Friday the 13th (1980) Revisited: How a Halloween Ripoff Wrote the Rules of the 80s Slasher

Friday the 13th began as a deliberate attempt to rip off Halloween. It did not invent most of the tropes it became known for, but it pulled them together into the quintessential campy 80s slasher and set the template for a decade of horror. I'm an 80s slasher horror nerd, and this is one of the films that kicked them all off.

Friday the 13th Assembled the Slasher Tropes Rather Than Inventing Them

The Friday the 13th series was another one I marathoned with my friends in high school. The franchise boasts 10 films, and that is before you count Freddy vs. Jason, the 2009 reboot or the 1987 TV series. To be fair, that series was Friday the 13th in name only. It followed a group of cousins who own an antique store and discover the antiques are all cursed. It had pretty much nothing to do with the films, and most fans pretend it doesn't exist.

The original was not as critically lauded as Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street, but it has left an enduring legacy and earned its place in slasher history. It set the tone for horror movies for the next decade and affected the genre in ways that are still evident today. If you're a horror fan, it is essential because it set the template for so many others. It might also teach you a lesson or two about how to survive a horror movie.

Sean S. Cunningham Wanted His Own Halloween

On October 25th, 1978, an independent slasher about an unstoppable killer stalking teenagers in a suburban town was released. It was directed by a not yet famous John Carpenter and starred Jamie Lee Curtis, who at the time was better known as the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. Halloween had a budget of $300,000, grossed over $70 million, and was officially a hit. So producer and director Sean S. Cunningham decided he wanted to rip it off.

Cunningham came from low budget films. In 1972 he produced The Last House on the Left, written and directed by Wes Craven, and the two had worked together on low budget adult films a few years earlier. The horror world had a lot of overlap at the time, and Craven actually had to borrow money from Cunningham at one point when no one would buy his script for A Nightmare on Elm Street.

By 1978, though, Cunningham was worried about paying his own rent. He'd had a little success with kids' movies, including 1978's Here Come the Tigers, which was basically a ripoff of The Bad News Bears. He directed it, and it was written by former novelist Victor Miller. Seeing how hot Halloween was, Cunningham asked Miller to write him something like it. Before the script even existed, he took out an ad in Variety proclaiming it the most terrifying film ever made. The ad showed the title, Friday the 13th, breaking through glass, which was just about the only thing they had. It worked, and potential financial backers started calling.

Victor Miller, a Self-Proclaimed Wuss, Wrote It in Two Weeks

Miller wasn't a huge horror fan and was by his own account a wuss, but he went to see Halloween in theaters and borrowed its main ideas. He took two weeks to write the screenplay. He wanted a pre-existing evil, something set in motion before the audience arrives, like Michael Myers. Then he added a group of randy teenagers in a place where adults couldn't protect them, a summer camp, and had that evil pick them off one by one. During production the film went by the name Long Night at Camp Blood. Hilariously, Miller has said he was too much of a wuss to go to summer camp as a kid, so he didn't know that world either.

The film opens at Camp Crystal Lake in 1958, where two counselors sneak off to get frisky and are killed by an unseen murderer. It then jumps to Friday, June 13th, present day. The camp is reopening after years of being closed. Annie hitchhikes there to be the cook, the other counselors arrive to get the place ready, and one by one they die in gruesome ways until only the final girl, Alice, is left. Stranded without a car or working phone lines, Alice feels a brief moment of relief when a kindly seeming woman, Mrs. Voorhees, shows up in her jeep. That relief turns to terror when she is revealed as the seriously unhinged killer. Years earlier her son Jason drowned at the camp on his birthday, Friday the 13th, while the counselors who should have been watching him were busy with each other. She has made it her mission to stop the camp reopening by any means necessary. They battle it out until Alice grabs a machete and chops off her head.

