Not many horror franchises reach the heady heights of Friday the 13th, with 12 films under Jason's belt his popularity has never waned over the three decades since he seeped into popular culture. What makes Friday the 13th so irresistible? I asked 11 fans (and myself) to tell me a bit about their favourite of the series to see if we can make any sense of it's staying power.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Q: Who are you?
A: Bimbo's other half Charlotte (Black Heart Creatives)
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: I would say consuming 85% horror only, and the other 15% being sad foreign films where the pets die, this gives me enough credentials to say yeah I am a horror fan.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: Hellraiser, baby! Extreme gore, a genuine feeling of terror and it's arguably a home invasion film with an incredible plot and some dirty S&M undertones.
Q: Why do you love the Friday the 13th original?
A: The first is usually the best innit? I love a franchise and usually you have to get deep, deep in to find a nugget or a gem that compares with either the first or second, but it never really compares to the OG does it? Friday the 13th part 1 is so pure and almost innocent. Like you can almost take the chhht chhhht noises of that first person perspective of Jason Voorhees seriously? Also yung Kevin Bacon is there being all wholesome before he gets fucked in the neck. It is surprisingly visceral and I think that is all down to the god that is Tom Savini.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: Not really. I prefer Halloween? Is that bad? I just can't get behind it. I don't even like Halloween that much. Give me Children of the Corn or Freddy thanks. Jason doesn't scare me that much I think he is a pussy.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: People love a teen slasher don't they? I think that Freddy Vs Jason probably helped rejuvenate it a bit? But again, classic simple iconic slasher, you know whats gonna happen, its scary but safe.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: Freddy Vs Jason, I think I actually gave it 1/2 a star on Letterboxd.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: I haven't seen mother! yet, but I am a Aronofsky fan girl, sorry. No one wants to go see it with me, and from what I have heard I am not surprised, maybe I will go see it by myself this week. By the reviews, this was probably a bad decision. I would rather 5 shite horror franchises be made for us all to enjoy than one edgy Oscar contender to be made that will fade into obscurity.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: Yes, absolutely, but go balls to the wall with the gore. I wanna see Jason go Victor Crowley.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Q: Who are you?
A: My name is Michael. I have a twitter I should probably use more, and I have a Letterboxd that I'm enjoying using.
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: Absolutely. The first 2 films I ever remember seeing were Nightbreed and the original Halloween at age 5 because my sister is cool/a bad babysitter. And I remember really liking the feeling of feeling grossed out and genuinely surprised and unnerved by something I was just watching on TV.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: It changes because I admire lots of different things about different kinds of horror films. I love crazy, fun horror movies like Dead Alive, Frighteners, Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Shaun of the Dead, Death Becomes Her, Blood Car etc. But I also love tense and terrifying stuff too like The Thing, Halloween, Jaws, and The Shining. I guess I'll say Jacob's Ladder. Because it's the most scared I've been watching a movie.
Q: Why do you love Friday the 13th Part 2?
