Friday the 13th (1980)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

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:

Sean S. Cunningham has been quoted as saying that the type of actors that he sought for the film were "good-looking kids who you might see in a Pepsi commercial."

Goofs:

Continuity: Ned is eating a hamburger when he runs to Alice's aid, but the hamburgers aren't cooked until the next scene.

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:

Spoofed in Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)

A Classic, genre defining

Without a doubt, the work of Cunningham and Carpenter during 1978 & 1980 rocked the world of the horror genre. Friday the 13th is one of the films that to this day still has repercussions. It demonstrated the importance of setting the tone in horror movies, making the audience themselves feel as if they too were being stalked. Cunningham also was one of the few directors to introduce the idea of a possible female serial killer.

Without this film, Scream's Randy would have never uttered those famous words, 'There are certain rules to surviving a horror movie..' This film combined with Carpenter's Halloween, firmly etched the rules in stone. The creepy music, the infamous "ch-ch-ch-ha-ha-ha", the crude photography and the graphic depiction of the murders of the counsellors all blend together to give a classic piece of film history. It scared the hell out of multitudes of teenagers who, in many instances could see themselves in the victims of the stalker. These weren't bad people getting killed, these were just your typical average American kids, having a good time, getting picked off.

That is what makes this film so defining, that is why, for all its crude and harsh imagery, this is a classic. This is why alot of recent attempts at horror don't measure up. It's not the effects or the blood necessarily, it's the atmosphere and the familiarity that bring it home.It is more frightening to think, "That could be me"