Vendredi 13

Terrific sci-fi horror stories with a campy feel. Some of the episodes are too earnest, but overall a great series. It had the "X-files" feel to it before "X" appeared (some of the plot lines from "X" are directly ripped off from this show and even the theme music is eerily similar).

Especially, if you can, watch the final episodes in which John D. LeMay appears - after he left the show kind of went downhill.

My husband and I use to watch it every chance we'd get. Unfortunately, we can't seem to find it any where on re-runs.

I'm hoping to purchase the series on DVD, if available, so that we can enjoy it anytime we wish.

All it takes is one episode and you're hooked! We thought it was going to be more of a horror show and were pleasantly surprised it wasn't. It was a cross between the X Files and Twillight Zone.

We can't understand why more people don't know about this wonderful show. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will make a movie out of the show. I'd go see it!!!

The choice of "Friday the 13th" as the title for this show was probably a major downfall, as a huge number of people (myself included) tuned in to the first show of the series expecting it to be based on the low budget slasher films of the same name. Unfortunately, at that time I was so disappointed and confused to find that it had nothing at all to do with the movies, I turned it off and didn't watch it again for a couple years. (Hey, I was 12 years old)

That said, beyond the title, this was a very good TV show, and very much a predecessor to things like The X Files. It had a similar tone to a lot of the horror/oddball shows of the day (like Tales from the Crypt, Tales From the Darkside, Monsters, etc.), but was the darkest and creepiest of all of them. The main characters, cousins Ryan and Micki played by John D. LeMay and the gorgeous and buxom Louise Robey, don't have any special magic powers or any of that nonsense. In fact, they are quite often frightened themselves when they get in over their heads.

The idea of searching for cursed items and getting them back safely from unsuspecting people is a very original and clever one.

If you manage to see this at some point, look for the first three seasons before LeMay's character was killed off, as Steve Monarque isn't as good and the writing started to go a little downhill as well.

In 2021, there are literally several new horror based shows being made as if there was a sweatshop out there somewhere. Sometimes they find their audience and become a hit (The Walking Dead), but often they kind of fizzle out.

Well, back in the 1980's you either had to rent a horror movie, search tv listings for some older horror show that was long off the air (The Night Stalker or Dark Shadows, and they were very hard to find), or anthology shows (Freddie's Nightmares, Tales From the Darkside) that often shifted around, resulting in never finding much of an audience. There wasn't much in the way of a weekly horror based series that followed a story line from week to week. Enter Friday the 13th: The Series.

Friday the 13th the Series is well worth investing your time in. It was what horror fans were looking for at the time. I watched it on Friday nights during prime time. It was almost like a soap opera, following the adventures of a trio of antique store owners and their quest to obtain cursed objects.

However, you do need to be warned about something.

If you watch it right from the beginning, it's obvious the low budget works against it. Some of the acting is quite atrocious, for example. Stick with it and by mid season 1 it improves noticeably, although Chris Wiggins is solid throughout. John D. Lemay makes his mark right from the start, but he stumbles a few times in the first season. Louise Robey is laughable at first, but improves immensely as time goes on. Steven Monarque? Well, fans never warmed up to him. I thought he was all right considering the shoes he had to fill. He certainly stumbled, but he did the best he could with what he had to work with.

Most of the bad performances, come from the villains but you do get some standouts (Colin Fox and Denis Forest, for example, and they each played a different villain three times). But interestingly enough, the campy and overacting villains often add to the enjoyment of the series. Check out the episode Scarecrow in the first season for a terrific example of this. The performer playing the villain is so hammy it's actually a decent performance, if you can believe that.

The special effects are spotty, but enjoyable considering the low budget they had to work with. And for the time it came out, it was very controversial with the level of violence (and to a lesser extent, sexuality) it often presented.

In all, Friday the 13th the Series was a valiant attempt at bringing horror to the masses. Did it miss the mark? Yes and no. It never rose above cult status, but I think everyone involved have something to be proud of with this show.

A three season anthology horror series filmed in Toronto during the late eighties which told the story of two cousins and their friend, a specialist in occult research; the threesome chased after cursed antiques which were distributed from their store previously owned by their late Uncle Lewis Vendredi, a strange man who made a pact with the Devil.

Following the departure of the lead actor John D. LeMay at the end of the second season, the void was filled by his replacement Steven Monarque, originally introduced as a recurring character in the second season, and was added to the main cast as the new antique sleuth. The third season was cut short with 20 rather than 26 episodes though the series has made it to syndication and has a small but loyal cult following. John D. LeMay made an outstanding contribution to the series and his character as Ryan Dallion is clearly a favorite of all time among viewers. Ryan was never forgotten and was mentioned in passing by Robey, as Micki Foster, at the beginning of the third season episode "Demon Hunter" and later in "The Long Road Home". As well, footage from the second season episode "Tails I Live Heads You Die" was used at the beginning of the "Bad Penny" episode. It gave the impression that perhaps the character of Ryan would be re-written into the storyline at some point, but to our disappointment, it never happened.

Third season episodes had some of the best story lines, but unevenly distributed script and dialogue. The new character Johnny Ventura was underutilized. He rarely had lines. Too many scenes with two-way conversation only between Jack and Micki with Johnny just sitting in the background. Blame the story editor for this one! This, and lack of proper series closure, renders the third season a weak one.

Very little behind the scenes trivia and info. about the cast and crew are available regarding the series. Audio and/or video interviews would be an invaluable addition that could be presented via DVD release. Unfortunately, there's nothing official or rumored about this for the near future.