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Screening Review: Friday the 13th (1980)

Screening: Friday the 13th (1980)

Date: 13/03/20

Venue: Braid Film Theatre, Braid Arts Centre, Ballymena





Welcome To Fright Club


I can't quite believe it's been 40 years since we were first introduced to Camp Crystal Lake, or Camp Blood as it's known to the locals. That was a few years before my time but I do remember watching this at a very young age and being scared shitless. It was only fitting that we had to screen this classic slasher on Friday the 13th as a tribute to the most devoted mother of all time Mrs Pamela Voorhees.





Yes folks, for those who somehow still haven't seen this film the killer isn't in fact Jason but his mother, who is hell bent on stopping Camp Blood from reopening again after the death of her son years prior. A young Jason does make a brief cameo but the iconic hockey mask version doesn't actually appear until Part III. That didn't stop us from inviting Jason down for the evening to help entertain and get pictures with attendees beforehand and he did a fantastic job.




Understandably it was a smallish crowd as people have been making the decision to stay indoors due to the virus situation right now. However the audience definitely seemed to enjoy themselves and it was great to see that some of the kills still hold up. There were definitely a few jumps and shrieks from the crowd followed by muted, anxiety induced giggling. The Kevin Bacon death scene in particular aroused some reaction and of course the infamous last scare scene on the boat at the end always gets a few jumps. The film's composer Harry Manfredini sets this scene up perfectly by leading the audience into a false sense of security. The night is over and daylight has finally surfaced. Alice is recovering on a boat casually floating in the lake. She can see the police approaching the dock. She has killed Mrs Voorhees. She has survived. She is finally safe. Manfredini plays a beautifully serene and intimate orchestral piece to accompany this last sequence on the lake. There's some light percussion in there too so it's all got a very dreamlike feel to it. The music itself evokes calmness like each note is protection from any more danger. And then...






This wasn't the first "last scare" scene in horror but for me it's definitely one of the most effective because although the scare is secretly set-up, it's still very much spontaneous in it's delivery. It doesn't wait for that moment of silence seconds before. It doesn't hang in the air, it legitimately springs out of nowhere.





A massive thank you to everyone who came out and congratulations to the winner of our FREE giveaway, the hand-signed Adrienne King 8x10. We hope to see you soon at a future screening and please keep supporting us by following our official TWITTER account.


Peace & love.

Gav & Danny

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