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Friday The 13th (1980) (Blu-ray)
Year:
Rating: R
Distributor: Warner Bros
The Disc: 3.5
As Warner Bros. revamp the Friday The 13th franchise for Blu-ray (get a wriggle on with Parts 2 and 4, would ya, please?), it gives gore hounds a chance to see the roots of classic horror. Looking back on this older slasher film, it's amazing how much screen time is devoted to banalities. Minutes, sometimes in double figures, will drag on as appallingly bad actors and actresses make cups of tea, go to the toilet, or wander off searching for their boy/girlfriend or investigating a strange noise. Sometimes this ratchets up the tension (especially with Henry Manfredini's nerve-jangling score), but quite often you'll just want them to cut to the chase. Literally. The original Friday The 13th has groundbreaking special effects work by Tom Savini, seen to especially strong effect in the notorious death-of-Kevin-Bacon sequence. The print here is somewhat grainy though, but it's the clearest that you're ever going to see it. The extras are numerous and engaging, with features on just about every area of production, as well as new interviews with the cast and crew. Less enjoyable are The Lost Tales From Camp Blood, a series of poorly-shot "vignettes" that look like they were made for ten bucks and a bunch of grapes. But the film is the real draw, and as much as Jason slashes up the horny teens so well in the sequels, his mum does a pretty damn good job in the first film.