Crystal Lake

 In 1980 Friday the 13th was a big deal. One of the first few entries into the newly invented "slasher" genre and it was super creepy if not down right scary. It spawned about a million sequels and a bunch of copy cats that seemed to get progressively worse, until all but the most ardent fans ignored the genre entirely. That's why I was surprised to find this so good. Produced by A24, Crystal Lake tells the origin story in detail of "Jason" Voorhees and even tries to offer a plausible explanation as to why Jason never seemed to die. Linda Cardanelli is perfectly cast as Pam Voorhees and the script sticks heavily to the lore of the series while adding a couple of well-placed layers. Furthermore, the creators have somehow managed to make this feel like an 80's film trying to portray the 60's and of course we have the same "over-the-top" violence that became a hallmark of the series. Perfectly timed for Halloween. Highly Recommended