The original ending simply had the cops arrive and return Alice to safety, but Cunningham told Miller he wanted a real chair jumper of an ending, one that would lull the audience into a false sense of security and then make them literally jump out of their seats. The scene runs long on purpose, so even seasoned horror fans think the scares are over. The cops arriving, the calm lake and the soft music are all there to lower your defenses. Miller took inspiration from the hand bursting out of the grave at the end of Carrie. As Alice drifts in a canoe and the cops reach the shore, a decaying, waterlogged young Jason pops out of the water and drags her under. She wakes in the hospital, the cops say there was no little boy, and it is left unclear whether Jason was real or a dream.

Mrs. Voorhees Turned Psycho on Its Head, and Scream Noticed

Miller wanted to manipulate the audience's expectations about the killer and turn mom and apple pie on its head. The fact that the killer is Jason's mom plays a part in Wes Craven's Scream: in the opening minutes, Ghostface asks Drew Barrymore's character who the killer in Friday the 13th was. She insists it's Jason and pays the price for getting it wrong.

Miller also drew on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Annie was a nod to Janet Leigh's character, in that you meet her first and assume she's the lead, then she is killed not long after. A Nightmare on Elm Street later played with that expectation through Tina, and Scream did it again with Barrymore. Miller also admitted he deliberately made Mrs. Voorhees an inversion of the Psycho formula: she had a split personality with her dead son, where Norman Bates had one with his dead mother.

Kevin Bacon and Harry Crosby Joined a Cast of New Jersey Locals

When it came time to cast the film the script wasn't even finished, so auditions consisted of a lot of screaming and reaction shots. Adrienne King, who played Alice, later said she thought she got the part mostly because of how well she could scream and because she had a little improv training.

The movie was shot in New Jersey, my home state, at an actual summer camp that is still around. That cut costs, since nobody had to build sets. Most of the sequels were filmed in California, and they don't have the authenticity you get from shooting in actual woods at an actual camp. Many of the cast and crew stayed at the camp, ate in the mess hall and apparently had a blast. Because of the East Coast location, much of the cast were locals with theater backgrounds and little to no film or TV experience.

There were exceptions. Bill was played by Harry Crosby, son of Bing Crosby, with whom he appeared on Christmas specials as a kid. Unlike Jamie Lee Curtis, Harry stopped acting not long after and became an investment banker. Jack was played by a young Kevin Bacon, who had small roles in films including National Lampoon's Animal House. Bacon said he took the part mostly to pay his rent, which seems to be a theme with this movie, and he has said he gets asked to sign screenshots of his death scene here more than for any other film he has made. I also love that both he and Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street get killed in beds. Aspiring actors, land a horror role where you're brutally killed in bed and you're guaranteed great fame.

Betsy Palmer Was the Ringer, but the Killer Was Mostly a Stand-In

As I covered when I looked at A Nightmare on Elm Street, one benefit of low budget horror was landing a ringer, an actor on the downslope of an otherwise impressive career. Nightmare had John Saxon, Halloween had Donald Pleasence, and Friday the 13th had film and Broadway star Betsy Palmer. She was known for sweet girl next door roles, so Cunningham felt she was perfect for the unhinged Mrs. Voorhees, a twist the audience wouldn't see coming. Palmer is on screen for a total of only 13 minutes. For most of the film the killer was a male stand-in, and if you look closely you can tell, because the legs, feet and hands definitely don't look like hers. Her casting outraged older fans who thought she shouldn't do a film like this.

For young Jason, Cunningham first cast his own 10 year old son. But filming stretched longer than expected into mid to late October, it was 28 degrees outside, and you can see leaves turning brown in some scenes. Cunningham's wife nixed the idea because she didn't want their son shooting in freezing water. So he called Ari Lehman, a child actor from Manny's Orphans, which Cunningham directed and Miller wrote. Lehman was asked if he could swim, and when he said yes he was told, "Congratulations, you've got the role." The scene took three days, and each day they could really only get one take, because the heavy makeup and prosthetics had to be dried out and reapplied after being in the water. By then the light was fading.

Tom Savini's Effects and Harry Manfredini's Score Made It Frightening

Jason's look came from Tom Savini, a former Vietnam War combat photographer turned makeup and effects maestro. His style was cutting edge, and after this film he became a rock star of the genre, bringing a bloody realism unseen up to that point. Audiences wanted to know how each kill was done so convincingly, and Savini would sit in the back of screenings in the dark to see their reaction to Jason.

