Adrienne King, Betsy Palmer, Harry Crosby

At Camp Crystal Lake, a group of young counselors begin to get ready to lead guests in the summer. Unfortunately for the counselors, someone isn't happy about what's going on in the camp and enjoys pl...( read more  read more... )aying 'kill the counselor'. As bodies fall to the ground, no one is safe in the camp.

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66% liked it

206,219 ratings

R, 95 min.

Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham

Release Date: May 9, 1980

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DVD Release Date: October 19, 1999

Stats: 7,116 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (7,116)


  • October 29, 2009
    Without doubt one of the worst hyped horrors of the 80?s. No doubt my curiosity will want to follow this series through, in hope of them progressing, otherwise I can?t understand why it would receive such a memorable status.
    I will give it just one credit and that is, it did ma...( read more)ke me jump at one particular point, I think you'll know it when you see it.
  • September 28, 2009
    Definitely a horror classic but ultimately not a great film. Sean S. Cunningham likes to think of himself as a master of horror but this film is really just a rip off of Halloween. The ending is also a rip off of Carrie and the whole twist at the end is quite Hitchcockian. It is ...( read more)a tired scenario but to be fair, this was one of the first. Still, none of that really matters because it?s a horror film and you either love them or hate them. Tom Savini's SFX are still first class and this will always be one of the greats, even though it?s not that great! You know what I mean!
  • July 5, 2009
    Holds up surprisingly well alongside other horrors of the era. Some parts are actually legitimately creepy. Alice is a solid Final Girl (Intelligence Rating: 6/10), the killer's identity and subsequent performance is campy fun, and the kills can be relatively inventive. Time has ...( read more)decayed its impact to an extent, robbing it of many of the tropes it invented, but it's definitely worth watching, and beats the hell out of most contemporary horror.
  • February 12, 2009
    The original Friday the 13th is probably one of the most influential films of all time. Now before you choke from laughing too hard, try to remember that before this film, no franchise (besides James Bond) was able to consistently put out product year after year for a decade. Fri...( read more)day the 13th started the mold that horror films would follow (even Halloween): cheap films that make a ton of money in the first weekend.

    The original Friday the 13th was more of a cousin of John Carpenter's Halloween. A group of kids getting a cursed camp ready for re-opening slowly get picked off one by one until it's the final heroine vs. the killer. Friday the 13th took those things and added a little bit of spice, particularly in the way the kids are dealt with (amazing effects by Tom Savini) and little things like the addition of the crazy old man yelling that they're all doomed.

    As a film it's not great. The script cheats (and for the four people who don't know who the killer is I won't spoil it but I consider it a cheat) and the acting isn't the greatest, though it is better than most of Kevin Bacon's work from the last decade (Mystic River excluded). Sean S. Cunningham directs the film like a cold prom date- it's the kills that get you.

    But all in all Friday the 13th is a piece of history. An entire generation of films was born out of this and Halloween. Both those films wrote the text book that masked slashers would use to terminate victims for the next twenty years.
  • February 9, 2009
    Crazy Ralph: Doomed... You're all doomed.

    A mysterious figure is picking off counselors at a camp famed for being jinxed.

    Like Nightmare on Elm Street' I see what's happening, but I don't no why this became so popular, especially to have 10 sequels. The movie rips off other hor...( read more)ror movies with more use of gore which is nice I guess, but it's nothing special.

    It's funny how I like Freddy vs Jason and Jason X, but that's because those two are in on how stupid the concept is to begin with and plays with it's awareness. This movie is just kind of...meh.

