Cast and Crew:  Sean S. Cunnigham (Director); Harry Manfredini (Score); Tom Savini (Special Effects); Betsy Palmer, Kevin Bacon

What It’s About: Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer) is planning to reopen his family’s long dormant summer camp, Camp Crystal Lake.  There’s just one problem:  someone doesn’t want him to, and is willing to kill to stop him.  Will anyone survive Friday the 13th?

Why Watch it Today?: Today is Friday the 13th, that famously unlucky day.  Why not watch the horror film that started a franchise and launched a thousand rip-offs, all hoping to have its incredible success on a similarly tiny budget.  The first Friday the 13th sets itself apart from its sequels by featuring a different killer and a whodunit influenced story, although, truly, it is not a whodunit as the film uses an absolute cheat that makes it impossible to guess the killer or the motives.  Derivative (the filmmakers cribbed most of the infamous kill scenes from Mario Bava’s Bay of Blood, which also features murders next to a body of water), not terribly good, but somehow still watchable, be sure to stick around long enough for the unearned twist ending that would be milked for years by the sequels.   

Where to Get It:  iTunes, Netflix (Rental Only), or Amazon