A: It hit me completely off guard! It wasn't what I was expecting AT ALL. I watched it for the first time when I was...20 I think. And by that time I had already seen Jason Lives and Jason Goes to Hell and Jason Takes Manhattan so I had a really different view of who Jason was and how he acted in those films. So when I watched this it was the first time I wasn't really rooting for him or cheering for him. Here he's...just the killer. An imperfect and vulnerable killer. And somebody who has to rely a lot more on skulking around and sneaking up on you, which makes the kills here extra sudden and visceral feeling to me. And I liked the supporting characters here too. I wanted Vickie and Mark to live and the film's focus to shift to them. And I think that Ginny's way of subduing Jason is the most clever approach to defeating Jason in the whole series.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: I do. Our house growing up was pretty "brand loyal" to specific stuff though. So like, the Star Wars films were revered but nobody cared about or talked about Star Trek. And I was the youngest so I never had any say in what entertainment choices were made. I just...got to be a part of them. So my parents and my sister and all her friends were clearly defined Freddy Krueger fans. And they rarely talked about Friday the 13th. So when I discovered it, it was on my own when I was...about 11 I think when Jason Takes Manhattan was on TV. And I thought it was great. Since then I've seen the entire series and rank it among my most favorite franchises.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: Because it works in a lot of different ways. When you look at all the details Jason is actually a pretty sympathetic character. And a lot of times in the series I was rooting for him. So in that way it's fun to see him enact his revenge. Sometimes it's scary. Sometimes it's funny. You're just...drawn to it.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: New beginning I'd say. Because I felt like they were really building up something in Part IV with the Tommy Jarvis angle and then they brought him back but they didn't go anywhere with it. Plus the dumb ending and I remember lots of the kills were off screen kills. Stupid MPAA.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: Whoa! I didn't know that the two were linked like that. And I read up a little bit on it now that you told me and it's pretty crazy that Paramount would just give up on the whole series and let the rights revert back to New Line with nothing to show for it. I think they missed a pretty great opportunity doing that. Because the timing was perfect, coming out on a FRIDAY THE 13TH in fuckin' OCTOBER! and right on the heels of the big Halloween sequel announcement and especially in a year where a pair of horror flicks (Get Out and It) were excellent AND hugely successful financially. Mother! ended up being a kinda disaster for them with the low box office and the audience F grade it got. And they didn't help their cause by shrouding that flick in mystery and barely promoting it. I haven't seen the movie so I can't speak for it's quality but Paramount doesn't come out of this looking good.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: Sure. I think the Jason character and the whole campfire story mythology that come with it are pretty universal by now. So there's no reason why someone who wasn't born in the original series' heyday couldn't still be scared by and enjoy the idea of a neglected kid on a blind hunt for revenge. Personally, I'd rather just see more sequels to the original series though because there's a ton more to the character that could be explored. And if we keep having to see his origin story again and again and again I think we're missing out on the character he became over the course of the series. And his transition was such a cool part of the character's dynamic.
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Q: Who are you?
A: My name is Adam. My twitter handle is Karamashi. I write short reviews for all the films I watch on Letterboxd. I’m currently a video editor.
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: I am a fan of horror and have been since a young age. My love of horror stems from the surprise and provocative nature of the genre. No other genre cuts through to truth as quickly as horror does. If all narratives are defined by our desires, especially the desire to live, horror easily becomes the narrative of all our lives. Horror allows us to safely engage with large ideas about death, our own mortality and existential dread. Mainly they engage in our fears and sometimes to a level that is extreme, abstract, and deeply personal. I have always loved the saying that “The best kind of horror is the horror that you take home with you”. True horror is inescapable, and it’s better to live trying to understand it than letting it overcome and control our lives.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: My all-time favorite horror film is The Evil Dead (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Suspiria, The Beyond being nearly as close to my heart). Evil Dead is the ultimate horror film. It has as much style and gore as it does a raw intensity. It is unrelenting, grueling, loud, and most importantly, an effective experience. I saw it at the most formative age, when my love and lust for horror was blooming. Evil Dead is terrifying, shocking, and challenging, all qualities that are exhibited by the very best in the genre. Like many great horror films, it isn’t perfect. The film’s infamous tree rape is still ugly and cheap. The effects are sometimes laughably obvious effects. The acting slips from a naive naturalness to canned hysterics. It produces more laughs than scares seen with any modern audience. I think Sam Raimi picked up on the thin line between horror and comedy. Naturally Evil Dead II would give audiences an equal amount of scares and gags. I still prefer Evil Dead in all its straight faced hokiness. Having seen the film multiple times, I still grow anxious with anticipation for all of it’s scares. The most memorable is the Cheryl attacking Linda. The set-up; Cheryl has collapsed after becoming possessed. Linda approaches Cheryl and we get a close up of Cheryl’s hand grasping a pencil. The punchline; the pencil being jabbed right into Linda’s achilles. It's so gruesome, you could gasp or laugh, either seems appropriate.
Q: Why do you love Friday the 13th Part III?
A: I knew I was going to love Friday The 13th: Part 3-D from it’s opening title sequence. Not only has the main theme been replaced by a funky, eerie, and ear wormy disco theme, the literal titles push themselves in and out of the screen via the wondrously tacky gimmick of 3-D. The 3-D in the film constantly calls attention to itself as if it were one endlessly repeated punchline. Yoyo’s, snakes, baseball bats, pitchforks, harpoons, and eyeballs come flying out toward the audience. Respectively, in 2-D, the effect is instantaneously hilarious. The idea that Jason Vorhees would directly attack the audience is scary, in theory, and only one shot in the film milks that idea for what it’s worth.
