I have been busy today wrangling birthday items, cake, homemade ice cream, gifts, etc. for my daughter's 17th, and I'm just now getting to Friday the 13th (1980). I have read and seen on many of the YouTube vids on the SE that Part 2 (1981) is perhaps the best quality of the first four, which all got 4K transfers. I guess I'll see. I have actually noticed many say Part 5 and 6 actually have excellent quality transfers. So I don't know. This is the very first time I own any of the Friday the 13th films on Blu Ray. I have to say what really stands out to me while watching "Friday the 13th" this evening is the lush green of the New Jersey rural location shooting. Again, to me, this was always a major reason I think as highly of the film as I do. When I went to a cabin early October (and plan to return again next year), besides "The Evil Dead" (1981), "Friday the 13th" is always the first film I think about. As much grief as Cunningham received for the violence, "Friday the 13th" has a lot of sun and the environment with that very distinctive green that pops it off the screen takes me right to that time and place of summer. And I appreciate the real sense of isolation. You kind of feel that when you go to cabins at a state park or somewhere off the beaten path. It isn't some Hollywood studio project. It's very independent and altogether because of that, I think there is an appeal that really is generated from rural New Jersey. Getting away and all that; Sean Cunningham, through Miller's script which doesn't break the brain with anything remotely convoluted, gets the most out of where they shot his film. That is what stood out to me this time. The last two viewings, I really think about Alice and Steve's relationship. For so long, Alice is thrown into this "final girl" cliche about being impure and all that shit. But I think the film really hints at something intimate between them. She drew his picture and said to Steve, "That's what you looked like last night". She likes how he looks at her, too, telling her how pretty she is. So I guess that puts to rest this long held nonsense about how final girls have to be virgins and all that. Yes, Laurie Strode was a virgin and ultimately was that heroine who had good grades, was sweet, and narrowly avoided slaughter.
***I also watched Sean Cunningham's interview, "The Man Behind the Legacy", from 2009. This is on that DVD SE back when the remake was to be released. Cunningham's home, very impressive, is featured and he's honest about how he couldn't have anticipated the rise of Jason considering his film never says the boy grew into a man. That little Jason rising from Crystal Lake to tackle Alice in her canoe was just a dream. Noel, Sean's son, is featured with his dad. Sean says that he was wrong about Jason, admitting that he's made quite a nice living because of the man in the hockey mask.***
***I also revisited "Fresh Cuts: New Tales from Friday the 13th" which had Victor Miller bringing up how he was told to rip off "Halloween" (1978), going into developing his slasher script with its tropes. Harry Manfredini speaking on when they decided to use music and not (including the absence of music with the arrow into the target with Brenda reacting with fright and when Steve caresses Alice's face, and the amazing suite with Alice in the canoe), Savini discussing his marksman skill with the bow and arrow (and Harry Crosby, with the special effects involving him, not to mention, his guitar playing when he wasn't in front of the camera), and Robbi Morgan discussing her death scene and how popular the film was upon release. I do enjoy the little insights and minor details. This isn't that long or seriously significant in the grand scheme of things. Just get Crystal Lake Memories for that.***
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