(Reviewed by Dusted) - The movie begins in 1958, where camp counselers are sitting in a circle singing Kumbaya.  Two of the counselers sneak off to go upstairs and have sex.  While making out, a mysterious person enters the room and murders them both.  It is now 1979 and the owner of Camp Crystal Lake Steve Christy (Brouwer) has hired a new group of counselers to help fix up and work at his camp.  The counselers begin to learn many interesting things about the camp.  They hear about the murders in 1958, many strange events that have occured over the years and kept the camp from opening, and about a boy named Jason that had drowned in 1957 from lack of supervision.  They also learn that the two kids murdered were the same kids that were supposed to be watching Jason, but were off having sex when he drowned.  The counselers go about their day, until the bodies begin to pile up.  Soon only one counseler (King) is left along with somebody that will do anything to keep Camp Crystal Lake from opening.

  This is the beggining of a franchise that has seemed to have spawned off endless sequels.  The reason this film is held in such high regard to the genre is because of the gore.  It was one of the first slasher films to show such graphic killings, and although there were other similar films such as Halloween (which is known for lack of blood), it didn't have the brutal deaths that Friday the 13th had.  Friday the 13th had poor acting with the exception of Palmer and King, and the script is in some ways laughable, but Cunningham does an incredible job bringing it altogether.  He knows just how to shock the audience, and at the perfect time it needs to be done.  I think that Friday the 13th deserves the respect it gets by the fans in every way, and I think that it truley is a classic to the slasher genre.  This movie will be appreciated by any fan of the genre.  7/10