Friday the 13th | 
| Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Actors: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $2.99
You Save: $22.00 (88%)
New (7) Used (19) Collectible (1) from $1.70
Rating:  485 reviews
Sales Rank: 101183
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 0792156358
UPC: 097360139570
EAN: 9780792156352
ASIN: B00001MXXL
Theatrical Release Date: May 9, 1980
Release Date: October 19, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com essential video
This splatter flick, along with John Carpenter's Halloween, helped spawn the great horror-movie movement of the '80s, not to mention eight sequels, many of which had nothing to do with the films that preceded them. It also gave birth to Jason Voorhees, one of the three biggest horror-movie psychos of the modern era (the other two being Halloween's Michael Myers and A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger). Forever duplicated, the original Friday the 13th popularized a number of themes and techniques that today are now cliches: the increasingly gory murders, the remote forest location, the anonymous and nubile cast, the murderer as cult hero, and, of course, the moral that if you have sex, you will die, very painfully. Still, if you have to see a Friday the 13th movie, this is the one to check out. A group of eager (and horny) teenagers decide to reopen Camp Crystal Lake, which 20 years earlier was closed after the shocking and mysterious murders of two amorous camp counselors. You can take it from there, as the teens get picked off one by one, during a dark and stormy night; of course, their car won't start and there's no phone. The ending stole shamelessly from Brian De Palma's Carrie, but it still provides a slight if campy shock. Look for a young Kevin Bacon as the requisite stud--you can tell that's what he is because when the cast appears in swimsuits, he's wearing a Speedo--who's the beneficiary of the film's best murder sequence, an arrowhead to the throat. Right after having sex, of course. --Mark Englehart
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| Customer Reviews: Read 480 more reviews...
 F13, still one of the best February 14, 2009
The Cowboyz (USA)
Still the best F13, heads above them all, and this is still the best version available on DVD in my opinion, since it is in widescreen format. The other "uncut" version is zoomed in and you can't see the whole image.
Excellent February 8, 2009
Ana Gomez Guardia (Panama)
Perfect condition , good timing, no problem at all with anything.
Was a pleasure do business with you.
We are very happhy with the product.
Thanks
Ana
It's gonna be a long night at Camp Blood February 7, 2009
Dave. K (Staten Island, Ny)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
FRIDAY THE 13TH
**** Out of 5
Release Date- May 9th, 1980
Running Time- 95-Minutes
Rating- R
Screenplay- Victor Miller
Director- Sean Cunningham
Starring- Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Kevin Bacon, Laurie Bartram, Jeannine Taylor, Mark Nelson, Walt Gorney, Robbi Morgan, Peter Brouwer, Ari Lehman and Betsy Palmer as Mrs. Voorhees
Released in 1980 this low budget shocker would spawn what seems like a never ending amount of sequels and knockoff films. After the massive success of John Carpenter's Halloween, Sean Cunningham decided to make his own slasher flick, but calling Friday the 13th a Halloween knockoff is just wrong. While the basic structure of the movie is inspired by Halloween, Friday the 13th has more in common with the Giallo and some of the death scenes were clearly inspired by Mario Bava's Bay of Blood. Despite the reputation Friday the 13th has it actually is a very well done horror flick that takes way too much heat. I suppose the sequels and knockoff films are part of that reason and while Halloween is clearly the better picture, but if you dislike Friday the 13th for what it started you should also hate Halloween. Some people debate the status of Friday the 13th; some hail it as a classic and others don't. I'd say it's somewhere in the middle. As good as Friday the 13th is it is kind of hard to rate it as highly as say Frankenstein or Night of the Living Dead, but with that said in it's own right it is classic.
Friday the 13th is far better than its given credit for again a lot of people say it's a Halloween knockoff and is nothing more than a body count film. While I suppose Friday the 13th did sort of start the body count movie it still has a style all of its own and is actually quite suspenseful.
The screenplay by Victor Miller was actually fairly well written in general. Look Friday the 13th isn't Oscar worthy and when talking about the greatest of screenplays this won't get a mention, but with that said the script wasn't bad at all and has some creative moments and some fairly good characters, which is something these movies mostly lack. Each character has their own identity and while not the most developed characters they are more than just faceless victims. They are actually likeable and come across as real people. Later in the series and other slasher flicks the characters were nothing more than faceless victims, but Victor Miller gives each their own identity and does a decent job at developing them.
