Friday the 69th

Screening Thursday, October 15 at 10pm at Nightmares Film Festival.

by Brandon Thomas

With a novel approach to a movie-within-a-movie, Friday the 69th scares up plenty of laughs with this comedic slasher.

A couple of down-on-their-luck adult filmmakers attempt to jump on the profitable slasher bandwagon by using their already established cast and crew. As they work their way through the first table read of the script, the filmmakers slowly realize that they might be in over their heads. 

Mimicry of the 70s & 80s film aesthetic reached a fever pitch after the release of Grindhouse in 2007. Although the film wasn’t a massive success, horror fans and filmmakers alike latched onto the deliberately beat-up look that defined so many exploitation horror flicks. While those original films had this look because of age, poor projection, and limited budgets, many homage films deliberately aimed for it, but they didn’t always hit the mark. Friday the 69th is one of those films that successfully manages to match that vintage aesthetic while also having a personality of its own. As someone who’s watched a lot of those early grindhouse-era films, Friday the 69th has all of the hallmarks: scratches and dirt, missing reels, overlit scenes, and very questionable acting.

Many of the jokes within Friday the 69th require a certain understanding of the horror genre, but the film doesn’t feel the need to constantly go “Get it?! Get it?!” You either get the joke, or you don’t. The jokes come so furiously that you’re liable to miss at least a handful each scene. And they’re good jokes too! Writer/Director Alex Montilla’s knack for infusing humor with his love and knowledge of horror cinema is on full display.

Despite covering a lot of the same well-trodden cinematic ground, Friday the 69th still offers up 91 minutes of solid gags and laughs.