It’s Friday 13th, so what else is there to watch for Friday Night Horror than The Little Mermaid?
I joke, of course.
Despite my fondness for horror, I’d only seen Friday The 13th once (and as recently as about 10 years ago, at that), while my friend Seb had never seen it at all. If nothing else, this meant that the famous jump scare at the end completely got my friend. Which was awesome.
I’m not a devotee of this particular franchise (which is probably why I enjoy Jason X so much: I’m not burdened with any sort of commitment to the prior instalments). It’s a fun film, and it’s relatively well made. There are some excellent shots, but there are also plenty of moments that seem like they got them in the can quickly so they could keep moving to the next shot. Also, most of the characters are truly annoying, which makes it a relief when most of them get killed off.
What it does have is a pretty decent twist when it comes to the killer’s identity, and Betsy Palmer has a ball in the role of Mrs Vorhees while assuring the audience that she’s perfectly capable of carving up a summer camp full of teens. It’s almost a shame that they opted for the Jason route for the rest of the franchise.