★★★★☆
Friday the 69th is a genre movie with the ultimate mash-up, borrowing concepts and plot details from countless films. It stands strong as a genre film through and through, leaning into that identity with everything it has.
A film within a film, Friday the 69th centers on two porn filmmakers in 1981 who, after seeing the staggering ticket sales of Halloween and Friday the 13th, decide to piggyback off their success.
It’s a parody that knows exactly what it’s trying to be and doubles down.
“It’s a parody that knows exactly what it’s trying to be and doubles down.”
The film—and Alex Montilla—was clearly inspired not only by the slasher craze of the ’80s but also by the shot-on-video craze that began in the late ’80s and continued into the early ’90s.
This offers insight into the film’s core execution and intentions. Its artistic vision comes directly from its inspiration.
The script is simple, straightforward, and, at times, overly tongue-in-cheek. Yet, it is incredibly witty and nails the essence of the genre perfectly.
The dialogue during the “movie” scenes is terrible, like an after-school special filtered through a National Lampoon sensibility. All it’s missing is a pizza-delivery scene.
This makes the table-read scenes feel authentic, fun, grimy, and great. So many moments within the movie come one line away from channel 1, but it never goes there. There isn’t so much as a single nude scene, which is ironic and plays beautifully into the tone.
Alex Montilla has a clear vision, and it shows throughout every quirky, horny, coke-fueled joke. The film is visually precise and crisply crafted to appear loose and gawky.
The tone and pacing are pitch-perfect for the film’s genre and intended outcome, playing into its tropes and expectations flawlessly.
It plays the sexual angle right up to the brim without ever spilling over, offering enough comedic release through wit and charm without changing the tone.
“It plays the sexual angle right up to the brim without ever spilling over.”
It’s a carefully crafted balance that is embraced and nurtured.
The cinematography is loose, poorly framed, and all over the place.
Montilla, who also serves as cinematographer and editor, masters the craft just enough to know how to never compose a good shot or create a crisp transition between scenes.
This doubles down on the execution and one-man-band style of the SOV era of filmmaking.
There isn’t a single shot that is properly framed, and half the film is improperly lit, leaving odd color glares and other visual blemishes on the screen.
What would normally be a sign of a poorly produced film is quite the opposite here. It’s the attention to detail—and the recreation of the style and visual appeal of the films that inspired it—that makes it work so well.
Just as Fight Club exists only between the moment Fight Club begins and the moment it ends, Friday the 69th works only within the confines of a genre SOV film.
The over-the-top performances and intentionally bad visuals—which are enhanced to look worse through filters and other high-quality editing effects—are the core of the genre. They make Friday the 69th what it is and explain why it works so well.
“What would normally be a sign of a poorly produced film is quite the opposite here.”
Crafted with intent and a clear vision, Friday the 69th is a great genre film that only a select group will love because they appreciate this style of filmmaking.
A great bad movie.
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