Line #27 Film/FridayThe13th1980


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mgjlh8omytdhfudvs20kfpyz0yc.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''"Did you know that a young boy drowned? The year before those two others were killed?"'']]
3
4	The first film in the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' series, and the TropeCodifier for the SlasherMovie genre. Released in 1980.
5
6	Camp Crystal Lake has fallen on hard times. After several deaths in TheFifties and the sabotage of two other reopening attempts, the children's camp has remained an abandoned relic of the past. Steve Christy, the son of the camp's previous owners, plans another reopening and works hard to realize it. On the 13th of June, two weeks before the opening, the counselors Steve hired to run the camp arrive to help him.
7
8	But someone else shows up as well -- someone with murderous intent...
9	----
10	!! "These tropes have a death curse":
11	* AbortedArc: It seemed that there was a relationship of some sort between Alice and Steve, but none of this is explained further.
12	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Jason was born on June 13 in either 1944 or 1946, but neither had it fall on a Friday (June 13 was a Tuesday in 1944 and a Thursday in 1946). And, despite the title, June 13 fell on a Wednesday in 1979, the year the film takes place. Even the lament about the full moon falling on a Friday the 13th that year was largely inaccurate; the closest 1979 ever got to a full moon on a Friday the 13th was on April 13, the day after the full moon that month.
13	* AssholeVictim: The two counselors who get murdered in the prologue not only [[spoiler:caused Jason's death by sneaking off to have sex instead of watching after a disabled child while he went swimming]], it appears they still haven't learned their lesson even in the tragic aftermath.
14	** [[spoiler: Ned is an obnoxious jerk who nearly shoots Brenda with an arrow and fakes drowning as a prank; needless to say, viewers won't be sorry to see him go when Pamela slits his throat.]]
15	* BadSamaritan: Someone nice picks up Annie as she tries to hitch a ride. Then, MURDER.
16	* BathroomStallGraffiti: Marcie criticizes one (by "Willie Makeit") when she goes to relieve herself.
17	* BatterUp: Alice briefly grabs a baseball bat to feel more secure in her cabin.
18	* BigNo: Claudette's last words.
19	* BlatantLies: When Brenda, Alice, and Bill start playing strip Monopoly, Brenda rolls the dice and gets a one and a two... which she promptly claims are ''double sixes.'' Bill and Alice note that they're being hustled, but don't try to stop her.
20	* CampCook: [[spoiler:Pamela Voorhees is a rather dark example, what with her being the film's killer. She was the cook at Crystal Lake's initial term of service, and not really a bad one, but she sought revenge against the counselors for her son's death once the camp reopened.]]
21	* CatapultNightmare: Alice has one before the ending.
22	* TheCavalryArrivesLate: We don't see the police until well after the climax is over and daylight has broken out.
23	* CluelessMystery: A lot of the film feels like we're supposed to be trying to figure out who the killer is...and then it's someone who was never mentioned before. [[spoiler:Betsy Palmer, who played Mrs. Voorhees,]] did campaign to drop some sort of clue to the viewer, but the director shrugged it off. Though funnily enough, these days it does feel like a twist that [[spoiler:Jason isn't the killer.]]
24	* CoversAlwaysLie: One version of the DVD cover for the first movie has a holographic image revealing Jason's mask. [[spoiler:Not only is Jason not the killer of this movie, but he doesn't even show up except for a short dream sequence, nor does he gain the hockey mask for another two films]].
25	* CutPhoneLines: As the killing intensifies, Camp Crystal Lake's phone lines are cut so that the cast are stranded on the premises (because Steve Christie [[ClosedCircle took the only vehicle into town]]).
26	* DeathByMocking: Ned is the jokester of the group. At one moment he pretends to have drowned in the lake to get a kiss from Brenda. For the reasons made obvious during the climax, this seals his fate.
27	* DeathByRecognition: Steve Christy dies as he approaches the person he recognizes.
28	* DecoyProtagonist: The first counselor we meet is the chipper and wholesome Annie, and we follow her for several scenes as she hitchhikes to Crystal Lake. She's the first counselor to die, killed before she even makes it to the camp. The film then follows no particular counselor until they're whittled down to Alice, who becomes the FinalGirl.
29	* DestinationDefenestration: Brenda's corpse is hurled through a window to the cabin where Alice is taking refuge.
30	* DwindlingParty: Annie is the first to go before she even reaches the camp; then Ned, Jack, Marcie, Brenda, Steve and Bill are killed off one by one in that order. The only one to survive is [[FinalGirl Alice]].
