By Stephen Pytak 

     It's famous for taking on-screen murder to new 
levels of terror, thanks to make-up master Tom Savini.
     But the original "Friday the 13th" was an exercise 
in terror for me because of good ol' fashioned, grass 
roots filmmaking.
     There's an atmosphere to this film which sets it 
apart from the series of sequels it spawned.
     Here, Camp Crystal Lake is a place the locals talk 
about only in forbidden whispers. It's been closed 
for years. There are rumors as to why. The sun 
shines bright on the lake and rolling hills surrounding 
the cabins there. But there are shadows. Some darker 
than others. And there are places no one should go 
after dark. 
     There's a cabin where the girls showers are. It's 
a frightening place, especially if you venture in there 
only with a flashlight. At night the white shower 
curtains become ghosts. But what's worse is what 
might be lurking behind them.
     There are quarters with old bunk beds. A candle 
here might be cozy, but won't save you from what 
terrors lie in the bunk above you, or the floor below.
     And then there's the lake where a young boy 
supposedly drowned in 1957. Locals say they never 
found his body. That's the mystery that started it all, 
the curse that haunts this place. And the secret lies 
somewhere in its depths.
     "Friday the 13th" is one of the best horror films 
ever made because, quite honestly, some of this stuff 
is pretty damn creepy and Cunningham did a hell of a 
job bringing it to life.
     The actors make the experience more real. The 
characters weren't cardboard and the actors who played 
them weren't either, especially King and Palmer.
     King played "Alice," the artist who became a camp 
counselor to find inspiration. She plays a woman who's 
not weak, yet vulnerable here in this place far away 
from home, especially when the power goes off in the 
last act.
     Her fellow counselors are nowhere to be found. 
And she's alone in the kitchen with a lantern. The only 
sound she hears is the one she makes by twisting the 
top off a jar of coffee grounds. Something's wrong. 
She knows it. And, she's afraid. The audience is right 
there with her.
     Palmer played "Mrs. Voorhees," the distraught 
mother of the boy who supposedly drowned and a 
madwoman with a Bowie knife.
     Her monologue is one of the most engaging 
speeches ever made in a horror film. It's well written 
and Palmer drives it home as if she'd lived every 
syllable. She goes from telling a story to somewhere 
else. She's talking to someone, her dead son. She's 
got that look in her eyes. She's gone. Way gone. 
     Cunningham created the film's atmosphere. 
And Savini injected it with bloody realism. But Palmer
gave "Friday the 13th" real drama.  
     With Cunningham as a guide, King and Palmer 
lead the audience on a journey, from isolation to 
horrifying discovery, from salvation to the jagged 
edge of purgatory, from a dark closet to a black eye 
and from a fight on the beach to the unthinkable.
     True fans should really seek out the PAL 
DVD released by Warner Brothers in the U.K. 
in 2003.
     It's got all the gore cut out of the U.S. 
release, a 22-minute documentary and 
commentary by Cunningham, King, Palmer 
and more. It's a true treasure.