A Few Words About A few words about...™ Friday the 13th -- in Blu-ray (2 Viewers)

[Matt Thompson]

Despite our disagreement on the first, I officially like you! Anyone who appreciates Jason Lives is okay in my book.

 

[RickER]

Thanks Matt, i will add 4-6 to my NetFlix.
I just hate to follow a good franchise to the bottom. For example season 8 and 9 of The X Files, or AvP 1 and 2!

 

[MattFini]

Hahahaha, I hear ya. 4 is, for my money, at least as good as the others. When we're talking about part 5, it's not a good film at all, but if you can laugh, you will have a great time.

But things get back on track with part 6. It's honestly one of my favorite films all around. I can't think of many more movies that are as delightful to watch as this one ... fast, funny, creepy and smart ... do not let the unintentional hilarity of part 5 stopping you for seeing this one.

And while I do like the rest of the F13 films as well, I think the first 6 are the ones to see.

Oh, Matt ... glad you're a fellow fan of Jason Lives, man. I could talk about it all day!

 

[Michael Elliott]

But so was 90% of the twists Hitchcock did. Not to mention countless cheats in PSYCHO. I believe Hitch was the one who said he enjoyed playing the viewer just like playing a piano, which is something you really have to do. Even HALLOWEEN had Myers doing things that wasn't possible or something someone could call a cheat. I think it's just part of the genre but when horror historians or anyone else talk about F13 they don't talk about walking out of the theater cheated. They talk about walking out in horror and shock over who the killer was and the reasons behind the killings. Avoiding spoilers for those who haven't seen it.

I don't think it's the best in the series but it has an atmosphere that can't be touched.

 

[Matt Thompson]

Halloween isn't a good movie because Michael Myers is unkillable. Hitchcock's films all have worth outside of twist endings. They all have numerous points that build up to their well-deserved classic statuses.

You said that I can't call Friday the 13th a bad film because the killer is unpredictable -- hence, I said it was a cheat. You can't say a film is good simply because it cheats.

 

[MattFini]

I can't really follow your point here, Michael.

If someone were to feel 'cheated' by anything in Halloween, it's not the same thing as the way in which F13 reveals its killer.

As someone said, F13 tries to be a whodunit, but it's impossible to guess who the killer is because they're simply not featured in the first two acts. There may be 'cheats' in Psycho, but when everything's revealed it adds up. True there's no real way to see it coming, but still. In F13 there's no mention of the character prior to the reveal, so it is certainly a bit more of a cheat than most films of this ilk. Hell, I can't even think of many other slasher films that are as dodgy with their reveals.

Although, it can be argued that the lure of F13 isn't in its mystery, anyway. In 1980, people weren't talking about who the killer was. It's pretty incidental, anyway. It was the Savini's bag o' magic tricks that really had people talking the film up ... not necessarily the arbitrary reveal of who was behind them.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Spoiler for PSYCHO

Not everything adds up as it was rather impossible for Norman to be dressed as a woman, brutally murder someone and then seconds later be up in the house screaming at mother over blood and then rushing down the steps to discover the body. There just wasn't enough time. Not to mention when the P.I. gets killed as we see Norman outside and there's no way for him to get upstairs by the time the P.I. climbs the steps.

I was born in 1980 so I obviously can't say how people reacted but I have heard stories from my family members who all went to see it together. Before I ever watched the movie all I heard about was the mystery of the killer. She's forgotten today but at the time it was a shock to see someone pure like Betsy Palmer
playing a killer. As you said, I'm sure the main draw was Savini's work but I think the mystery was still talked about even though no clues were ever given.

As for HALLOWEEN, he was unkillable because of the box office.

 

[Felix Martinez]

F13 is as much of a cheat as any film using the narrative device of unreliable narrator IMHO. In any case, "cheating" is fair game as long as it's interesting and the audience goes with it. And the Voorhees backstory and doozy of a coda played like gangbusters in the theater when I saw it as an impressionable 12 year-old.

It's interesting...as much as the gore was unexpectedly shocking at the time, what haunted me afterward was the brief sequence of dissolves during the final chase - Betsy Palmer saying "kill her, mommy,"
the music, etc. - creepy, disturbing stuff...but those dissolves creeped me out for some reason LOL. Just gave it a dreamy, nightmarish vibe...

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I don't see how the ending is a cheat. We have no idea who the killer is for the entire film, straight up to the end. It's not like someone promised something and then went and changed it. Consider:


It may not be a 'whodunit' in the classic sense. I don't know that the film expects you to be second-guessing all of the already-established characters, necessarily. Even if it did, I think it's interesting the left field reveal it takes later.

 

[Bryan^H]

And that's the beauty of it. Watching the film so long ago, I never thought for a second it was any of the established characters. I just knew there was a crazed killer deep in the woods. When the camera becomes the eyes of the killer, it feels very Bava-esque and adds worlds to the already creepy atmosphere.

 

[TravisR]

Yeah, I see the point that it's impossible to figure out who the killer is but I don't think the movie is really designed to be a murder mystery.

 

[MattFini]

Agreed. I, too, see Matt's point but I never let it detract from my enjoyment of the film.