Friday the 13th (1980)

Director:

Sean S. Cunningham

Writer:

Victor Miller (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

9 May 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

On Friday The 13th, They Began To Die Horribly, One......By One (UK - Theatrical Tagline)

Plot:

Camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to re-open a summer camp that was the site of a child's drowning.

Plot Keywords:

Lake | Summer | Camp Counselor | Murder | Revenge

Awards:

4 nominations

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
Rex Everhart	...	The Truck Driver
Ronn Carroll	...	Sgt. Tierney
Ron Millkie	...	Officer Dorf
Walt Gorney	...	Crazy Ralph
Willie Adams	...	Barry
Debra S. Hayes	...	Claudette
Dorothy Kobs	...	Trudy
Sally Anne Golden	...	Sandy
Mary Rocco	...	Operator
Ken L. Parker	...	Doctor
Ari Lehman	...	Jason
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noel Cunningham	...	Boy in 1958 Camping Circle (uncredited)
Irwin Keyes	...	Busboy (uncredited)

Directed by
Sean S. Cunningham

Writing credits
Victor Miller		(written by)
Ron Kurz		uncredited

Produced by
Sean S. Cunningham	....	producer
Alvin Geiler	....	executive producer
Steve Miner	....	associate producer (as Stephen Miner)

Original Music by
Harry Manfredini

Cinematography by
Barry Abrams		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bill Freda

Casting by
Julie Hughes
Barry Moss

Production Design by
Virginia Field		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Virginia Field
Robert Topol		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Caron Coplan

Makeup Department
Tom Savini	....	special makeup effects
Taso N. Stavrakis	....	special makeup effects assistant (as Taso Stavrakis)
Katharine Vickers	....	hair stylist: Miss Palmer
Katharine Vickers	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Steve Miner	....	unit production manager (as Stephen Miner)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stephen Ross	....	second assistant director
Cindy Veazey	....	assistant director

Art Department
Christine Gardyasz	....	assistant properties (as Chris Gardyasz)
Alice MaGuire	....	property mistress (as Alice Maguire)
Daniel E. Mahon	....	assistant to art director (as Danny Mahon)

Sound Department
Lee Dichter	....	sound re-recordist
Richard Murphy	....	sound mixer
David Platt	....	boom
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Steven Kirshoff	....	atmospheric effects (as Steve Kirshoff)

Stunts
Tom Savini	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Phil Beard	....	second electric (as Philip Beard)
Jim Bekiaris	....	best boy (as Jim Bekaris)
Richard Berger	....	second assistant camera
Robert Brady	....	second assistant camera
Richard Feury	....	still photographer
Mike Hirsch	....	assistant camera: second unit
Bill Klayer	....	electric: second unit (as William Klayer)
Braden Lutz	....	camera operator
Tad Page	....	gaffer
Carl Peterson	....	grip
Larry Reibman	....	gaffer: second unit
Robert D. Shulman	....	key grip (as Bob Shulman)
Peter Stein	....	camera: second unit
John Verardi	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anne King	....	wardrobe assistant
Jan Shoebridge	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
Susan E. Cunningham	....	associate editor
Jay Keuper	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Rudy Churny	....	transportation captain (as Rudy Churney)

Other crew
Willie Adams	....	production assistant
Michael Barry	....	production assistant
Michael Calvello	....	location auditor
Michael Hall	....	production assistant
Martin Kitrosser	....	script supervisor
Ted Lowry	....	titles
Denise Pinckley	....	production office coordinator
Cecilia Verardi	....	production assistant (as Cindie M. Verardi)

Thanks
Norman Bedell	....	special thanks: Chief, Blairstown Police Department
Richard Skow	....	special thanks: Chief, Blairstown Fire Department

