Friday the 69th (2026) Review

It’s 1981 and a group of teens head for a spring break full of drinking whisky, making out and pranking each other unaware that the camp they are staying in has a hidden and horrifying history.

One by one they and the staff of the remote and secluded holiday destination are found dead, brutally murdered by a maniac wearing a bee keeping outfit. Can the quiet and nerdy Judy (Amy Letcher) and her new beau stop the killer and discover there shocking identity before its too late?

Your first thoughts on the above synopsis may be so far so familiar quickly followed by pondering how the hell this stereotypical 80s slasher passed you by. The answer is that Friday the 69th is actually a brand new horror parody made on a micro budget and financed, written, directed, shot, edited, produced and a whole lot more by the one man movie making machine that is Alex Montilla.

After working in L.A and making a bunch of shorts, Montilla was inspired by a conversation he had with legendary filmmaker John Landis (the director of An American Werewolf in London among other things) who simply said “if you want to direct a movie, then go direct a movie.” Armed with his iPhone, under $15k, and a bunch of friends some of whom had never acted in their lives, Friday the 69th was born.

The most stunning thing about the film is how closely it captures the exact look of the period and the horror movies that inspired it. From the crackled and damaged celluloid look, to the badly dubbed dialogue to the terrible day for night shots and more, Montilla capitalises on his limitations to make a comedy slasher that feels like it was ripped straight from the 80s.

Employing a brilliant framing device involving the cast and crew at a table reading, we discover that they are actually all purveyors of porn and this is there first foray into horror which makes for some excellent gags as we cut back and forth from the actual film whilst they all give crazy context, sarcastic commentary and a whole lot of laughs.

As mentioned, many of the stars had never appeared in anything before but again this works to the comedies credit. Full of cliched characters from the annoying jock to the charitable cheerleader to the hardened cop and straight-laced final girl, any bad acting seems deliberate and any real serious moments transform into grandiose scenery chewing.

In fact, some of the cast give great comedic turns, including Montilla himself as the insane director Michael Caime. His character has rewritten the film at the last minute much to the chagrin of the one serious actor in the burn and his blue movie cohorts, who seem only preoccupied by how much sex they get to perform.

The script is firmly lodged in the 80s, and although it is easy to see why this has been done it does create some issues with the script that some viewers may not be able to get past. Taking the popular opinions and parlance of the period, the male characters’ sexist and homophobic views coupled with the constant lewd and crude verbal gags might not land as well with a modern audience. Some may find it hard to accept the excuse that the film is just trying to stay true to its inspiration.

Although following strictly to a plot line seen so many times before, all the jokes around the production itself are excellent. For slasher fans, a lot of fun comes from revealing in how terrible yet familiar the production feels. This is slammed alongside the insertion of standard conventions of the time, from the obligatory dance sequences, over the top love scene and ridiculous product placement. Nearly everything is played for laughs, but there is still some nice gore with a stand-out slaying of putrid penetration that could only be achieved and accepted on screen in the 21st century.

Never taking itself seriously, Friday the 69th is entertaining from start to finish and truly inspirational. It serves as a moronic parody in the model of El Mariachi and capturing the Robert Rodriguez early can-do attitude.

Ideal for slasher fans and frustrated filmmakers alike, regardless of its shortcomings, Friday the 69th and Alex Montilla prove that perfection is overrated and the most important lesson in filmmaking – as the great John Landis said – is to just go and make films.

Movie Rating:

Friday the 69th trailer