Friday the 13th

Cynical, derivative and enormously influential. A summer camp, a group of teenagers, and a killer whose identity the film withholds for a twist most viewers now know going in. Sean Cunningham set out frankly to copy Halloween and cash in, and did.

What it has is Tom Savini's effects, which are the real star and set the standard for the decade of slashers it launched. The film is machinery, efficient and a little soulless, and it printed money.

Historically unavoidable. Watch the first, skip most of the rest.