Halloween time is upon us! I decided to pick up the Friday the 13th boxset of the first 8 films and I wanted to talk a little bit about this franchise(but I’ll stick to the first film, just know it applies to all of them). I’m going to skip the plot synopsis because there isn’t one. People die, mostly with sharp things, and sometimes they’re naked. That about sums it up.
Ok, lets start with the plot. Is there one? The movie centers around a mysterious killer who really hates camp counselors. This killer kills them, one by one before there is any chance of any actual character development. Which is my next point, there is zero character development. You never actually get to know anyone. Nobody has any backstory, not even the psychopath committing these gruesome murders. I suppose the theory is they can make up for the sheer lack of character development or depth by showing them topless. Granted this theory does hold true for their target demographic which presumably consists of teenagers and drug addicts.The cinematography in the first film is decent; nothing to write home about but it works for the film. It seems to go down as the series continued, I watched the third installment and I swear there was dirt on the camera in pretty much every scene which is bothersome. The acting is equally ho-hum, it’s enough to get by on but it seems more fitting for a low budget porno than a horror film. The dialogue is dry and the characters lack any sort of emotional connection to the viewer. In fact, they themselves lack any real emotion besides screaming, that’s an emotion, right?
Where this film really shines is as a thoughtless slasher film. Something you can pop in the DVD player and watch in between trips to give candy to your tricker treaters. The fact that this film and its subsequent franchise have established a cult like following and embedded themselves so deeply in our popular culture is a true commentary on the shallowness of today’s society. Let’s compare this franchise to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. With NES there is plot and character development. You learn something about the baddy behind the knife and you sort of bond with him. The 13th lacks any sort of campiness or creativity, other than the way in which camp counselors die.
In my book, the best Halloween film is Halloween itself. John Carpenter set the standard for what a horror/slasher film should be. The characters there are well-developed, the plot makes sense and it’s something the viewer can buy into. Friday the 13th is the complete opposite, it’s just a seemingly random compilation of death scenes and sex scenes and I suppose to some viewers, that’s all it needs.
Do you agree with Will’s rant? Tell us what you think!
