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There isn't that much to say about "Don't Go in the Woods". It is basically the most uninspired slasher film I've seen, and that's saying something from a guy who has seen every sequel, prequel, remake, and knock-off, and who in particular loves early 80's slasher gold. This is fool's gold. So what makes this movie worse than flicks like "Madman", "The Burning", "Prom Night", "The Prowler", and "Graduation Day"?

For starters, "Don't Go in the Woods" has absolutely no originality to it. The movie is basically a complete knock-off of the previous year's "Just Before Dawn", only "Woods" has more characters and deaths but lacks the atmosphere, suspense, and twist of "Dawn". This film is absolutely amateur in its making. It has a great atmosphere to use and doesn't use it. It doesn't allow any room for character development. Rather than creating suspense it jumps right to the kill. There is simply no use of artistic film-making or creativity in this entire flick.

Earlier in the week I finally was able to see another infamous B-movie slasher, "Graduation Day", which I thought was missing something. Compared to "Woods", "Graduation Day" looks like a masterpiece. "Graduation Day", along with "Friday the 13th", "The Burning", "Madman", "The Prowler", "Happy Birthday to Me", "Prom Night", "Halloween", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "House on Sorority Row", "Just Before Dawn", "My Bloody Valentine", and others may follow a simple formula but it knows how to make that formula entertaining. Those movies have a rhythm. "Don't Go in the Woods" has no rhythm, but seems more like a bunch of footage of random, annoying people we don't care about or like getting killed in uneventful ways.

Watching this movie felt like it was taking hours, even though it was only 85 minutes. So why would I continue watching "Don't Go in the Woods"? It is a movie from a time period that will never return. Movies like "Woods" will never be released again. This is a grindhouse picture - a low-budget, cheesy movie that played in limited cinemas and never went mainstream. It has earned a large cult fanbase over the past thirty years, and the title has become infamously famous for being a bad movie. For a horror fan, "Woods" is a sort of time capsule, a look back in time to when anyone could make a slasher movie as long as you had a camera. This time has come and gone, and has been forgotten about. For over twenty years, no one thought about "Woods", but the internet and DVD sales have helped bring it back.

The cult horror film "Don't Go in the Woods" is only a popular movie because it is so bad and at one point so unpopular. As a slasher film fan, I am glad to have seen it. The acting is atrocious, the writing is wretched, the effects and laughable, and the plot is absent. But with a few cool shots of the scenery, "Don't Go in the Woods" somehow can keep the audience's minds off its lack of substance. And does this movie really need any substance? That's a debatable question.

Definitely only a movie for hardcore slasher fans. Regular genre fans will most probably get bored and turn it off, and if you don't like horror movies or bad b-movies than steer clear and don't enter "the Woods".

"Graduation Day" was released in May 1981, during the height of the slasher film craze. Earlier that year, fans had been subjected to flicks like "My Bloody Valentine", "Just Before Dawn", "Friday the 13th Part 2", and "The Burning" and theaters still were expecting flicks such as "Halloween II", "The Prowler", and "Happy Birthday to Me". I have seen all of these films, and out of all the popular 1981 slashers "Graduation Day" is by far the worst.

What "Graduation Day" amounts to is an exercise in poor, low-budget film-making with bad acting, bad writing, pointless characters, pointless scenes, unneeded nudity, cheesy dialogue, and an experiment in editing that didn't work so well. And who could forget the classic 80's disco music that plays throughout the film (the opening scene's music is only rivaled by the music that plays during a chase scene). However when renting a movie like this a person should be aware that those details will be in this film. So why isn't "Graduation Day" considered a classic like "Halloween", "Friday the 13th", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "My Bloody Valentine", "The Burning", or "Prom Night"? Why do fans still seek those films but disregard this without care?

Where slasher films need to succeed above all other areas is in the pacing. There is nothing worse than a slow moving slasher, and "Graduation Day" moves pretty slow. The most aggravating part is that there are plenty of opportunities to speed things up; there are numerous pointless characters who are introduced and who are never allowed the chance to be a suspect in the murders or be a victim. There's a sleazy teacher, a stressed principal, a cunning secretary, a dopey school security guard, a clueless detective, an alcoholic step father, a mindless grandmother, and a mom to an earlier victim still grieving. All of these characters could have a motive to killing or a reason to getting killed, but they are all wasted. The worst part is that the story still focuses on them, and at times designates entire scenes just to flesh out their character. But for what?