31	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
32	** No hockey mask, [[spoiler:Jason is just a delusion of his insane mother... until the TwistEnding.]]
33	** The general tone and "feel" of the movie is quite different to the rest of the series. With the heavy use of handheld cameras and long-takes, the long stretches without music, and the (comparatively) more realistic and gritty death scenes, the film owes more to the numerous B-movies and grindhouse flicks of the 1970s than it does to the slasher films it would help inspire. Much of this can be attributed to the budget (less than $1 million), which is significantly lower than the series' later, more outlandish entries.
34	** This and ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPart2 Part 2]]'' are the only films in which they don't deliberately write unlikable heel characters to root the killers on. All the characters are generally nice people that treat each other kindly. A contrast to later entries where there are a few characters to root the killer on.
35	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Aside from the DistantPrologue, which took place 22 years prior, and the final scene of Alice in the hospital, which presumably takes place a day or two afterward, the movie takes place over one day and night.
36	* FakeOutTwist: Near the end of the movie, it's revealed that the killer is [[spoiler:Jason's mom, meaning that Jason wasn't actually BackFromTheDead as was thought. The FinalGirl dispatches her and returns to Crystal Lake to catch her breath from her ordeal. Surprise, Jason ''is'' BackFromTheDead and pulls Alice into the lake. She wakes up in the hospital having almost drowned and [[CassandraTruth no one else believes her]] that Jason was involved.]]
37	* FinalGirl: [[spoiler:Alice has to deal with the mad Pamela alone]].
38	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: [[spoiler:Mrs Voorhees tells Alice that she's "not afraid" to go back to the camp about literally five minutes before she's revealed to be the killer, so, of course, she isn't afraid to go back.]]
39	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Brenda rescues Ned from drowning, which turns out to be faked. [[spoiler: She attempts to rescue a child crying for help, but that turns out to be fake also, leading to her to be ambushed by Mrs. Voorhees.]]
40	* FormulaWithATwist: ''Film/FridayThe13th1980'' copied the Slasher formula almost wholesale from ''Film/Halloween1978'', except for being set in a forest camp and making the killer's identity a MurderMystery plot point. Later entries in the series helped codify the genre with its undead villain, Jason.
41	* FreezeFrameBonus: When the killer moves away some tree branches so that they can continue spying on the counselors, look at the person's hand. [[spoiler: It's a woman's]]
42	* FryingPanOfDoom: Alice uses a frying pan to club her attacker in the head.
43	* TheGenericGuy: Bill has no real characterization. He's not a prankster or a lover or an authority figure like the other males.
44	* GroinAttack:
45	** Alice buys herself some time with a well-placed hit on her attacker's groin.
46	** When Alice finds Bill's body, he has an arrow in his groin as well as in his face.
47	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Pamela Voorhees is decapitated with her own machete.]]
48	* {{Homage}}: To ''Film/{{Psycho}}''. The "kikiki" breathing that signals the killer's arrival is similar to the famous PsychoStrings, and the would-be FinalGirl is killed off first. Then there's the fact that the killer is [[spoiler: a deranged mother who believes that her dead son Jason is talking to her and telling her to kill sexually active people, which is the same situation as Norman Bates, just with the roles reversed.]]
49	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: A triple-whammy as the movie takes place on an eponymous day, Jason's birthday, ''and'' on a full moon!
50	* HostileWeather: Rain and thunder break out halfway through the film, and are backdrop to the deaths of Jack, Marcie and Brenda.
51	* {{Hypocrite}}: While many of the workers exhibit the kind of lasciviousness or neglectfulness that [[spoiler: Mrs. Voorhees believes killed her son]], Brenda clearly shows twice that she would have [[spoiler: saved Jason from drowning had she been watching him that day. This doesn’t save her.]]
52	** [[spoiler: Likewise, she also murders Annie, who is a genuinely nice and friendly young woman who wants to work with kids.]]
53	* ImprovisedWeapon: Alice defends herself with a poker, [[FryingPanOfDoom a frying pan]], and [[PistolWhipping an empty rifle]].
54	* InstantThunder: Happens as Jack and Marcie prepare for lovemaking.
55	* InterruptedIntimacy: Happens when [[spoiler:Pamela Voorhees]] kills Barry and Claudette.
56	* JumpScare: [[spoiler:Jason's sudden appearance]] near the end.