    Alice: The boy... is he dead, too?
    Tierney: Who?
    Alice: The boy. Jason.
    Tierney: Jason?
    Alice: In the lake, the one... the one who attacked me... the one who pulled me underneath the water.
    Tierney: Ma'am, we didn't find any boy.
    Alice: But... then he's still out there.
  • November 20, 2009
    This movie has my favourite kill scene out of any horror movie ever (it involves Kevin Bacon)
  • November 18, 2009
    The epitome of a slasher. It's simple, brutal and revolves around creative killings. While it only hints at Jason Voorhees future life as a machete wielding serial killer, but still has all the fun and scares you'd expect. The campfire story quality to it really sets it apart fro...( read more)m all of the others like it. First person killings are also one of the greatest creations and suspense techniques created. The characters are all fun teenage stereotypes and you can't help but enjoy seeing some of them slaughtered.
  • November 15, 2009
    okay i was afraid when i saw this, so it is okay but the ending is the best part of it.
  • November 14, 2009
    Well, it's filmed on high quality film stock I'll give it that. Stick with the original Halloween for the goods.
  • November 14, 2009
    Most likely one of the best slasher films ever made.
    what makes it so creepy about the killer, is his point-of-view throughout the movie. It keeps everyone wondering who he/she is.

    A true classic of its kind.

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Comments


  • NOCLUENOFUTURE
    October 31, 2008
    WTFF!! The Friday the 13th I watched didn't have the crazy-hockey-wearing-axe-weilding-pychopath! seriously. it just had something about the dudes mum! Can someone PLEASE tell what the hell i just watched!
  • angiehisham
    September 11, 2008
    this is very great tht i show before
  • ahmedkhaled007
    April 21, 2008
    SmileyCentral.com
  • jamiesimms6
    February 12, 2008
    This is a great film btw i am watching it on Youtube! lol
  • Aritosgold
    November 2, 2007
    Good;;
  • ImmortalDisciple
    October 29, 2007
    In spite of all the sequels, this was very well done. This film was a masterpiece in horror/slasher film writing. WRITING being the key and not just visuals. Although simplistic (best for these movies) in some of the dialog, the story was perfect for the situation. LOL, check out Kevin Bacon in his 3nd movie AFTER Animal House!
    The sequels should have NEVER been made, making this movie less important in the history of horror films. Most people think of these movies as crappy horror flicks, which is true now. The first stands out clearly among the rest.
    Most people think Jason when they see the title of this movie. Watch this for the first time and you will be surprised. Campy!?.......... (no pun intended....well maybe)......... Oh, very much so, but look at the year it was made.
  • robvicary
    October 21, 2007
    You can trash this movie if you want to, but let me ask you one thing - How many other movies can you name which spawned 10 sequels? Think about that one.
  • coolboyere2k6
    August 15, 2007
    thank u4 addin me video 2 this page
  • systematicdecline1
    May 4, 2007
    Jason is a character that has scared the daylights out of me ever since I was a kid and first saw the movies. It is in my belief that some of the coolest and best depicted murder scenes in a horror movie, ever, are in this series:

    In Jason X, after he "defrosted", he stuck the woman's face into (assuming) liquid nitrogen and smashed it on the counter.

    In another movie (forgot which), he impaled the girl's boyfriend with his machete while the guy was laying on the bed, then cracked his spine by folding up the mattress on him.

    And the trailer scene in yet another movie, when, after the couple had sex, he smashed the woman's face into a wall of the trailer, stabbed the guy through the head, and left the trailer in a burning inferno.

    Classic horror scenes right there. For me, I have yet to see other ones that are that creative or interesting to watch.
  • XxXiluvdjdangerXxX
    May 3, 2007
    omg! i love these movies!!! they are like some of my favorites!!!!

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Friday the 13th Trivia


  • Jason Voorhees started wearing his famous hockey mask in what 'Friday the 13th' movie?  Answer »
  • Which "Friday the 13th" had Jason only in a dream sequence, while a copycat "Jason" was doing all the killing?  Answer »
  • In which "Friday the 13th" does Jason Voorhees not apear in.  Answer »
  • In Which "Friday the 13th" does Jason Voorhees get the trademark hockey mask.  Answer »

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