The now iconic score also made it frightening. Composer Harry Manfredini came up with the music that follows the killer while studying a cut of Palmer's villain reveal. Slipping into Jason's voice, she begs, "Kill her mommy. Kill her." Manfredini took the first sounds of kill and mommy and spoke them into an echoplex, which echoed them into the sound that has been in pretty much every Friday the 13th since. Savini and Manfredini are my fellow spooky Italian American horror fans.

The budget was around $550,000, and I love talking about low budget effects. For Bacon's death, with an arrow stabbed up through his neck, he was actually crouched under the bed with his head pushed up through a hole in the mattress. Savini built a fake latex neck and torso for the arrow to go through, and he and his assistant worked a blood pump from under the bed. The pump clogged, and since there was only one fake chest and neck, they had one take to get it right. The assistant grabbed the tube and blew into it, making the blood bubble and spray as it flowed, which looks extra gruesome. When Savini heard Mrs. Voorhees would die with a hatchet through the neck, he apparently asked Cunningham whether he wanted a real head or a fake one, and in the end they made a replica of Palmer's head. Unlike older films that cut to a mannequin head rolling away in poor lighting, her head goes flying and the neck stump is clearly visible, with more fake blood spraying out. The hairy knuckled hands groping at the air after the beheading belong to Savini's assistant, standing in for Palmer.

Critics Hated It, and Gene Siskel Went Further

Paramount Pictures distributed Friday the 13th in the US, releasing it in early May 1980, and it was an instant hit, especially with teenagers. Critics had no idea why anyone would want to see it and dismissed it as pure escapist violence, which is exactly why audiences flocked to it. The critical hate only made kids want to see it more.

Gene Siskel hated it so much he spoiled the ending for his Chicago Tribune readers to dissuade them, writing, "The killer turns out to be a little old lady who is grieving the death of her son who drowned there." He also called Cunningham "one of the most despicable creatures that has ever infested the film industry." Then he gave out Betsy Palmer's address and told readers to send her hate mail. I have some choice words for Siskel over that. I know he's dead, but still, not cool. The film was nominated for a Razzie for worst picture, and Palmer for worst actress.

The MPAA, which ran the ratings system, felt the movie got away with too much violence and blood for an R and went hard on the sequels, forcing cuts or the risk of an X rating, a relative death. For films, the X was replaced by NC-17 in 1990. Honestly, there isn't even that much gore. Cunningham wanted a roller coaster where most of the fun is the anticipation before the big drop, and the TV version only needed about 20 seconds cut. The idea that it was super violent was more the MPAA's perception than the reality.

Its Defenders Say It Is About Motherly Love Gone Wrong, Not Morality

Many critics read Friday the 13th as a morality tale about underage sex, promiscuity and drug use. The filmmakers have dismissed that, as have fans and some critics in recent years. Defenders say it's about the dangers of motherly love gone wrong, possessiveness and the inability to let go. You're not meant to side with Mrs. Voorhees; the teens are just being teens and having fun.

One defender details how far the film is from the sexist trash it was accused of being. Alice isn't a virgin, since she's clearly in a relationship with the much older Steve, and she flirts, smokes pot and plays strip Monopoly. Just as many men die as women, and the killer turns out to be a woman and a mother.

The Slasher Template Friday the 13th Set

Still, the film set up many tropes that became the template for 80s slashers, and many are paid homage to in one of my favorite horror movies, Cabin in the Woods. The teens are simply drawn archetypes audiences easily recognize: the jock, the funny guy, the pretty popular cheerleader type, the soulful final girl who is smarter than the others and has a characteristic or two that make her feel fleshed out, the obnoxious one you hope will die, and the promiscuous one. They are a little clueless without being outright stupid, which lets the audience feel smarter and gives us all those "Don't go in there" moments.