There is a true sense that the filmmakers wanted to be in on the same joke as the audience and by this point in the series, they decided to add a self-aware layer of humor. For most, it falls flat and the film is easy to criticize for falling back on a cast of characters that have been reduced to archetype sitcom cliches. The film’s embodiment of tacked on ‘comic relief’, is the overweight overweight jokester of Shelly. Shelly pulls pranks on the fellow cast of characters and his attempts to court other female characters seem more annoying. Shelly’s legacy does live on in producing the hockey mask that Jason would wear for the entire series, cementing Jason’s iconic look in the pantheon of horror and pop culture.
At the same time, when it comes to killing off each annoying character, there is a viciousness that clashes with the film’s cheesy sensibility. Jason impales(with a pitchfork, harpoon spear, fireplace poker, knitting needle), crushes(with his bare hands), and chops up(straight down the crotch of a handstanding male character) his victims much more clearly than in the previously censored and hacked up Part II. The tonal clashes add to the effect that character’s deaths define them more so than their personalities.
A major inconsistency with the film is Jason. The narrative being a direct continuation from the events of Part II, where Jason was a sack wearing teen mongoloid, has now beefed up to dad bod status. Jason’s bulking up plays creepily into the power struggle, psycho sexual tension between Chris, the final girl. Early on, Chris relays a memory of summers past when she is attacked by some beastial and assualtive man. Her flashback is conveyed by her, dressing scantily clad, and rolling around with said man-beast in a patch of woods, who so happens to resemble Jason. Chris, having fought off advances from her aggressively forward, on and off boyfriend, sets her destiny to tussle with Jason and fight her way through her own survival. The last third of the film is Chris and Jason’s cat and mouse chase, which overstays it’s welcome way into the never ending ‘it was only a dream!’ moments. By the end, the film has performed and exhausted all its qualities as if there didn’t need to be another entry. Even thinking beyond to the next entries, which all exhibit gimmicks and twists of their own, Part 3 feels more satisfying for it’s comic sense and joy for horror. It celebrates the fun of being scared, whether intentional or not.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise? Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: I recently re-watched the entire Friday The 13th franchise and I admire the series. Like all horror franchises, the series has its creative ups(Final Chapter, Jason Lives), and cheap downs(Part II, New Blood, Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes To Hell). Okay--it has more bad films than good. The original pales in comparison to most original 80’s horror films and would be bowled over by much better rip offs within the sub-genre. But the film’s simple formula of horny teenagers fending off for their lives, much like Jason himself, unkillable. Why? There will always be a supply of young teenage audiences. The Friday the 13th series would pull in a new generation of horror fans with each iteration. Critics, parents, even Paramount was publicly known for being appalled by the series success. The series multiple casts, crew, and creators clearly knew what audience they were making their films for and usually with a passion that met to satiate those simple desires. Alas, audiences grew tired of a simple formula, even if a more recent entry was better than the previous.. Horror fans remember, they make it loud and clear when a film goes against the trust they’ve built with filmmakers. Ironically, they’ll still attend any latest horror installment, be it a sequel, prequel, remake, or reboot, but trends change and general audiences move on. Friday the 13th and many other horror franchises still live on through the blood of horror fans, old and new. It has rightfully earned its place in pop culture. Like many others, I like to believe my tastes and interests in films have grown beyond simply engaging in them solely for their entertainment value. In that regard, it is rewarding to go back and sift through horror franchises. One thing that stays true about Friday the 13th’s simple formula, is that I have a fondness for it in the way that I’ll always have a fondness for plain vanilla ice cream.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: My least favorite is probably Jason Goes To Hell. It is purely a cynical exercise in some of the worst aspects of early 90’s horror. It is ugly, contemptible, idiotic, and lacks any sense of wit. Even in comparison to some of the other weak entries in the series(which generally have some unique or interesting quality), Jason Goes To Hell is disposable and boring trash.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: That’s Hollywood for yah! These sort of the things happen all the time and most for good reason.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: Does any horror series need a reboot? No. Do we need another cynical spoof of the sub-genre? Oh hell no. Someone just needs to take a look at what elements still work within the original film and use them in an entirely new film. But again, at the end of the day, Hollywood makes the call. If they want to over produce another glossy and soulless remake/reboot like they did in 2009, they can and probably will. One thing that people simply forget is that horror doesn’t need a large budget. It just needs some thought, talent, and ingenuity.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Q: Who are you?
