Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th is a 1980 American slasher film produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, and a young looking Kevin Bacon.

Its plot follows a group of teenage camp counselors who are stalked and murdered one by one by an unknown killer while attempting to re-open an abandoned summer camp (Camp Crystal Lake) which was the site of a child’s drowning and a grisly double murder years before. The child of course was Jason Voorhees, the hockey mask knife wielding killer featured in the follow up films in the series.

Prompted by the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween in 1978, director Cunningham wanted Friday the 13th to be shocking, visually stunning and “[make] you jump out of your seat”. After casting the film in New York City, filming took place in New Jersey in the summer of 1979, on an estimated budget of $550,000. A bidding war ensued over the finished film, ending with Paramount Pictures acquiring the film for domestic distribution, while Warner Bros. Pictures secured European distribution rights. Released on May 9, 1980, Friday the 13th was a major box office success.

Of course, who can forget the major twist at the end. Warning: Major Spoiler alert