What does amaze me about "Graduation Day" and its small fanbase is that people aren't more amazed by the death scenes. Fans go wild for death scenes like the raft massacre in "The Burning", the washing-machine death in "My Bloody Valentine", the kabob death in "Happy Birthday to Me", the upside down death in "Friday the 13th Part 3", and hot tub death in "Halloween II", and even the car hood death in "Madman". But where is the respect for some truly unique (even though cheesy) deaths in "Graduation Day". One victim gets impaled right through the jugular with a fencing sword, while another gets that sword thrown at them like a javelin. The best death includes spikes under a landing mat. Why aren't these deaths famous among the genre like the deaths in more popular slasher films?

"Graduation Day" tries hard to be a great and unique film, but there is just an element of logic and pacing missing that really ruins the whole experience. Its not the worst of its kind (try checking out "Don't Go in the Woods... Alone") and there is a bit of suspense, plus it delivers just what fans are looking for (blood, gore, nudity, sex, and nostalgia) but "Graduation Day" will not be remembered as one of the all time greatest slasher films ever made. It's not a question of budget - almost all slashers have a low-budget - however it is a question of ideas, creativity, and craftsmanship. That's all any type of movie making is...

Recommended for hardcore slasher fans. General horror fans might get a little bored, and people who don't have much interest in horror at all should steer clear. It's not the worst slasher film ever made, but its a long way from being the best.

After the huge success of the first two "Friday the 13th" movies, there was of course going to be a third entry. In 1982 the third entry was released into theaters for 3D viewing - "Friday the 13th Part 3D". This third entry turned out to be more successful than the previous film in the series and just shy of beating the original's box office gross. Aside from "Freddy vs. Jason", "Friday the 13th Part 3D" is the highest grossing sequel in the series, and at its time was the highest grossing sequel of all time (pretty impressive for a low budget slasher film). Today people regard all the "Friday the 13th" movies as silly, predictable, and cheesy - they certainly are, but they are also some of the most entertaining flicks you will ever see. "Friday the 13th Part 3D" is the best in the series, and that may not mean a lot to most people, but to a slasher fan it is certainly a blessing.

"Friday the 13th Part 3D" is most famous for introducing the world to the iconic hockey mask, which as not only come to define the series but come to symbolize the genre as a whole. Anyone who truly loves horror movies should definitely see the film where the hockey mask comes into play. The story is pretty much the same as the first two films - it takes place directly after the events of "Part 2" with Jason on the run and hiding out in a barn on Crystal Lake that is occupied by a group of college kids. Also on the barn are a biker gang that truly do make the movie. Dana Kimmell shines as the heroine of the story, and she certainly lands her mark as one of the most likable heroines in horror history. There really aren't any famous faces in this entry, with the exception of Newscaster Tracy Savage who plays Kimmell's best friend.

The film really defines the 80's in its own way. You have every type of character; the country boy, the pretty girl, the tough biker chick, the abusive biker, the biker gang leader, the obnoxious wife, the bizarre animal-loving husband, the two stoner's, the bitchy beauty, the athletic fellow, the final girl, the nut-case carrying around body parts, and of course the prankster outcast who was the one to introduce the famous mask. 80's fans will also enjoy the musical theme, which isn't so much a standard horror theme but more of a disco theme that will make you giggle at the time period. The direction is very good and at times the movie manages to be suspenseful, even on today's standards.

"Friday the 13th Part 3D" is available in a single bare-bones DVD with just a trailer or it is available in the "From Crystal Lake to Manhattan" box set with the first eight "Friday the 13th" films. In the box set you get a commentary by select cast members including Kimmell, a trailer, a featurette dedicated to this one film, and a lot of extras for the whole series. If you have the money the box set is worth it, but its still a shame that this film can't be presented in its original 3D format. Rumor has it that some DVD's have managed to put this format, however those DVD's generally go for very, very needy prices.