A: Patrick Ripoll, podcast: Tracks of the Damned
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: I would consider myself a horror fan.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: Carnival of Souls (1962)
Q: Why do you love Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter?
A: One way you can look at the Friday the 13th franchise is as a gradient scale. On one side of the scale you have dirty, low-budget exploitation (1, 2, 3, 5) and on the other, slick, silly, SFX & merchandising driven popcorn product (6, 7, 8, X, FvJ). It's hard to watch Friday the 13th part 2 and imagine a Jason toothbrush and it's hard to watch Jason X and imagine this series was once a disreputable and independently produced attempt at actually scaring audiences.
For me, F13: The Final Chapter is a platonic ideal bridging the gap between what the series was and became. It has the nastiness, the leering exploitation (basically every female character gets a turn being objectified), the shabbiness of Zito's direction. But it also has the silliness, the outrageousness, the over the top special effects. This is far and away Tom Savini's greatest slasher effects work, and every single gag from the grand (the hacksaw neck-snap is my favorite) to the simple (that machete slicing the webbing of Jason's hand!) is exciting and effective. The effects epitomize the appeal of the film: nasty and fun.
There's also just a lot of good little flavors in there as well. Feldman as baby Savini, Crispin Glover's dancing, beautiful shots of stoned teenagers giggling at old stag films, that "Fuck You!" hitchhiker sign, the dog that jumps out the window for no reason, the baffling logic of Tommy Jarvis' plan to dispatch Jason, that weird sexy aerobics program on the TV in the morgue, Jason's decision to grotesquely display all his kills, Crispin Glover's crucified corpse being ripped off his nails, Rob screaming "he's killing me!" in the basement (apparently inspired by the real-life murder of Kitty Genovese), Feldman's horny bed pounding as he peeps on his neighbors, the image of the dead body slumped over the broken glass of the shower with blood pouring down ... It's a real good time, but without completely ditching the atmosphere of the early films. It's not the scariest (that's part 2) and it's not the most fun (part 6), but it is the only Friday the 13th movie that has a little bit of everything I like about the series.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: I love the Friday the 13th franchise.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: You can't discount the power of the mask. Jason Voorhees is an iconic and well-designed character, even if it took to the third entry in the series to define that. The image of Jason bursting through a window, or a door, or a lake (in Final Chapter he does all three!) to lunge for the kill is one of the defining images of horror films.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: Jason X. Ugly as fuck and unfunny. Bad Sci-Fi Channel garbage, and the franchise's ultimate act of cynicism.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: I'm always rooting for a new Friday the 13th, but there's no dimension in the entire multiverse where a 2017 Friday the 13th film is more interesting than mother!
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: Should they? Meaning is there something to be gained, financially or artistically, by continuing the series? I doubt it. But it's always fascinating to observe where the series goes.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Q: Who are you?
A: Hollie: Twitter and Letterboxd
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: Yes
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: The Beyond (1981)
Q: Why do you love Friday the 13th: A New Beginning?
A: Sometimes I wonder if I have some sort of complex because I usually find something to love in a lot of maligned movies and while 'A New Beginning' can be called just that [in thanks to its twist], I think it has a lot of merit too! Of all the sequels, and with the exception of Crispin Glover in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, this installment is a body count film in which you remember the characters (and however annoying they may be) just as well as the murder sequences. Tone wise, it's like taking Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers and combining it with the themes of Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, all through Danny Steinmann's lens, and for me, that can only mean a really great time!