The teens are cut off from adults, and any adults present can't be trusted; the cop here cares more about the teens misbehaving than about them getting killed. Teens usually die right before or after they're about to have a good time. Someone always warns them, and here it's Crazy Ralph, a Greek chorus whose warnings are ignored, which Cabin in the Woods hilariously parodied with its harbinger. The unseen killer is shown in POV shots and feels like an unstoppable force of nature. The kills are frequent, interesting and unique, a creepy, discordant theme follows the killer, and there's one final jump scare. Many horror movies from here on followed this recipe almost exactly.

My Rules for Surviving a Campy 80s Slasher

Because there's a template, you also know how to survive one. If we see you undressed, you're not long for this world, so keep your sneakers and clothes on. If you hear creepy music, you're a goner. If you haven't seen a friend in a while, they're dead. Never sneak off with someone. Don't trust adults, and cops don't make you safe: Nancy's father in A Nightmare on Elm Street was a cop and did nothing useful, and one of the kids died in the police station. A broken down car, a storm, or being in any way responsible for a child's death all mean you're doomed, and Pumpkinhead reinforced that last one.

A voice calling for help is a trap. Someone shining a light in your face is the killer. Weirdly, don't play games: here it's strip Monopoly, Agatha All Along paid homage with a Ouija board, and Cabin in the Woods had Truth or Dare. Everything is a weapon, so a machete lying around will kill someone and a pile of arrows will go through people. Surround yourself with fluffy pillows instead, though I guess those could smother you. Take advice from a crazy seeming local, turn back when told, and don't accept rides from strangers. If you overpower the killer, go for the killing blow; Alice leaves Mrs. Voorhees alive multiple times. After that fireplace poker, hit her again. And when you think it's over, it isn't. Even if you survive, you probably won't survive a sequel.

Kevin Bacon's Arrow Is My Best Kill, and the Body Count Is Nine

My best kill is Kevin Bacon's death in bed by arrow. "What can I say? I love a bed death." Best one liner is Alice's final line when the cops say there was no little boy: "Then he's still there." And boy, was he there for a slew of sequels.

The body count is nine. Barry and Claudette die in the opening by knife and machete, Annie and Ned by knife, Jack by an arrow through the throat, Marcy by an axe to the face, Brenda and Bill by lots of arrows, and Steve stabbed in the stomach, all nine killed by Mrs. Voorhees, who is then beheaded by Alice with a machete. You could count young Jason's drowning, but he's coming back, so he's not really dead.

From Jason Lives to Jason X, the Sequels Took Over

The legacy endures. The Burning, My Bloody Valentine, Sleepaway Camp and Cabin in the Woods paid homage to it or ripped it off, fitting for a film that began as a Halloween ripoff, and Agatha All Along and American Horror Story: 1984 drew on and parodied it. Unfortunately the franchise became better known for its sequels, which were sometimes uneven with what some call plot holes, though I think of them as horror logic. Most didn't even take place on Friday the 13th. Cunningham and Miller never imagined sequels; Jason in the lake was purely a scare. Once Paramount saw the success, it wanted more, with bigger deaths.

Part 2 arrived just 10 months later in 1981 and introduced Jason as an unstoppable man with the mind of a child. Part 3 came in 3D in 1982 and gave him the hockey mask. 1984's The Final Chapter was, shockingly, not the final chapter, and starred a young Corey Feldman as the kid who takes Jason out. 1985's A New Beginning had an impostor, 1986 brought Jason Lives, and 1988's The New Blood pitted Jason against a telekinetic girl. 1989's Jason Takes Manhattan is hilarious and arguably the campiest. 1993's Jason Goes to Hell ended with Freddy's glove dragging Jason's mask under the ground. 2002's Jason X put Jason in space, and it's completely ridiculous, but see it anyway. Freddy vs. Jason finally arrived in 2003, and honestly, I think it's the best Jason movie.

The 2009 reboot was the 12th film, and as of late 2025 there had never been a 13th Friday the 13th. It's right there. Thanks to the films and the merchandising, the franchise is considered one of the most successful of all time. Cunningham stayed involved, and Miller went on to a successful career writing daytime soaps, probably more in line with his so-called wuss status.

Is Freddy vs. Jason really the best Jason movie, or does the 1980 original deserve that title?