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As a true connoisseur of horror, exploitation, gore and such, I greatly looked forward to seeing "The Great American Snuff Film." I mean the reviews contained phrases like, "Stay away," "This is torture," "This is one brutally hard film," and "Can easily crush the spirits of unprepared viewers." Sounds good to me! So I buy the DVD, pop it in and wait for the delicious disturbing pall to wash over me. Didn't happen. All those people so shocked, disturbed and disgusted by this movie must only watch family films and the freakin' Teletubbies. Maybe, just maybe, if they had actual actors in the roles it could have given me pause but really - and I don't want to sound catty - the kids in the elementary school plays I participated in gave better performances. I even laughed at a few things in this film that were supposed to make me recoil in disgust. Maybe that makes me one sick fella - but I don't think so. I've seen the best and worst of the exploitation and torture genres and this one falls not as the worst but as pretty darn bad, sitting close to the bottom for sure. As a comedy... not too bad at all. I mean when I think of all the people naive enough to believe that this movie contained actual snuff footage, I laugh my ass off.

The one that started them all and taught us all a very important lesson: never ever take a job as a summer camp counselor. But if you are stupid enough to do so, then try to remember the following... don't have sex or you will most definitely be killed... don't go into the woods at night (duh!) or you will most definitely be killed... don't trust any of the locals or you will most definitely be killed.   And remember that in a pinch an oar from a boat can be useful for impromptu decapitations. "Friday the 13th" was one of the very first (of millions) horror films I'd ever seen so I have a very sentimental attachment to it... but sentimentality aside, when re-watching again (and again) it still holds up really well as a really well crafted slasher with (for the time) some pretty decent special effects.   And why, oh why, did Betsy Palmer not receive an Oscar nomination for her brilliant work?   I tell ya... those Oscars - all politics. I'll tell you something else - to this day whenever I see a hockey mask in any context I get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.