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: Of all the major horror franchises to come out of the 1980s, Friday the 13th is my favorite because it has the most enjoyable sequels, I know a lot of people are more keen on the Nightmare on Elm Street series, but I prefer the hulking mass of certain death over the wisecracking boogeyman.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: The obnoxious fucking mega nerds like us who ate it up, I suppose, with Jason Voorhees becoming a household name, along with Freddy Krueger, they were branded by the late '80s, guest spots on nighttime talk shows, toys, video games, and other merchandise.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: I couldn't even make it through the first 20 minutes of the remake, but of the original series, my least favorite is Jason X.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: I can't say I was very enthusiastic about a reboot, curious but sceptical at best, so I just sorta feel like "meh, whatever," I'm not in a hurry to check out 'Mother' either.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: Personally, I have less interest in reboots and a need for more original work from women and people of color, horror is changing and it's more exciting than it's been in years.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Q: Who are you?
A: Gabriel, I'm also on Letterboxd
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: I have been a horror film my entire life, horror is honestly my favorite genre in film. Horror can pretty much have any story you can think of from sea creatures to witches in Massachusetts, which I think is just fascinating.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: Black Christmas, 1974. I think it has the perfect blend of scares, laughs, and genuinely interesting characters that most horror films just don't have.
Q: Why do you love Jason Lives?
A: Jason Lives is my favorite because it feels the most like a Friday film to me, if that makes any sense? I think it captures everything that is great about the series so perfectly and neatly wraps up the Jarvis saga in a neat little bow.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: I love all the films, Nightmare On Elm Street is my favorite franchise in horror, but Friday is easily runner up.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: I think its lasted this long because the films are so lovable that even at its worst its still a fun ride that you never wanna get off of. Also it entered the pop culture lexicon so quickly that everywhere you looked for the longest time was Friday this and Friday that. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: A New Beginning, I still enjoy on its own merits but it feels like the odd duck of the franchise, although the punk rock girl Violet is one of my favorite characters in the franchise so it has its moments.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: Hmmm, a little disappointing because I feel like both films deserve to exist. I have actually always enjoyed the remake, so a sequel would have been much appreciated.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: The old films will always be there, but this generation of horror buffs needs a little Jason in their lives in a new and exciting way, the possibilities are endless for unique and never-been-done stories to happen to Mr. Voorhees. With the new video game hopefully that will make studios realize that there is still life in this franchise yet!
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Q: Who are you?
A: I'm Rosie! I write for WomenWriteAboutComics.com and Nerdist.com. I'm @rosiemarx on Twitter and Instagram!
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: I'm a lifelong horror fan, ever since I watched my dad's VHS copy of Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I was like 10 and it was still technically banned in the UK. Since then horror's been a complete and utter obsession of mine.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: This is a super hard question. My go to answer is probably Pieces. I love the weird experimental vibes, the ridiculously fantastic opening, and it has one of my all time favourite taglines: "You don't have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre." So yeah at a push always Pieces. Or the original House on Sorority Row, the giallo vibes at the end always get me.
Q: Why do you love New Blood?
