Friday the 13th part 1. is lame, man.

[KYGOTC]

I just finished watching it for the first time but this was actually my SECOND time sitting thru it because the first time I fell into a deep sleep. Why is this thing so popular? It sucks! It was slow, half the time I had no idea what was going on because it was to dark, and don't even get me STARTED on that CHEESY diolauge!
"Doomed! you're all doomed!"
 
Oh, and I've seen some STUPID teenagers in horror films before, but some of these kids take their empty-headedness to a new level. Like that one girl at the end of the movie whos getting chased by Mrs Vorheese and she fights her 3 different times. Why not just once? Well, because at the end of each fight, the girl knocks out Mrs. Vorheese somehow, and the runs away, only to have Mrs. Vorheese get up and go chase her again! Just KILL HER when you knock her out, girl! jeez!

I'm sorry. I know that this movie lives in most of your brains as a favorite, and I respect that, but could you please tell me what you see in it that makes it so interesting? 

[Ash]

Out of all the Friday the 13th films, I've only seen the first three and Jason X.

But out of those, the first one is the best!

I guess you had to be around when that movie came out to appreciate it more.
I remember it scaring the hell out of me when I was a kid.
And it's still freaky to me as an adult.

I give it 4 out of 4 stars and a big 

[Mr_Vindictive]

Out of all the Friday the 13th films, I've only seen the first three.

But out of those, the first one is the best

I guess you had to be around when that movie came out to appreciate it more.
I remember it scaring the hell out of me when I was a kid.
And it's still freaky to me as an adult.

I give it 4 out of 4 stars and a big 

My thoughts exactly.  It's a nostalgia thing.  When I was a child, Jason and Freddy and Michael all scared the living s**t out of me and my friends.  Any kid who came up in the 80s was scared to death of at least one of those three characters, but it was a respectful fear...if that makes any sense.

When I watch the F13 films now, I still enjoy the hell out of them cause they are a lot of fun.  Don't take the films seriously as they haven't held up well over the years.  I love going back and watching them and remembering that absolute fear that I had as a child. 

I would take all of the F13, Nightmare On Elm Street, and Halloween films over the genre crap that gets made today. 

[D-Man]

Today's horror films are all about "stylish" blood and guts, complete with prime time soap actors, manufactured grittiness, and cheap, jump-out-and-scare-you moments.  So it stands to reason that the original Friday is going to be seen as lame by a younger generation. 

They're not perfect, but I strongly prefer the horror that was made in the 70's and 80's. So much of them, especially the low budget ones, have an authentic, gritty feeling about them, that makes them seem almost realistic, as opposed to today's horror films, which are way too glossy.  I don't care what anyone says, latex and fake blood are sooooo much more entertaining than CGI beasties. 

Myself, I've never been a huge fan of the Friday movies...but I'd rather watch those films 100 more times than watch Hostel again (Talk about manufactured grit).   

[Mr_Vindictive]

Today's horror films are all about "stylish" blood and guts, complete with prime time soap actors, manufactured grittiness, and cheap, jump-out-and-scare-you moments.  So it stands to reason that the original Friday is going to be seen as lame by a younger generation. 

They're not perfect, but I strongly prefer the horror that was made in the 70's and 80's. So much of them, especially the low budget ones, have an authentic, gritty feeling about them, that makes them seem almost realistic, as opposed to today's horror films, which are way too glossy.  I don't care what anyone says, latex and fake blood are sooooo much more entertaining than CGI beasties. 

Myself, I've never been a huge fan of the Friday movies...but I'd rather watch those films 100 more times than watch Hostel again (Talk about manufactured grit).   

Karma to you D-Man.  I agree, latex and liquid blood far surpass anything that CGI can create.  There is nothing worse than watching a horror film and have some crappy CGI effect take you completely out of the film.

[Jack]

I agree with everyone that I'd take any slasher from the '80s over all this crap coming out today.  

However, I'm a huge Friday the 13th fan, I've got about two-thirds of them on DVD, and I also think the first one sucks.  The plot is slow moving, it almost seems as if they made it up as they were filming it.  The acting is awful, especially the lead heroine.  The characters are unsympathetic and some are too over the top, and the humor is too corny.  I think parts 2 - 6 are really the meat of the franchise, so to speak.  

Of course, I've always thought Halloween was a very average slasher as well  

[Mr_Vindictive]

I agree with everyone that I'd take any slasher from the '80s over all this crap coming out today. 

However, I'm a huge Friday the 13th fan, I've got about two-thirds of them on DVD, and I also think the first one sucks.  The plot is slow moving, it almost seems as if they made it up as they were filming it.  The acting is awful, especially the lead heroine.  The characters are unsympathetic and some are too over the top, and the humor is too corny.  I think parts 2 - 6 are really the meat of the franchise, so to speak. 

Of course, I've always thought Halloween was a very average slasher as well 

I'd have to say that Halloween is still my favorite *initial* slasher film.  I prefer the Friday 13th franchise but I do prefer the original Halloween over F13: Part 1 and Nightmare On Elm Street.  Halloween is a damn creepy film, especially due to Carpenter's amazing score.

