It's 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake, camp counselors Barry and Claudette sneak off but are killed by an unseen assailant. Then it flashes to 'The Present'. It's June 13th, 1979, Steve Christy is trying to reopen the camp. Everybody says the place is cursed. The camp counselors are hunted and killed.

I'll give it an extra point for starting a whole new franchise. I'm just not convinced that it's either scary or dramatic. There are some bloody effects but there are bloodier before this. This was really an attempt by studio to replicate the success of Halloween by using another 'scary' date. There's also a young Kevin Bacon in this. It's just not very exciting.

This is the film that launched the successful Friday the 13th series, one of the three longest-running horror movie series of the late 20th century (along with the HALLWOEEN and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series). Spawning eight sequels (or thereabouts) to date and even a television series, there must be something that makes Friday the 13th distinctive - and a standout from the crowd. But upon viewing, it's difficult to know what, as the film is very derivative and similar to a lot of other horror films of the time. There's certainly nothing very memorable. But a bit of digging beneath the surface will soon undercover some interesting points about this 'original' (hah) classic.

So what is there to like? Is it the plot? Not a chance. Widely derivative (influences are clear, ranging from Bava's A BAY OF BLOOD, even the setting, to the more recent HALLOWEEN),the plot is simply an excuse to set up the series of murders. The characters and situations are clichéd and all obey the 'rules' smartly observed in Wes Craven's SCREAM. The unknown identity of the killer is kept secret, which is nothing new, although the twist ending was unexpected when first seen.

The setting is a nice one, and quite influential (in the glut of films that followed, such as THE BURNING),but it's nothing spectacular - just a venue for the deaths, really. So is it the acting which is commendable? Sadly not. All the actors and actresses playing the teens are uninteresting, playing oversimplified characters with basic drives, and therefore lacking in any real depth or intrigue. Adrienne King is a pretty bland lead, and we don't really care what happens to her. The only 'teenager' of note is a young Kevin Bacon, in a film he probably wants to forget about these days. The interest lies in the adult characters in the cast.

Firstly Steve is slightly weird and perverse, and a little more interesting than the kids, although he serves the same type of purpose that Scatman Crothers served in the 1980 version of THE SHINING. There's a sarcastic policeman to add to the blend, as well as Crazy Ralph, whose mutterings that the teenagers are doomed reminds one of Private Fraser from DAD'S ARMY. Betsy Palmer, although appearing briefly (she is not on screen for more than 15 minutes),overacts wildly as Mrs Voorhees. There is also something immediately repulsive in her face, and the scenes where she talks to Jason in her head are quite disturbing in an amusing way.

What the film does have going for it is an effective music score, which really adds to the atmosphere in some scenes. And the film does have a few atmospheric moments, especially in the scenes before the deaths where you know there's a killer lurking around in the shadows. These attempts at atmosphere are commendable, although not as effective as something like, I'll say the obvious choice, HALLOWEEN. On the opposite end of the scale, there are some graphic murder scenes (although not as many as you might think) courtesy of gore master Tom Savini, including an axe in the face and the highlight of the film, a clever scene where Kevin Bacon has an arrow head shoved through his neck from below. There are also lots of very bloody and realistic corpses for some shock scenes.

Seen today, Friday the 13th has dated a little, and the film is rather too bland and simple for its own good, with not much time being spent on characterisation. It also feels rather mean-spirited and cynical. Saying that, if you want to watch a slasher film then you could do a lot worse. As the pretty piano music plays over an idyllic lake at the end of the film, you just know something horribly lurks under the surface...

'Friday the 13th' may have been panned by critics when first released but since then it is one of the most famous and influential horror films, the franchise containing one of horror's most iconic villains. The film is popular enough to become a franchise and spawn several sequels of varying quality and generally inferior to the one that started it all of.

Is 'Friday the 13th' an original film in terms of overall story? No, having been, and still is, compared to 'Halloween' (released two years earlier). One can see why somewhat, it is derivative in a way but to me it didn't come over as a direct rip off. 'Friday the 13th' is far from the best when it comes to acting, excepting Betsy Palmer (very good) and Adrienne King (charming). The others are average at best, though it was interesting to see Kevin Bacon in an early role pre-stardom.

Nor is it the best when it comes to dialogue. Much of it is very crude and cheesy. Or character development, while the characters are actually still easy to sympathise with to some extent they are stereotypes that we don't know an awful lot about generally.

However, while it may not be a "great" film, 'Friday the 13th' is great guilty pleasure fun and it is very easy to understand its popularity and influence. It's very gory and gruesome, though not pointlessly so, but it is also very frightening and suspenseful.

This is apparent in the deaths, which couldn't have been more creative or shocking, and the hauntingly eerie music score. 'Friday the 13th' is assuredly directed and moves along at a lively pace. The late reveal is for the better and works very well. The climax is a long way from a petering out one, instead the film goes out on a very strong bang, right up to the unexpected and freaky final jolt clearly inspired by 'Carrie'.

Overall, good fun and very scary even if not exactly classified as great. 7/10 Bethany Cox