It was 1980 and along came Sean S. Cunningham to revolutionize the horror genre and really cement slasher movies for the following decade. At the time, it was shocking and graphic, and surprisingly well done for a budget of $550k.

The story is simple: it’s summer camp time and the camp counselors of Camp Crystal Lake get more than they bargained for as they are murdered one-by-one in gruesome ways. The whole time, you don’t see the attacker, which creates a mystery about who might want to turn this camp into a bloody massacre.

The music is a perfect fit with the screeching strings and the notorious “ch-ch-ch, ah-ah-ah” breathy vocalized echo sounds thrown in. Interestingly enough, the composer, Harry Manfredini was trying to use a motif that evoked the killer hearing voices whenever the killer was stalking the counselors.

The camera work was great at putting the viewer on edge whenever the killer showed up. Even though you don’t know who the killer actually is until the very end, you feel the presence thanks to the way the camera moves.

Makeup effects were done by horror master Tom Savini, who always seemed to one-up himself every time he worked on a film.

The acting is about what you’d expect. Not great, but not awful. It was also fun to see Kevin Bacon in an early role.

Not all the elements of the movie have aged well, but there are certain things about it that stand the test of time. It’s a horror classic and deserves its place in the film history books.

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