Originally dismissed as a low-budget "slasher flick," Friday the 13th has surprised its many critics by producing a long line of sequels, a host of imitators, and a lasting impact on America's popular culture.

The initial 1980 film was made on a shoestring budget of $600,000 by producer Sean S. Cunningham (1941–), who also directed and cowrote the script. Costs were kept low by hiring a cast of unknowns—with the exception of Betsy Palmer (1929–), an actress who made a number of films in the 1950s, who played Mrs. Vorhees.

The script, which was written in two weeks, places a group of teenaged camp counselors at isolated Camp Crystal Lake, to prepare it for reopening after twenty years. The camp had been closed after inattentive counselors allowed young Jason Vorhees to drown. The teenagers tease each other with legends of Jason's vengeful ghost—until an unseen figure...