2. Friday the 13th (1980)
Sean S. Cunningham’s original Friday was one of the very first, and is still one of the very best, slasher movies of all time. All of the now-classic genre signposts are present and accounted for, including: the motivation of revenge spurred by a past tragedy (the drowning of a young boy thanks to some negligent camp counselors); an isolated location (Camp Crystal Lake, or “Camp Blood” if you’r a local); a killer shot almost exclusively from their POV until their identity is revealed (Pamela Voorhees—Jason’s killer mom!—memorably played by Betsy Palmer); a Final Girl (Adrienne King as the Laurie Strode-ish Alice Hardy); a jump-scare ending (stay out of the water!); and a big-name actor before they were famous (Kevin Bacon).
It was scary in 1980 and it holds up today, with the help of Henry Manfredini’s iconic score (“Ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma!”) and groundbreaking special effects by make-up master Tom Savini.
