[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Friday the 13th (1980)

So which film does one watch on a Friday the 13th? Why Friday the 13th of course. The original, but not the best.

The one where it all began, the film that kick started the slasher genre. Despite lacking the iconic killer - Jason Vorhees - of the other films in the series this isn't actually a bad little slasher in it's own right but it stumbles a bit in having a middle aged woman as the killer, in fact the most memorable lines of dialogue come just before a kill when the intended youth councilor victims all seem to say "Oh, it's you" as she approaches them. This may not actually be true but it seems like it.

Tom Savini's gore sequences still stand up today, especially the harpoon twisting it's way through Kevin Bacon's neck. Savini's bloody FX remain the best in the series by a long way. Meanwhile the final scene will still shock if you are that one person reading this who hasn't seen Friday the 13th..

Harry Manfredini's score remains memorable all these years later and it's famous "ki ki ki, ma ma ma" motif would become legendary, in fact the score here is the best of the series with Manfredini seemingly reworking themes from Bernard Herrmann's Psycho into the mix.

The film itself, surprisingly, given the theory that all sequels get worse the further along they go, isn't the best in the series by any means, nor is it the worst.

The UK Blu-Ray version from the eight film set looks and sounds very good.