Sean Cunningham does a solid job with Friday the 13th; while I haven't really liked his other movies with Friday the 13th he crafts a movie that is quite suspenseful and scary at times. From the start of the movie until the end, Cunningham manages to get this great sense of dread. He's able to create this feeling of unease and at anytime you know something bad can happen. Like the movie being better than it gets credit for the same thing can be said about Sean Cunningham's directing. Unlike the sequels Friday the 13th actually moves at a slow, but steady pace and there is a long stretch without any murders, but in these scenes Cunningham sets up a dark and eerie tone and develops the characters. After this movie I can't really say I was into Cunningham's movies, but here with Friday the 13th he does an amazing job and crafts an excellent and scary movie.
The older I get the more of an appreciation I seem to gain for this movie. Again despite the reputation it has Friday the 13th is an excellent horror movie that is quite creepy with some good scares. The now cliched last scare was frightening, but now it's been done so much it's so expected. Like I stated before the characters were quite interesting and likable and each has their own identity. The performances were fairly good as well. All the actors were early in their careers so any problems are easily overlooked. This series became all about Jason and many people often forget about Mrs. Voorhees played by Betsy Palmer. It's like that scene in Scream when the killer asks who the killer was in Friday the 13th and Drew Barrymore's character replies with Jason. That's a very common mistake that even some fans make by accident. But Mrs. Voorhees was an excellent killer and deserves far more recognition.
Friday the 13th really has so much more going for it than people give it credit for and I cannot state that enough. The score by Harry Manfredini is excellent and the gore scenes by Tom Savini are some of his best and look quite real. Friday the 13th isn't the gore flick people claim it to be. Compared to movies like Zombi 2 and Maniac this movie is quite dry, but the gore scenes look real for the most part and the murders are simple, but highly effective. The sequels started the more over the top murder scenes, which were great, but in this one they were simple and by far the most effective.
Kill Her Mommy,Kill Her February 3, 2009
Sebastian Sanjurjo (Miami FL)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you are looking for suspense, edge of your seat horror, and a nail biting plot...Look elsewhere this is not for you...This is Slaher mania at its best. After John Carpenter's Halloween, Sean S. Cunningham and Victor Miller came together to bring this little low budget horror film that would have 10 sequels and a remake. You might ask "What exactly does Jason have that makes this saga so lasting it's pretty much the same thing in every movie" this is true, but it's what makes this franchise so lasting and enjoyable.
In this first installment groups of care free teenagers arrive at Camp Crystal Lake. They come to spend the time and learn a little about the wilderness...If you know what I mean. Everyone in town is warning these teens of the dangers of the Camp, that there were 2 murders 20 yrs earlier. The kids of course don't listen, they really don't care. Obviously one by one they are murdered by Pamela Voorhees. "wait it's not Jason?" that's right...I mean I'm not supposed to ruin this but...I think everyone knows the ending by know.
The movie is well crafted for a low budget film. The death scenes are quite elaborated; especially Kevin Bacon's death scene. This is definitely a must have, better yet get the Uncut version recently released by Paramount.
Body Count: 9
Violent Level: 2-Kind of Gory
MY PERSONAL RATING: 5 OUT OF 5
Back To Basics January 11, 2009
Throbbin' Hood (Limbo)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
There are many ways you can look at this movie. It's just a basic horror movie, despite what everyone else says. It has all the parts needed to work, and it certainly works.
The acting isn't as bad as many I've seen. The plot is somewhat believable too. The makeup is GREAT. And it's one of the few movies where the main killer is a woman, and the hero is also a woman. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre started this trend with female heros in horror in 1974, followed by Halloween in 1978, and Alien in 1979. This film is classic in that they don't show you the monster until the end, keeping you in suspense as to who's doing the killing. The Hitchcock-inspired music adds to the tension building throughout, until the slow-mo climax.
Sean S. Cunninham & Victor Miller didn't intend for it to be a blockbuster, they just wanted to make their rent payment until the next project came through. It made almost $40 million and cost half a million to make. With that in mind they made a simple horror movie. No flashy actors (except for Betsy Palmer; we didn't know Kevin Bacon back then), no deeply involved script, just something simple to keep kids scared. And they're scaring us still today.
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