Plot

In the summer of 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake, two counselors, Barry and Claudette, sneak away from a campfire to have sex in a storage barn. An unseen assailant murders them there. Twenty-one years later, camp counselor Annie Phillips is given a lift halfway to the reopened Camp Crystal Lake by a truck driver named Enos, despite being warned that the camp has a “death curse”. While driving, Enos warns her about the camp, telling her of a young boy drowned there in 1957 and of the two murders. After being dropped off, Annie hitches another ride from an unseen person, who chases her into the woods and slashes her throat.

At the camp, counselors Ned Rubenstein, Jack Burrell, Bill Brown, Marcie Cunningham, Brenda Jones, and Alice Hardy, along with the owner Steve Christy, refurbish the cabins and facilities. As a thunderstorm approaches, Steve leaves the campground to stock up on supplies. Ned sees someone walk into one of the cabins and follows. While Jack and Marcie have sex in one of the cabin bunk beds, they’re unaware of Ned’s body directly above them, with his throat slit. When Marcie leaves to use the bathroom, Jack’s throat is pierced with an arrow from beneath the bed. The killer follows Marcie to the bathrooms and slams an axe into her face. Brenda hears a child’s voice calling for help and ventures outside to the archery range, where the lights turn on. Later, Steve returns to the camp and is confronted by the killer, who stabs him.

Worried about their friends’ disappearances, Alice and Bill leave the main cabin to investigate. They find a bloody axe in Brenda’s bed, the phones disconnected, and the cars inoperable. When the power goes out, Bill goes to check on the generator. Alice heads out to look for him and discovers his body pinned with arrows to the generator room’s door. She flees back to the main cabin to hide, only to be traumatized further when Brenda’s body is thrown through the window.

Soon after, Alice sees a vehicle pull up and rushes outside, thinking it’s Steve. Instead, it’s a middle-aged woman named Mrs. Voorhees, who claims to be an old friend of Steve. As Alice brings her inside, Mrs. Voorhees sees Brenda’s body and recalls that her son Jason was the young boy who drowned in 1957. She blames his death on the counselors who were supposed to be watching him, but who instead were having sex. Revealing herself as the killer, Mrs. Voorhees turns violent and rushes toward Alice with a bowie knife, attempting to kill her. Following a confrontation in which Mrs. Voorhees is knocked out, she finds Alice at the shore and attempts to kill her again with a machete, but Alice ends up decapitating her with the machete. Afterward, a traumatized Alice boards and falls asleep inside a canoe, which floats out onto Crystal Lake.

Just as Alice awakens and sees the police arriving, Jason’ erupts out of the lake and drags her underwater. She awakens in a hospital, where a police officer and medical staff tend to her. When Alice asks about Jason, the officer says there was no sign of any boy. Alice says “Then he’s still there”. The lake is shown at peace.

Memorable Lines

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.

****

Mrs. Voorhees: Did you know a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren’t paying any attention… They were making love while that young boy drowned. His name was Jason. I was working the day that it happened. Preparing meals… here. I was the cook. Jason should’ve been watched. Every minute. He was… he wasn’t a very good swimmer. We can go now, dear.

****

Jack: Come on. I love you.
Marcie: But what about Ned?
Jack: I don’t love Ned.

****

Annie: Come on, there’s something you’re not telling me.
The Truck Driver: Quit. Quit now.
Annie: Quit? Why would I wanna quit?
The Truck Driver: Camp Crystal Lake is jinxed.

****

Mrs. Voorhees: You see, Jason was my son, and today is his birthday…

****

Thoughts from the HauntedHouses.com team

This is the film that launched the most successful horror franchise in the history of American film. It spawned 9 sequels, a crossover with Freddy Krueger, an eventual reboot, and a legion of imitators. It was originally made to cash in on the success of John Carpenter’s “Halloween”, which it did in spades — and then it went on to take on a life of its own. Many argue that it’s the best of the Friday the 13th movies, and it’s easy to see that argument. This was the birth of one of the most iconic villains in the history of horror. It must be said that director Sean Cunningham cooked up an ominous atmosphere, in what was probably one of the best settings ever imagined for a movie of this type. But there’s no getting around the fact that Friday the 13th just wasn’t a very good movie in the end. Too much of its appeal came down to simply watching Jason kill people. The initial installment borrowed heavily from Italian horror, which was quite influential at the time. The camera prowls through the camp in voyeuristic fashion, often capturing events from the viewpoint of the killer. It’s effective at times, but it’s never been our favorite technique. True to the Italian formula, the mysterious killer isn’t revealed until the end. In Friday the 13th, this produces, among other things, an embarrassing cat fight between Pamela Voorhees and the “Alice” character. Further complaints would include the overly methodical pace, and the fact that after 30 years, the film hasn’t aged well. While it’s one of the better installments in the series, that’s not saying much. Horror fans can do worse than sitting down with a Friday the 13th installment, but there are far more entertaining slasher flicks out there.

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