Friday the 13th (1980)
Having finished the Nightmare-series, this was the logical next step. I was genuinely positively surprised by this first installment. I expected rough, low-budget and predictable clichés, but even though I have seen all the copycats and parodies and the cultural references, it was both genuinely creepy and with developments I didn’t see coming.
In addition, it is very well paced. The eerie atmosphere and the kills comes slow but steady, and perfectly contrasted by good spirited happy summer camp mood. I really enjoyed all the characters, like a good hangout movie. I even enjoy the slow filler scenes of them making coffee and turning on petrol lamps. Makes for good contrasting serenity to the unseen terror in the dark of the rainy night. None of them are exactly fully fledged complex characters, but still with enough distinct traits and personality to make most of them more than just kill fodder.
Rating: 4