57	* JustHitHim: In their final fight, [[spoiler:Mrs Voorhees]] throws Alice around and slaps her rather than dispatching her with the same quick methods as the other counsellors.
58	* KilledMidSentence: Barry in the opening tries to explain that he and his girlfriend were just messing around, but is killed in the middle of it.
59	* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler: Claudette (the girl counselor from the opening), Ned, Brenda, and Bill aren't killed onscreen. In the case of Brenda, we only hear her scream with the scene cutting back to the cabins.]]
60	* LargeHam: Crazy Ralph and Mrs. Voorhees chew enough scenery that they probably had wished the cook hadn't been killed.
61	* LeaveTheCameraRunning: Through gratuitous [=Padding=]. Many times throughout the film a character exits the frame and we still haven't cut away. Whenever somebody drives away we see their vehicle ride all the way until exiting the frame (including Crazy Ralph on his bicycle).
62	* {{Lunacy}}: When the Sheriff gives Steve a lift to Camp Crystal Lake, they start arguing about whether or not a full moon has an effect on crime rates.
63	* MadOracle: Crazy Ralph.
64	-->It has a death curse!
65	* MamaBear: [[spoiler:The murderer is motivated by her son's death years before.]]
66	* MisplacedRetribution: [[spoiler: Mrs. Voorhees killed the two camp counselors responsible for her son Jason's drowning one year after the tragedy. However, when the camp reopens years later, she begins killing people who had absolutely nothing to do with his death left and right.]]
67	* MotiveRant: [[spoiler:Mrs. Voorhees rants about how the camp counselors should have watched Jason and Camp Crystal Lake should have remained closed to Alice before trying to kill her.]]
68	* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler: Mrs. Voorhees was just as much at fault for her son's death, but she blames everyone else.]]
69	** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Then again]], she did specify she was the camp cook and was working when it happened. Jason was in the care of the counselors when he went swimming because his mother had to make a living.]]
70	* {{Nice Guy}}: Annie has a sweet disposition and states that her calling is to help kids. All the rest of the main counselors, with the exception of prankster Ned, are nice, normal teens who go out of their way to help people in emergencies.
71	* NiceToTheWaiter: Mr. Christy gives a generous tip to the waitress at the diner, and the two chat pleasantly suggesting they're friends.
72	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Brenda hears a child crying for help and wanders around the woods in the rain, dressed only in her nightgown, trying to help. [[spoiler:She ends up murdered because of it]].
73	* NoPeripheralVision: Alice doesn't see Steve's corpse before it drops right in front of her.
74	* {{Novelization}}: By Simon Hawke.
75	* OffWithHisHead: How Alice kills [[spoiler:Pamela Voorhees]].
76	* OffscreenTeleportation: Ned's corpse appears on the top bunk of the bed where Jack and Marcie are making love, without either of them noticing.
77	* OhCrap:
78	** Ned is fooling around, dressed as an Indian chief. Then he turns around and sees that a motorcycle cop has arrived on the campsite.
79	-->'''Ned:''' Oh shit.
80	** [[spoiler: The slow motion look on Pamela's face when she realizes Alice has her machete.]]
81	* OnceIsNotEnough: Alice has not one but THREE chances to finish off [[spoiler:Mrs. Voorhees]], but runs away each time.
82	* PeekABooCorpse: [[spoiler: Bill, Brenda and Steve's bodies]] pop out at Alice various times.
83	* PluckyComicRelief: Ned makes jokes and teases everyone throughout his screen time.
84	* PresentDayPast: The hairstyles of TheFifties sure don't look any different than 1980.
85	* RainOfBlood: Marcie tells Jack that she has a recurring nightmare of a storm that turns into a rain of blood. This proves to be {{foreshadowing}}, as later blood starts dripping on Jack before he is killed.
86	* RaincoatOfHorror: Significant parts of this film take place when ItWasADarkAndStormyNight, and the counselors wear raincoats accordingly.
87	* RedHerring:
88	** [[spoiler:Crazy Ralph, the creepy local who keeps telling everyone they're "doomed." The cops are looking for him, and he shows up hiding in the camp, but he's not the killer]].
89	** Steve Christy is teased as a suspect, since he's gone from the camp for a large portion, and his jeep is the same color and model as the killer's.
90	* SamusIsAGirl: A non-heroic example; [[spoiler: you'd be forgiven for thinking the killer is a young man at first since she is initially only shown from the shoulders down, wearing a man's shirt and trousers. Then in the last 15 minutes of the movie, the serial killer picking off the counselors is revealed to actually be a middle-aged woman.]]
