Friday The 13th (Original) (Uncut)
Taking its cue from earlier masterpieces such as Psycho, Black Christmas, and Carpenterās Halloween, Sean Cunninghamās 1980 horror classic inspired the phenomenon that still lasts to this day, and was widely credited as the first āslasherā to employ gruesome and realistic makeup FX to document its kills. The filmās only true flaws lie first in its lead heroine actress: Adrienne Kingās Alice is far from being the most appealing character in the movie itself (that would be Annie The Hitchhiker), and she certainly doesnāt match up well to other great horror heroines such as Jamie Lee Curtisā Laurie Strode or Heather Langenkampās Nancy Thompson, among others. The only other real issue is the pacing of the film late in the game, when two principal characters are killed offscreen and the viewer gets a little anxious waiting for the big finish. But when it comes, with the onscreen arrival of Betsy Palmerās Pamela Voorhees, everything goes into overdrive as we learn of her psychotic nature and of course the suspenseful extended game of cat and mouse between her and Alice. The rest of the filmās cast is bland yet realistic, and serve their purpose well, even as the Steve Christy character (played by Peter Blouwer) opening up the camp appears to be a total moron (and a bit of a lecher as well), while Kevin Bacon shows a bit of early screen presence in his cannon fodder role and Walt Gorney is effective as Crazy Ralph, the doomsayer town drunk. What this viewer is REALLY happy to report is that the film has now been restored uncut on DVD, and the killings, which were mostly too rushed on the R-rated version of the film, are now intact and do a great job of showcasing Tom Saviniās makeup FX, particularly with Baconās death scene and the momentous final beheading. Then of course, there is that thrilling final 10 to 15 minutes, with Palmerās lunatic ramblings and Kingās attempts at fighting back and defending herself, all leading up to that big moment when Alice finally goes for and grabs that machete, with the fact that the viewer is witnessing genuine motion picture history being enough to send a shiver of pride up any horror fanās spine. Add to that the āshockā final moment at the lake (borrowed from DePalmaās Carrie, but still good) and one realizes that the end of this movie is merely the beginning of one of the greatest sagas in the history of modern American filmmakingā¦
9/10