.

Sure, it's iconic, was amazingly influential, and made a whole lot of money for both Paramount and New Line studios. But the Friday the 13th string of movies was easily the hollowest, least plotted, acted and impactful storywise of the horror movie franchises (Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Hellraiser). Each Friday film pretty much follows a mindless killer, stalking stupid people.

There were variations along the way. And if you try to assign a real-world continuity to the films, you'll give yourself a headache that feels like a machete in your skull. Here are some short recaps (star ratings do not relate to the real movie world, only within the horror movie genre!):

Friday the 13th - The first film is by far the best. Jason does not appear (outside of a possible hallucination), but his storyline is set up. Notable for Betsy Palmer's iconic performance as Jason's mother. Sets the tone and atmosphere for the first four to seven movies. Genuinely scary for the uninitiated. Plus, Kevin Bacon. ***

Friday the 13th, Part 2 -Almost as good as the first, though very short (especially considering the recap at the beginning). Notable for Amy Steel's strong performance, the VW bug scene, and the guy in the wheelchair. Struggles to find a reason why Jason didn't drown, and why he was motivated to start his killing spree. Though the explanation is weak, it is used as the basis for the rest of the series. **

Friday the 13th, Part 3 - This (originally) 3D installment is one of the weakest, with very little story, and shots that were intended for the 3D audience. Most notable for hand-walking guy's death, and Jason's acquisition of his iconic hockey mask.  I initially thought this installment was terrible, but it's better in retrospect. *

Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter - Yeah, right! It's the best of sequels, and could have served as the finale, but there was more money to be made. Jason ventures out of Camp Crystal Lake, and seems to meet his end. Considering that this was 1984, I'm sure you know that it wasn't to be. Plus, Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover? ***

Friday the 13th (Part V): A New Beginning - Close to as good as part 4, reviled by fans for its plot twist, but very much in line with the tone of the first four movies. And Corey Feldman only wishes he grew up to look like John Shepherd!  Woof. **

Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives - Yeah, I guess he lives. Often considered one of the best sequels, it left me cold. It felt like a different studio picked up the reigns. This edition has a vastly different tone from the first five films, and the gory kills just aren't there.  But I guess the MPAA is to blame for that. *

Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood - They throw a psychic girl into the mix, and tack on a ridiculous ending, which puts Jason into the same scenario as the end of the last movie--making this one irrelevant. On the plus side the tone of the first five movies is back. And for you gay fans out there, this one is known as FriGAY the 13th for the high number of gay actors in the movie. *

Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan - The tone is still there, as Jason stows away on a cruise ship bound for New York. Most of the action is on the boat, and there are some great scenes. But it feels like the series is running on fumes. And that ending. What the hell? *1/2

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday - Speaking of Hell, New Line Cinema took over the franchise from Paramount here, and it is very, very obvious this was made by others. Some of the feel is still there, and the film is undeniably fun. Adds a bunch of new story elements that wreck any (already strained) continuity from the first 8 films. Also ignores the end of Part VIII. Fun anyway. And it sets up the movie after the next one.**1/2

Jason X - Tenth installment puts Jason in space, with no context to the rest of the storyline. Continuity-wise has no home, and is akin to a comic book "elseworlds" or "imaginary story." Has its fun parts, but utterly skippable. But the cryogenic scene? Priceless. *1/2

Freddy Vs. Jason - I loved it. They took the monster from the best horror franchise (though it had run out of steam) and the worst (but still loved), and pitted them against each other. Truly, one of the best outings for this type of movie in a long, long time. That said, not the least bit scary. Plays like gory comedy. ***

Friday the 13th (Remake) - I was right that they couldn't really mess up the remake. It's a hoot. The twist--apparently--is that most of the characters you kinda want to see dead. And Jason is given a much heftier back-story. Unfortunately, they still don't explain what happened that made Mrs. Voorhees think he died when he didn't. Still, I'd put this in the top three with the first two installments. I don't know if there will be a part 2 (actually XIII), but I'm game. ***

DVD Movie Review: Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1982)

Photo of Amy Steel from Dinner With

Max Jenke

I know what you're thinking, Friday the 13th again? Well, back when I was in my 20s, and too shy to date, I spent a lot of my time watching--and rewatching--horror movies on video. Video stores were the new thing, and cheesy horror movies were plentiful. The FT13th series had a lot to do with that, picking up on the success of Halloween, and creating the multi-sequel slasher series.

These days, when The Other Half is away on a trip, I sometimes revert to that twenty-something self, even if he's now double that age. And today, I made my way to Best Buy to buy the newly remastered first sequel to Friday. I'd hoped to find it on Blu-Ray, but have been unsuccessful in that quest. No matter, this version looks almost--but not quite--as clear as the remastered original, and has quite a few added features too.

Part 2 is as nearly a remake of Part 1, with a very similar vibe, just a different killer. For the first time, it is Jason Voorhees doing the slashing, and he learned a lot from his mother. The explanation for Jason's existence--when he supposedly drowned as a child--is fairly weak. But his survival is explained only by the speculation of characters five years removed from the original story. They could be wrong, they could be right. We'll never know. Because no further sequel--not even this year's remake--ever really says why Jason didn't drown. And yet, every Friday movie from this point hinges upon that fact!

Many Friday fans will tell you that Jason was a real man until Part VI, where he is resurrected as an all-powerful zombie. This isn't quite true, unless you can explain how he survived a machete-chop through his trapezius muscle, his collar bone, a couple of ribs, major blood vessels and probably his left lung and his heart. And then managed to not fall into two pieces, while retaining the ability to use his arm for several sequels!

Continuity was never very strong in these movies, though it didn't have time to unravel yet in this second movie. Jason looks like the logical grown up version of the (probably) hallucinated junior-sized Jason from the twist ending of Part 1. And while we're talking hallucinations, the ending of Part 2 may be a hallucination as well, if the opening of Part 3 is to be believed.

Good parts of the film: Amy Steel is terrific as the heroine, Ginny. Her VW Beetle convertible plays nearly as big a part, and is featured in an iconic scene. John Furey manages to stay alive (almost) to the end, and his survival has been speculated about by fans for 27 years. He must have made an impression, for anyone to care, right? Ginny's "child psychology" on Jason, with his imagining of his mother (Betsy Palmer) is a highlight of the film.

Not so good: Most of the rest of the cast is forgettable, not for their performances, but for the fact that the movie is so short. The intro rehashes Part 1, and follows the survivor of that film (Adrienne King) through her house for one of the longest pre-credit sequences in film history. This crams the rest of the film into seventy-something minutes, hardly time for us to care about the characters. Wheelchair guy (Tom McBride) was a promising character, but gets whacked (in an an impossibly staged death, unless Jason can become invisible) early. Half the cast departs to a bar, never to be seen again. But at least they survived!

The usual sex, nudity and pot smoking are here, though the skin is curiously given short shrift. A "fun times at the swimming hole" daylight scene is shot from afar, with almost no camera time for the fairly sexy cast. There is a fully naked girl--skinny dipping at night, like any normal person would do--but more attention is paid to the nearly naked, lanky nerd guy (Stuart Charno). Not sure what that's about.

All in all, this is not a classic film. It's nearly 100% nostalgia, though Amy Steel's acting nearly redeems it. But it is a must for the Friday fan, and I've never seen it looking (and sounding) this good. And it's fun to see Jason before he found his hockey mask (or about 100 extra pounds). Look for the actor who plays the maskless Jason (Warrington Gillette) as the tow truck driver earlier in the film.

Recommendation: For fans only

I wrote a Halloween recaplet of the entire series here:
Halloween Horrors: Guide to Friday the 13th