91	* SceneryPorn: A surprising amount of this for a horror film.
92	* SexSignalsDeath: This film probably made it a staple for slasher flicks. This is why Barry and Claudette and Jack and Marcie die. Justified since [[spoiler: Pamela]] is specifically targeting people who have sex, because that's how Jason drowned - two counselors who were supposed to be watching him were having sex instead.
93	* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Brenda during the [[StripPoker strip Monopoly]] game. And Marcie walking around in her panties, and bending over facing away from the camera.
94	* ShirtlessScene: ''Every'' male counselor at the camp has a shirtless scene at some point.
95	* ShooOutTheClowns: [[spoiler: Ned the comic relief character is the first one killed off on the camp grounds]]. This marks the horror starting to happen, and the body count racks up.
96	* ShownTheirWork: Brenda checks Ned's throat for blockages before doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
97	* SlashedThroat: Annie, Ned, and Bill have their throats slit.
98	* SmokingHotSex: Jack lights a cigarette after sex with Marcie.
99	* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler:Mrs. Voorhees definitely suffers from this, as at one point her voice alternates between her son's and her own.]]
100	* StrangerBehindTheMask: [[spoiler:Pamela Voorhees]], a completely unknown character prior to being introduced near the end, killed everyone.
101	* StripPoker: Brenda's "Strip TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}".
102	* SummerCampy: The film helped to popularize summer camps as slasher settings.
103	* TemptingFate: While playing Strip Monopoly, Alice buys Baltic Avenue. Bill says no one ever lands on Baltic Avenue -- and on his turn, he lands on it.
104	* TooDumbToLive: Alice barricades a door that opens in the opposite direction. But then, this would become one of the defining tropes of the genre.
105	* TitleDrop: The local sheriff laments the fact that Friday the 13th has a full moon.
106	* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: [[spoiler: Ms. Voorhees is a completely normal-looking woman in a fuzzy sweater and jeans. She doesn't even wear a mask while killing people.]]
107	* UnbuiltTrope:
108	** The film uses SexSignalsDeath to kill off the characters, but there's an in-story justification for it. [[spoiler: Jason drowned while camp counselors were fooling around, so hatred of any kind of sex is his mother's FreudianExcuse]].
109	** [[spoiler: Alice]] is the FinalGirl but lacks many of the characteristics associated with what the archetype would eventually become; she still smokes and drinks with her friends, she's ''about'' to strip off on screen when the storm interrupts her (and she gets into a bikini earlier) and she's implied to be having an affair with Steve. She's only more responsible than her friends because she appears to be in charge at the camp.
110	** As famously pointed out by the opening of ''Film/Scream1996'', [[spoiler: the killer is ''not'' Jason, or any similarly hulking invincible man-mountain in a [[MalevolentMaskedMen creepy mask.]] The killer is not only female -- something still rare to this day -- but an unmasked, [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse totally ordinary-looking]] middle-aged woman with no scars or deformities. She doesn't even wear a scary costume, just a blue wool sweater-blouse and jeans.]]
111	** Unlike the typical slasher story, the film's tension runs almost entirely on DramaticIrony. All the victims are killed instantly, and the timeframe is so short that nobody ever learns that there is a killer on the loose. [[spoiler:Alice]] only realises that she is the SoleSurvivor at the end when she discovers the bodies of all her friends. The result is a slasher film where none of the characters ever get the chance to [[DwindlingParty realize that they are getting picked off]], [[PoliceAreUseless attempt to call the police]], [[TooDumbToLive behave in stupid ways that get them killed]] etc.
112	* UnratedEdition: There's an uncut version with more explicit violence and gore.
113	* VillainOpeningScene: The film opens with two camp counselors being killed in the fifties.
114	* WalkingSpoiler: See StrangerBehindTheMask - even if it's a LateArrivalSpoiler given the film's notoriety.
115	* WalkingSwimsuitScene: The scene with the counselors swimming in the lake.
116	* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Mrs. Voorhees]], who sees killing off the counselors and keeping the camp from re-opening as a means to [[spoiler: keeping other children safe from the neglect that killed her son.]]
117	* WithinArmsReach: To an almost comical level in the final fight between Alice and the killer. As Alice finds herself hit, pinned down, choked, tackled, and slapped, she manages to grab and fight back with a stick, an empty gun, and an oar, among other things.

Context Film / FridayThe13th1980