Friday the 13th is a 1980s American independent slasher film produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham and starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, and Kevin Bacon. The film follows a group of teenage camp councillors who are murdered one by one by an unknown killer while they are attempting to reopen an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past. Friday the 13th is a criticism of Reagan area traditional family values and the dangers of traditional belief systems.
Friday the 13th has a traditional slasher movie set up with teenagers at a summer camp, the film starts with a POV of the slasher movie killer which is the staple of the genre. The film has a very 80s set up with a campfire with is the set up with a lot of slasher film, the film shows ideas of teenagers sneaking of to have sex which is common in horror movies. Within the slasher film sex is punishable by death as criticism of Reagan’s family values. The begging also uses the POV of a killer which is also a common feature of the slasher film. This is to give the audience the killers perspective as in the slasher genre you follow the killer. The typical troupes of the 80s slasher film are present here such as the introduction of the main girl protagonist shown in a different environment showcasing the idea of being out of you confront zone as only the locals know about the horror of the film. The film has a typical horror setting of camp crystal lake. The film has typical horror troupes of the creepy old man that warns the teenagers who don’t believe him.
The dumb locals in the film just think he is a crazy guy; this shows the omens of doom in the camp. This showcases the idea of punishing stupid adolescence teenagers who think they know it all and are adults. Promiscuous teenagers are always the cannon fodder in slasher films, they are essentially a collection of stock slasher movie teenagers assembled to be picked of one by one. The film is ultimately a stock collection of characters with the lead being the innocent virgin type. The film ultimately has two parrels running at the same time creating an equilibrium and a disequilibrium as things are shown to be normal before its relived that the person driving is the killer. This is shown from a POV of the killer as slasher films give ambiguity to the villain allowing the scantily clad teenagers to act as an idea of prevision and lust within the slasher film. The lulls of the slasher film are just as important as the highs to add tension. Kissing and other promiscuous activities is shown as a troupe throughout the slasher genre and is punishable by death, as things such as a jump scare with a snake and a girl is ultimately an omen of doom in the film. The police in the film and slasher films in general are often portrayed as useless as slasher films state it is the role of teenagers to defend themselves. Within the film Ralph is the omen of doom having an almost self-awareness of the slasher setting as the locals think his crazy and no one believes him. The normality and horror are in a constant battle with one another in the film. The film states this idea that within the rain the metaphorical spirit of Jason lives.
Jason drowned in the lake as a child and within the series a fear of the water is a common theme. Within the setting of camp crystal lake water showcases a metaphorical punishment within the villain in this is how Jason dies and within the series his spirit rises and kills again. This water links to Jason’s relationship with his mother as within the series Jason acts like an avenging agent for his mother. Lights flickers on and off indicates the idea of exposing slasher movie victims as pieces of meat for the villain to kill, this is shown with the imagery of a bloody axe showcasing the violence to come. The themes of death in the slasher film are shown with the character trying to use the phone as the camera pans across to show a dead person, the film also reviles in 80s slasher movie tropes with the car not starting as the teenagers are isolated. The film has very on the nose 80s slasher movie dialogue about how they will be aright and how the worst day is Friday the 13th, as this film shows that police authority is always useless in horror films and the individual must rise to the challenge to defeat the evil.
Within slasher films police authority is always useless as normal people are going up against a slasher movie killer who is like an omnipotent force. The fact that the film doesn’t show the slasher movie killer until the very end is unlike a lot of other slasher films in the genre and is subversive for its time. Instead, the film focuses on reveals of dead bodies like the character of Bill impaled to the door with arrows which is both horrifying and hilarious. The film then gets to the final girl who must face the villain with barricading herself in her own protective fortress of the map room office, with her picking up the bat she is metaphorically taking up the mantel of the final girl. The horror of Friday the 13th is shown to be all encompassing as Brenda’s body is thrown through the window. The climax between Alice and Mrs Voorhees subverts the traditional slasher film showdown by having a female slasher villain. The climax is also subversive with it being a slow burn until she reveals herself, as at first, she seems nice and friendly and Alice at first even view her as a saviour. The fact that Mrs Voorhees at first seems like an innocent kind old woman until the twist reveal makes her a brilliantly subversive slasher movie villain. She reveals that Jason her son was a young boy who drowned in 1957. She ultimately blames his death on the councillors who were supposed to be watching him, but they were having sex instead. This showcases an interesting humanisation to Mrs Voorhees psychology of a crazy grieving mother and gives her a good motive for an insane killer. The fact that there is a female slasher movie villain is not only rare but ahead of its time, the film showcases common theme of slasher films as sex equates to death in slasher films and the fear of the mother within the horror film.
Mrs Voorhees as a slasher movie villain suffers from PTSD of Jason drowning adding phycological depth to his character, this ultimately leads to a climatic fight between the final girl and the villain how again the film has a subversive element to it with the villain being a female. As she runs away, she comes across dead bodies symbolically showing she is the final girl. The film showcases the psychology of the movie villain with a mental unhinged mind as Mrs Voorhees talks in Jason’s voice as if his talking through her.
Slasher films have feminist themes within them as the final girl in films like Friday the 13th are always sown to be fighting back. This final girl motivate showcases a female character becoming more resilient showcasing more of an ambiguity in traditional gender roles as she confronts her killer. Mrs Voorhees has a duality to herself with Jason being part of his subconscious making her an interesting psychological character, the film uses classic slasher troupes of everything being lost for the final girl until the last minute until she gets away. The killers then burst down the door as she escapes, this links to the slasher movie villain being nonhuman. These villains are unstoppable enemies you can’t run from. With Alice knocking out Mrs Voorhees again it showcasing the final girl symbolically rising to the challenge and growing stronger. Alice in literally and symbolically becoming this final girl rising to the challenge is again shown both literally and symbolically with her battling Mrs Voorhees the slasher movie villain of the film. The film has the classic slasher movie moment of all hope seeming lost. This is until Alice uses the machete the bladed weapon of the slasher killer to Kill Mr Voorhees. This is interesting as this weapon is Jason Voorhees’s the kilter in all the other Friday the 13th films. In defending herself with this weapon it showcases the idea of her sexuality being a symbolic weapon. Slasher films could very much be seen to be pro sex rather than anti sex. The film criticises themes of traditional American conservative values in the form of the slasher villain and he death of this villain symbolises the destruction of these values to create more modern progressive values. In a very unexpected twist, the typical final girl happy ending is subverted as Jason emerges from the lake and drags her into the water. This however is then subverted again into a more traditional ending where the scene is revealed to be dream sequence cementing her placed as the final girl. This symbolically showcases the villain as an all-powerful and everlasting evil that can never go away.
Friday the 13th is a criticism of Reagan and traditional family values and believes. The film showcases that the destruction of these values is necessary for people and society, however this ideology is also shown as an everlasting all-encompassing evil that can never truly die.