Friday the 13th Parent Guide

In remote Camp Crystal Lake, a group of young adults has arrived to set up camp for the busy summer season. The camp has everything you need for tons of camping fun - cozy cabins, a boat dock, even an archery range. But not all is as it seems: in the nearby town, locals call the place Camp Blood for a horrible, unsolved double murder that occurred there over twenty years ago. And now, on the night of the full moon, Friday the 13^th, the young counsellors start to wonder if there might not be something more to the local superstitions…

The Friday the 13^th franchise is one of the staples in the horror genre, and as with most big genre horror films (Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Saw…), the movies get goofier as they go. By that logic, this ought to be the most straight-up entry in the franchise. And, for the most part, it is. Lazy writing and campy acting aside, the film takes itself about as seriously as you can expect under the circumstances. That’s largely why the film has retained a “cult classic” status. The contrast between the serious approach and the downright silly writing make this a lot of fun to watch.

Fun is, however, relative. It depends how much you enjoy watching the energetic young cast get slowly butchered by a lone killer. And you see a lot, because the movie loves showing off its gore effects. Memorable incidents include an arrow slowly being pushed through a young man’s throat, and a young woman falling to the ground with an axe gruesomely embedded in the side of her face. The physical effects are reasonably impressive for the time, but compared to some more modern gore-fests, they tend to look a little rubbery.

This may be one of the most pro-abstinence movies to ever feature nude sex scenes. Friday the 13^th really solidifies the trope set by Halloween that teenagers or young adults having sex is the thing deranged murderers hate the most and is sure to draw their immediate fury. Just remember kids: having sex in any context can lead to a violent end.

If you’re new to horror, this is a bad place to start. Low production values, poor screenwriting, and a seeming inability to maintain tension mean that this 95 minute flick feels nearly half an hour longer. Brutal violence and frequent sex make this unsuitable for family viewing as well, leaving this with a limited audience: existing adult fans of classic horror with a strong stomach for gore.