Picture a summer camp. It’s evening, the temperature has cooled down, though a layer of heat lingers in the air. All is quiet, except for the chirping of crickets mingled with the far-off sound of a party, and the glow of the moon cascading across the lake is the only light. Suddenly, the tranquility is broken as an imposing figure barrels through the trees hoisting a very sharp weapon.

This is the premise for several 1980s horror flicks that all trace their origin to Friday the 13th. The classic slasher has the distinction of starting the summer camp horror movie category and has the most installments of any slasher franchise, with ten movies in the main series, a versus film, and a remake.

In the debut film, which debuted 45 years ago on May 9, 1980, a group of camp counselors prepare for the summer, reopening a camp that had been closed after a child drowned. One by one they are murdered by a mysterious killer, leading to the shocking conclusion when the perpetrator is revealed to be a middle-aged woman.

Even non-horror fans know about Jason Voorhees, the star of the series. However, his mother Pamela was the original killer ‒ one of the few female killers in horror. To portray Mrs. Voorhees, actress Betsy Palmer ‒ a method performer ‒ needed to understand why the character abhorred the counselors’ sexual antics. She developed the backstory that Pamela had Jason out of wedlock with a high school boyfriend, and was disowned by her parents.

In addition to Palmer, the movie featured a slate of little known young actors led by Adrienne King as the final girl, with Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Peter Brouwer, and a soon to be very famous Kevin Bacon.

The movie was directed, produced, and developed by Sean S. Cunningham. His career began managing theater companies at the Lincoln Center, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Mineola Theater on Long Island. He is also the founder and CEO of Crystal Lake Entertainment.

Before filming began, Cunningham placed an ad in the July 4, 1979 edition of Variety showing the film’s logo, despite the fact that Georgetown Productions hadn’t agreed to fully finance yet. The ambitious ad states “The Most Terrifying Film Ever Made!” even though a single frame had yet to be shot! But it was a successful gambit and Cunningham received significant positive feedback and interest in the project.

Cunningham conceived the story with writer Victor Miller, whose credits are primarily in daytime soap operas like Guiding Light, Another World, and All My Children. Miller wrote the script based on their story idea, and brought in Ron Kurz to help with rewrites. Despite being uncredited, Kurz is known for his idea of making Jason a deformed child for the final scene. Interestingly, Miller originally wanted to call the movie Long Night at Camp Blood.

Next, they hired Tom Savini, one of the most highly respected horror special effects and makeup designers, to do the makeup effects. His work is featured in Dawn of the Dead, Maniac, The Burning, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and many horror films. His talent and style on the effects infused more fear into the death scenes.

Harry Manfredini joined the project to develop the musical score. Since the killer is only revealed at the movie’s end, he needed to make a score that represented the killer throughout the movie. Not only did he create the score, he carefully chose when to use it. Music only plays when the killer is present and it will cut off right before a big moment so that viewers will relax before the jump scare.

Friday the 13th grossed over $5 million in the opening weekend. While the target audience of teens and young adults were fans of the movie, it received mixed critical reviews, though some respected critics were very vocal about their disapproval. Retrospective reviews have been more favorable, particularly for the make-up, score, and Palmer’s performance. It’s always been loved by horror fans.