Horrific Inquiry: FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)

Welcome back to the scariest, and at times goriest, column here at Film Inquiry: Horrific Inquiry. Twice a month, I will be tackling all things horror, bringing two films back into the spotlight to terrify and frighten once more. And occasionally looking at those that could have pushed the envelope further. Join us as we dive deep into the heart of horror, but warning, there will be spoilers.

“Kill her mommy, killer . She can’t hide, no place to hide.” – Friday the 13th (1980)

It’s Friday the 13th – and Horrific Inquiry knew exactly which film it had to tackle! Ranking as one of the best horror twists in the history of the genre, Friday the 13th is a cultural phenomenon, spanning twelve films, one remake, an unforgettable horror villain mash up and an upcoming TV revival. Jason Voorhees has proven himself a formidable villain, unrelenting and brutally violent. Yet, as much as the franchise encompasses the terror of the boy who drowned, Sean S. Cunningham‘s Friday the 13th at its core is a story of madness in the engulfing power of revenge.

A classic slasher, the twist reveal of its killer at the end of Friday the 13th has stumped many participants of trivia – most notably Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) costing the life of her boyfriend in the opening sequence of Scream. But what is it that makes Friday the 13th stand out from its peers to remain such a classic. Is it just the twist or is there something deeper that viewers just can not shake in the decades since its release. Join us as Horrific Inquiry returns to Crystal Lake for a deeper look.

Return to Crystal Lake

Friday the 13th is quick to dive into the tension, opening on the moon as it cuts through the engulfing darkness of night. Absent of stars, the sky is filled with the sounds of the woods, the growing voices of singing camp counselors merging with the sounds of the night. As the camera looks over the water at the camp, a title card appears reading “Crystal Lake 1958”. While the camera is steady, it quickly changes its perspective, a moving camera fashioned to capture the point of view of someone walking through the camp. With little context provided, they feel like an intruder as they look at the sleeping children in the cabin, making their way to the cabin where the counselors have culminated.

With ominous intent, the iconic score from Harry Manfredini is introduced, the killer making their way through the camp as two counselors break away from the group. It is our first predator and prey moment in the film, the wolf creeping through the forest, snatching the sheep that have broken from the herd. As the counselors fondle in the loft, the perspective of the killer takes us to a front-row seat of their murders. It is a brutal and sudden opening. For the savvy viewer, it is also the first indication that the killer is not a child, the height of the killer’s point of view matching that of the male counselor.

Following their deaths, the screen goes black, the white opening credits cutting through the darkness. As the credits conclude, the camera falls on Annie (Robbi Morgan) as she makes her way on foot to the camp. Hired as the new chef for the planned reopening, Annie displays the sheer isolation of the camp. The town is desolate, almost feeling as though its entirety has culminated at the local diner. As she inquires to the distance of the camp, receives an offer to bring her part of the way, the film utilizes dialogue to build on the horror of the opening and foreshadows the impending danger that awaits Annie and her fellow counselors.

Much of this is garnered in the reactions of the restaurant’s patrons, but it is local looney Ralph (Walt Gorney) who truly drives the earliest senses of doom in Annie and the audience. “You going to Camp Blood? You’ll never come back again. It’s got a death curse”. Ralph is the film’s prophet of death, his knowledge of the dangers that await them hitting hard as the body count rises. Building on Ralph’s warning, the truck driver fills Annie and the audience in on the history of the camp. While the audience has already witnessed the brutal murders from 1958, the driver elaborates on the presumed curse that haunts the camp – a boy drowning in 1957, the building randomly burning to the ground and issues with the water only further examples to its cursed nature.

Something is Coming

The film breaks away from Annie, settling on the counselors that have already arrived at the camp. While many speak of Annie’s absence, only the audience is aware of the growing danger that is closing in on them. We may not know what the danger is, but something is coming. As the counselors get to work preparing the camp, the film gives us our first twist, introducing us to Alice (Adrienne King) who is to become our final girl. While we may have initially thought it to be Annie, it is Alice who will take on the film’s primary focus. The film slows for a bit to allow us to understand Alice’s relationship with Steve as he works to reopen the camp, as well as the other counselors, laying the foreshadowing groundwork for what is to come.

What is truly intriguing is the film’s refusal to forget any of its outlying characters. Annie is quickly addressed, a jeep picking her up. As the jeep passes Crystal Lake, the sense of doom that Ralph prophesied befalls her. The film utilizes her flee through the forest as a chance to play with alternating perspectives of the killer and the audience, differentiated both by the movement of the camera and the position of perspective it takes on Annie. This is also the moment Friday the 13th introduces the superhuman elements of its killer. Not only does catching up to Annie, but the killer outruns her, meeting her face on as she falls. The following motions of the kill lack style, but the aftermath is incredible. We watch as the blade of the knife cuts past Annie’s neck, the blood pooling out from the wound – the camera front and center putting the focus on the kill rather than the killer.

