Ki, ki, ki, ma, ma, ma. The sound is known the world over and let's everyone know that a killer lurks nearby. This is the movie that started one of the most popular horror film franchises in history.

We open in 1958 at a campfire singalong where two starry-eyed counselors feel the need to copulate consummate their love. I guess those “Moral Majority” morons were wrong, there was premarital sex way back then. At any rate, they pay the ultimate price for their tryst – a slasher staple – and the body count begins.

To start the modern (circa 1980) story, we meet some of the local townsfolk. They let us know that the reopening of Camp Crystal Lake is a bad idea because that place is haunted. Or at least “jinxed.” The the usual suspects are rolled out: the harbinger of doom (a town crazy), the spurned lover, the practical joker (or as I call him, the obnoxious bastard), the virgin, the “sex crazed” kids, the fodder and the camp director (who dresses like a member of the Village People). Then the counselors start to get picked off and the real question becomes, “Who will survive?”

This movie was admittedly made to cash in on the success of John Carpenter's Halloween. However, it became a success of it's own. And while it may have borrowed a bit from other movies, it grew into inspiration for future filmmakers. The horror and humor formula was a major part of the foundation that 80s horror movies relied on.

As previously mentioned, Harry Manfredini's score is instantly recognizable. While he obviously patterned parts of the score after Psycho, his music works wonderfully with this movie. As the killer is not shown for most of the film, Manfredini uses music as a stand-in. And the lack of music works, too. There's a scare on the archery range that is not caused by the slasher, so no music is played as a cue that the killer is not there.

The overall atmosphere relies not only on the music, but also on the photography. The rundown campground isolated 20 miles from town with unreliable electricity is great. Throw in a deluge of rain – in an era with no cell phones – and you've got the perfect locale for a good, old-fashioned psycho killer.

While there are a lot of things going for it, it's not without it's faults. The early make-up effects of genre legend Tom Savini are top notch, and should have been left well enough alone. (Partial Spoiler in this next sentence, so be forewarned – as if you haven't seen this flick already.) The inclusion of some extra seconds of Kevin Bacon's death is completely unbelievable. Unless he spent part of his youth in a traveling freak show as Jack the Giraffe Boy.

I also found the battle between final girl and slasher to be way to long. I realize that some filler was going to be needed as this battle started about the hour mark. But couldn't something else be used instead? How about extending the strip monopoly scene? If there's one thing this film needed, it was some additional nudity. Just one girl brave enough to lose her top? I'm shocked. Besides, strip monopoly with beer and grass. How 70s can you get?

All in all, Friday the 13th still stands out as one of the best of the slasher set. The score, the atmosphere, some good special effects, and a great surprise ending combine to make a very enjoyable film.