Production Companies

• Georgetown Productions Inc.
• Paramount Pictures
• Sean S. Cunningham Films

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1981) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (Canada) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Das Vierte (2006) (Germany) (TV)
• Victor Michailides (1981) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1986) (Greece) (VHS)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Deluxe Edition)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• T&O Film (Norway)
• Warner Bros. (Germany)
• Warner Bros.
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Blairstown Fire Department  special thanks to (as Blairstown Fire Department, Blairstown, N.J.)
• Blairstown Police Department  special thanks to (as Blairstown Police Department, Blairstown, N.J.)
• Logo Music  music copyright by (© 1980, All rights reserved.)
• Optical House, The  opticals
• Panavision  lenses and Panaflex camera (as Panavision®)
• Ross-Gaffney Inc.  sound effects
• Six Feet Under  hair styles by (as Six Feet Under, Westport, Connecticut)
• TNI Casting  casting by

Also Known As:

A Long Night at Camp Blood (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1980) | Finland:K-18 (2002) | Portugal:M/18 | New Zealand:R16 | Hungary:18 | Portugal:M/16 (re-rating) | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | France:-12 (DVD rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:R | France:-16 | Iceland:(Banned) | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 (DVD rating) | Norway:16 (heavily cut) | Norway:18 | South Korea:15 (DVD uncut version) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R (Reg. No. 25901) | West Germany:18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Singapore:M18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Blairstown, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Georgetown Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Steve Christy is named after Steve Miner, Associate Producer for the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jack and Marcie are in bed together, the close-ups show Jack's hand up near Marcie's neck, but in the side shots they are by her body.

Quotes:

Officer Dorf: What you been smoking, boy?
Jack: Smoke? Don't smoke causes cancer.
Officer Dorf: You know what I mean! What, you just get off a spaceship or something? Come on, Coloumbian gold, man. Hash, the grass, the weed, dig it?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bowling Balls (2004) (V)

A Date to Remember

Friday the 13th. The movie which turned around the horror genre and gave us one of the most unforgettable villains and endings, is, and always will be a horror classic. Friday the 13th doesn't set out to be glossy and glamorous. Friday the 13th sets out to do what it wants to do; and that is, make you sit on the edge of your seat, feel uncomfortable and unnerved, to make you frightened when you go to bed after watching it. Friday the 13th delivers all of the fantastic horror goods. The plot revolves around American teenagers, who are the new counsellors at the apparently jinxed Camp Crystal Lake. These naive, horny youngsters have a one-track mind and break all of the innocent borders which has more depth than you would think. Basically, the message is "Don't have pre-marital sex, or you'll die" just like many of Friday the 13th's predecessors and clones send out as well. Friday the 13th has a variety of characters, all who you could possibly relate to. These characters are then slowly followed and hacked off one by one, in dark, gory, claustrophobic manners, which may leave you frightened in the same way Psycho made showers scary. As the camp counsellors are knocked off one by one, the tension rises higher and higher. Along the journey of carnage, the hugely effective soundtrack really creeps under your skin, highlighting how jumpy and scary the events happening on screen really are. For example when a chase scene occurs, the music may speed up, the tempo rising and jittering, almost moving like the characters on screen are. The acting in Friday the 13th is not bad at all; some of the actors/actresses may be a little amateur, but there is nothing terrible in this picture. The settings are also very effective. The stalkings and slaying in broad daylight and open spaces are a twist in a new direction, showing that not everything has to happen in the dark, in a small isolated house on the top of a hill, so the variation of location makes forests, cabins and even lakes more unappealing to the viewers afterwards, and may leave them creeped out by the aforementioned places. The camera-work is also very effective. The way the camera 'stalks' the victim behind trees and bushes, and the way the camera chases after it's victims as the point of view of the villain is unique and exciting, and adds a more tense and faster chill to the movie. Friday the 13th may play as a clichéd slasher, a story of sex equalling carnage, but it plays so effectively well it is a too important horror movie to simply be dismissed. It collects everything appealing about the 80's horror genre and wraps it up neatly into this fantastic horror package. A classic in it's genre.