Maintaining the superhuman speed, the point of view of the killer returns, but this time as they watch the counselors in a drowning prank. Besides the psychological effect the opening of the camp would have on Mrs. Voporhees, here is the first time that a connection between her son’s drowning and the irresponsibility of these campers is introduced. While Annie has already perished, this moment builds on the growing psychological mania that has manifested within Mrs. Voorhees.

Friday the 13th continues its foreshadowing through the prophetic nature of its characters. Raph returns once more to try and convince the counselors to leave or face death. “You are doomed if you stay here”. The looney feeling of the Ralph we were initially introduced to gives way to a deeper and creepier feel, especially within the repetitive citation of ” you’re all doomed, you’re all doomed”. This is further compounded by Marcie’s (Jeannine Taylor) dream of rain turning into blood and washing away in the little river. As the sun sets and the final moments of prophecy have spoken – the real blood bath begins.

Body Count Rises

And what a blood bath it is. As the killer wolf stalks the forest, each isolated sheep meets their end. The film is not concerned with showing the moment of killing for each character, many times utilizing their dead bodies for effect later on. Ned (Mark Nelson) is the first to break away, following someone he sees walk into one of the empty cabins. We do not see his murder, only the aftermath as the camera allows the audience to obtain a deeper understanding of the blood bath kicking off. As Marcie and Jack(Kevin Bacon) part ways following sex, we see Ned’s bloody body in the bunk above them, a spear piercing through the throat of Jack moments later. There is a higher brutality in the murders of Jack and Marcie, many attributing it to their premarital romp in the sack. Marcie is killed shortly after by an axe to the face.

This holds true as Brenda (Laurie Bartram) and Bill (Harry Crosby) strip during a game of ” strip” Monopoly, their deaths occurring off-screen, used to affect like Ned later on in the film. Bill becomes the first body discovered by Alice, his corpse pinned to a door by arrows. Brenda’s bloody body is thrown through a window in an attempt to drive Alice mad as she attempts to find safety in the camp’s main cabin. Bill and Brenda’s murders are different from Jack and Marcie’s in that they did not voluntarily wander off from the pack. Rather, they are lured into the darkness of the night and the terror of the forest.

Predator and Prey

Brenda, as she is settling in for bed, hears someone outside calling “help me”. Running outside, Brenda meets her death in the archery field. For Bill, he is pulled away as the generator is turned off. The response of both Bill and Brenda works against the reason for revenge that Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) has developed her psychosis around. As she reveals to Alice later on, it was the counselors fault that her son died. While they were having sex, him drowning in the lake. Yet, in her attempt to lure both Bill and Brenda to their deaths, she does so by preying on their need and ability to respond to those in need.

As the film works through each body from start to finish, it also develops the growing modus operandi and organization of Mrs. Voorhees. Her son dying in 1957 was the trigger throwing her into anger. There was no organization, only rage as she killed both counselors in 1958. Here, however, she is meticulously calculated with each kill, evolving with each death. Annie is the lost sheep of opportunity in the woods, one Mrs. Voorhees happens to stumble on. With Ned, Marcie and Jack, she turns into the hunter. And with Brenda and Bill she is a full-blown organized serial killer, evolved to both hunt and trap her prey. It isn’t until Alice that she begins to become disorganized, the psychosis of revenge and multiple personalities of her son and herself taking control.

Conclusion:

The reveal of Mrs. Voorhees as the killer is an incredible feat of horror construction. Decades later, the performance of Palmer still rips through the night, the eery utterings of “kill her mommy, kill her” accompanied by the film’s motif altering the words works to epic horror effect. One battle after another, Alice fights against the doomed prophecies of Ralph, narrowly escaping as she uses a machete to cut off the head of Mrs Voorhees. But Friday the 13th is far from settled on allowing its final girl to float off into the night. As the sun rises and the police arrive, Jason rises from the water grabbing Alice and pulling her under. While it works as an epic and memorable final jump scare, it also sets up a prophecy of its own – the return of Jason. As Alice startles awake in the hospital, the scene falls away to reality – yet the prophecy remains as Alice it told by police they never found a boy, Alice closes the film by stating “But.. then he’s still there”

On the surface, Friday the 13th has remained a classic of both the horror and slasher genre. But at its core, it is a story of madness and revenge within the unrelenting spirit of a prophesied evil. One that has and will continue to endure through the decades.