[AndyC]

I liked the original Friday, because it was more of a thriller. It had some mystery, and the unseen killer was actually revealed to be someone right in front of us. We were supposed to think it was Jason, but it was nice Mrs. Voorhees.

The rest of the movies moved more into slasher territory, with a superhuman monster on the loose, who became increasingly indistructible (and creative with his murders)  to the point of being silly. I liked most of those too (Part 6 is still my favourite), but the first one just had a different quality. I had actually seen 3-6 before the first, and it surprised me with its different tone.

[HappyGilmore]

"Doomed, you're all doomed."  Crazy Ralph rocks.

Honesty, I don't know what the appeal is.  I think just cause it's low budget, and doesn't make itself out to be anything greater is part of the appeal for me.  It doesn't claim to be the best or try to appeal to everyone.  And I guess, the killings seem somewhat normal, as if they could happen for real.

Plus, Kevin Bacon's in it.

Although, part 4 is probably my favorite.  It's got Corey Feldman AND Crispin Glover.

[Mortal Envelope]

The F13 series are a guilty pleasure ...so bad they're meta-funny.  I think "clockwork" reviewed every single one in the reader reviews (the poor masochistic bastard!).  My personal favorite is also part 4 - probably the pinnacle of the series, but in retrospect, the first one doesn't seem like it's even in the same series. 

But, if you think the first one was bad, try to endure part 3 and part 8 <shudders> ...oh the pain!

[Mr_Vindictive]

The F13 series are a guilty pleasure ...so bad they're meta-funny.  I think "clockwork" reviewed every single one in the reader reviews (the poor masochistic bastard!).  My personal favorite is also part 4 - probably the pinnacle of the series, but in retrospect, the first one doesn't seem like it's even in the same series. 

But, if you think the first one was bad, try to endure part 3 and part 8 <shudders> ...oh the pain!

I did something similar a while back:

http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,112892.0.html

Watching all of those films in apx 7 days was an ordeal despite my love of the franchise.

[KYGOTC]

I'm seeing some good points here. Maybe I would like it more if I grew up with it. I never watched any horror movies as a little kid. Maybe I should have. But I still would rather watch it than any modern mainstream horror movie like "Saw" or "Hostel" or "The Ring" or "The Grudge". MAN! Why cant they make cool horror movies anymore?! The only modern horrors that are any good that I can think of are House of 1,000 corpses, The Devil's Rejects, The Nun, (trust me, its good!) and the Halloween remake. And Grindhouse...(well, at least the first half of it.)

So the first is alot different that the rest of the Friday movies? Ok, then I'll give them a watch, maybe I'll dig them. Besides the first, I've only seen a small part of part 3, and that was years ago, and I've seen a small part of Jason X, and God help me, I thought it was histarical. I loved it, man! "OOOO! We LOVE pre-marital sex!" HAHAHA! Thats great stuff!

As for any other older slasher movie, I dont think Halloween has lost its charm. That was a BRILLIANT movie, and it's even a little older that Friday the 13th. Nightmare on Elmstreet was ok. It wasnt really scary, but at least it kept me interested. So I guess that rules out the excuse that it's old, so it's lost it's charm a little, because movies that are even older than it still ruled.

[Mr_Vindictive]

KYGOTC,

Give the other Friday films a chance.  At their best, they are highly entertaining.  At their worst, they are suicide inducing (part 8).  It's a mixed bag, but for the most part, they are fun.

[D-Man]

The only Friday film I'd ever consider owning would be part four, "The Final Chapter". 

I'd also suggest seeing the Italian film that many say inspired the first Friday movie...Mario Bava's "Bay of Blood".  I have to say, I found it even more entertaining than the Original Friday, even though it's an older film.  It's still very hard hitting, you have no idea what's going on, or who's doing the killing...and you will not believe how they end it.  That's all I'm gonna say there. 

[DistantJ]

I do like the original Friday the 13th a lot but it is a very slow film now and when compared to its big brother Halloween it can be really quite dull when you're already used to it's gore levels. The sequels get better and better but none of them (until Part 6) are as quick, simple and accessible as today's horror flicks. It's surprising how much praise the series gets - Jason is a kickass slasher villain for sure, probably my favourite, but the movie series itself is probably the most inconsistant rollercoaster of all of the classic slasher series'. I welcome the upcoming remake in the hope that it'll put Jason into a nice, solid movie of his own.

Back to part 1, I have a bit of a problem with the fact that in order to mask Pamela's identity, almost every suspense shot is from the killer's PoV - for some reason that rarely frightens me like seeing Mikey Myers silently moving around in the background does.

For a modern slasher fan I'd reccomend going straight to the F13 spinoffs, particularly Jason X (as long as you don't mind your movies being camp!) and Freddy vs Jason. As for the original series, I'd say Parts 6 and 7 are the most fun and accessible - the "Zombie Jason + absurd ressurection" era.

I do indeed find it very strange how so many of my peers take the original Friday the 13th seriously but laugh at The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.