Friday the 13th

Inspired by the success of John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), independent director-producer Sean S. Cunningham wanted to succeed with a similar horror ‘rollercoaster ride that makes you jump out of your seat’ - and made film history despite scathing reviews. Two major studios vied for the distribution rights and Friday the 13th, with its crude but effective mixture, became a worldwide success that was to have a greater impact on slasher cinema than Carpenter's elegantly staged predecessor, from which the unsettling camera shots from the killer's perspective were taken. In view of countless imitations, the plot (until the then still halfway original final surprise) has an almost retrospective, ritualistic character: twenty years after a bloody deed, the Crystal Lake holiday camp is to be reopened with a group of young supervisors - but they soon fall victim to mysterious murders one after the other. A shameful classic. (Christoph Huber)

Introduction by Christoph Huber

Photo: Austrian Film Museum