Friday the 13th (1980) (Exclusive Series) (Hulu or Amazon Prime via Starz Add-On)

Initial release date: May 9, 1980

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Tagline: Fridays will never be the same again

You’ll wish it were only a nightmare

Plot: Crystal Lake’s history of murder doesn’t deter counselors from setting up a summer camp in the woodsy area. Superstitious locals warn against it, but the fresh-faced young people - Jack, Alice, Bill, Marcie and Ned - pay little heed to the old-timers. Then they find themselves stalked by a brutal killer. As they’re slashed, shot and stabbed, the counselors struggle to stay alive against a merciless opponent.

Cast

Betsy Palmer - Mrs. Voorhees

Adrienne King - Alice

Jeannine Taylor - Marcie

Robbi Morgan - Annie

Kevin Bacon - Jack

Harry Crosby - Bill

Laurie Bartram - Brenda

Mark Nelson - Ned

Peter Brouwer - Steve Christy

Ronn Carroll - Sgt. Tierney

Walt Gorney - Crazy Ralph

Writer: Victor Miller

Director: Sean S. Cunningham

Rated R (95 minutes)

With it being Friday the 13th (well, technically it was when I first started watching this and now it’s not lol), I figured it was the perfect time to give the 1980 original slasher another look for my revamped Exclusive Series!

The 1980 slasher ended up becoming one of the numerous late 70s/early 80s influential slashers that has created iconic villains. This classic slasher/horror flick can still give you a good chill and can still be a scary good time - no matter how many times you have seen it!

The iconic theme and the iconic character of Mrs. Voorhees helped make this movie very memorable. If you watch it for the first time, there are some moments that are rather predictable. But, most slasher flicks from the 80s are!

The 1980 movie did spawn a huge horror franchise with a couple sequels that weren’t that bad. And, others that, well, kinda sucked.

‘Friday the 13th’ is now available streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime via the Starz add-on. It’s also available to rent online via Google Play and Vudu for $2.99.

* And a quite fun fact about this one - 'Friday the 13th' is 41 years old (feel old yet lol)

Here are some interesting tidbits for ‘Friday the 13th’:

• The movie was filmed at Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in New Jersey. The camp is still in operation, and it has a wall of ‘Friday the 13th’ memorabilia to honor that the movie was shot there.

• Tom Savini was one of the first crew members on board for the movie because the producers idolized his special make up effects in 1978s ‘Dawn of the Dead.’

• Most of the locations and sets were already there. The crew only had to build the bathroom set.

• Victor Miller admitted that he was purposely riding on the success of John Carpenter’s 1978 classic ‘Halloween.’

• The MPAA told the producers to scale back on the gore for the sequel, since they regretted the amount of gore that had gotten through in the original (and the subsequent critical backlash). This is why ‘Part 2’ is much less gory than the 1980 original.

• It was the 18th highest-grossing film that year, facing stiff horror competition from such high profile releases as ‘The Shining,’ ‘Dresses to Kill,’ ‘The Fog’ and ‘Prom Night.’

• The filmmakers never intended to make this the launching pad for the series that followed. According to Victor Miller, Jason was only meant as a plot device, and not intended to continue his mother’s grisly work.

• During the first few weekends of the movie’s release, makeup and effects artist Tom Savini would go into theaters for the last five minutes of the show to see the audience react to Jason emerging from the lake and grabbing Alice.