A: New Blood really just has everything that I love in a good franchise slasher. It has janky practical effects, a rad female lead, and a completely ridiculous telekinesis plot line which I just totally adore. Though I've rinsed this whole franchise and marathoned it in the cinema a few times, it wasn't until I rewatched New Blood a couple of years ago that I realized its true wonder. By this point in the franchise we know Jason is some gnarly supernatural never dying god, so why not have him brought back to life by the weird psychic tantrum of a teen telekinetic?? I love that this becomes a outrageous hokey battle between two supernatural beings--and an evil doctor like a weird '80s ESP-sploitation--whilst also trying to be a really standard cabin in the woods slasher. This is definitely the Jason movie I watch the most probably alongside Jason X... cos it's fucking Jason in Space.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: I really love the whole Friday the 13th franchise, I feel like it's one of the classic franchises that manages to keep the sequels fun. The original movie is such a stone cold slasher classic that it would be easy to hold everything else up to that. But the fact that the killer is Mrs. Vorhees in the first movie gives the sequels a freedom to be completely ridiculous and build up this wild mythology for Jason. I like how many sharks they jump. Jason on a ferry, Jason in Space, like just keep throwing these ridiculous scenarios at me cos I am here for it. I really enjoy the films' distinctly cheap AF aesthetic, which makes them all seem like a series even when the narrative fails. Plus that classic original score still gives me chills anytime I hear it.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: Cynically, I think it's branding. Like whoever came up with the idea of launching their cheap Halloween knock off on Friday the 13th was a genius because it's become so culturally synonymous with the movie. Plus Jason's look is so iconic and so well marketed. As a fan I think that there's such a nostalgia for the look and feel of the original slasher era. The practical effects, the weird juxtaposition of hard morality, and rad independent women killing weird murderers. Jason is iconic and people love being scared so really I think those are the two biggest things that have made the series stick around.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: Without a doubt it's New Beginning. What kind of foolish person decided to make a Jason movie without Jason? Smdh. I rarely rewatch this entry, though the behind the scenes production stories make it more interesting cos supposedly they were all out of their mind wasted the entire time which kind of explains a lot about the movie I guess.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: The fact they canned the sequel to the IMO underrated Friday the 13th remake for mother! makes me really mad. I didn't think that reboot was a masterpiece, but it was a solid scary slasher, and at least slasher movies are intellectually honest. Sure slasher movies are often misogynistic, but they don't hide behind nonsense pretension and we know that and sometimes they're really fucking radical. And they (almost) ALWAYS have a female heroine. I would rather watch a mediocre horror than any "thriller" by a sub par wannabe arthouse director like Aronofsky. Also mother! pissed me off because it's not radical, original, or even controversial, it's just boring and violent. Horror movies like Friday the 13th get cast as this lower art form because the directors don't make pretentious choices, when actually there was nothing original about mother!'s basic plot or supposed exploration. I would far rather have a new iteration of Jason with a cool inclusive cast and a black final girl than watch Aronofsky try and badly remake the films of French new extremism starring the girl from The Hunger Games.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: I wish that Hollywood would just pump money into original slasher and horror movies, and sometimes they do. But I'm also a realist and love this franchise, so yes. plus I can still see a whole bunch of fun ways for them to reboot or restart it.
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Q: Who are you?
A: Robyn, the other half of this blog.
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: I read a good thing in Teen Vogue the other day about how horror films help anxiety and I guess that's exactly what turned me on to horror films as an extremely anxious child. I've never looked back since.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: Probably Frankenhooker. For today at least.
Q: Why do you love Jason Takes Manhattan?
A: I think Jason Takes Manhattan is wholly misunderstood, it's certainly a film of two parts, the regular slasher fare and then some weird tour of New York including the SEWERS which is extremely my thing. There's a lot of interesting visual choices, the smoke and neon green/purple slime colour palette and some really playful scares like the mirror and that. I think it also gives a side of Jason we haven't seen previously where it actually feels calculated like there is a brain in there garnering pleasure from murdering teens, not just a Great White-like killing machine. Plus the dog survives.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: I'm much more of a Freddy fan. I need a villain who can talk to be really scared of them. There's something visceral about Freddy invading your most private thoughts that Jason has never achieved just by slash and stabbing.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: The films are totally varied, there's something for everyone.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: I'm probably going to say Part III, but to be honest anything before Final Chapter isn't rated very highly in my books. Things are way too 70s, very stiff.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: I'm pretty sure Paramount are kicking themselves now that mother! has flopped. I don't think it should be one or the other and with the way the horror industry is at the moment if they decided to revist it I think they could get a solid movie out with some interesting new ideas.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: I am literally always here for a franchise, because you never know how many Friday the 13 Part IIs you have to sit through before suddenly you've discovered Silent Night Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker is actually the best of the franchise, if that makes sense? I think a film can stand on its own merit even when it's part of a franchise, look at Halloween III.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Q: Who are you?
A: Hi my name is Joe. I have a YouTube channel where I play songs on guitar and I'm starting to branch off in to blu ray reviews and unboxings.
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: Most definitely. Growing up my mom worked at blockbuster and I would walk up and down the horror isle looking at all the cool box art. I was hooked. It helped that my mom loves horror as well, so I was tasked with finding the movie for the night to watch. I like to consider myself the horror historian for Albuquerque New Mexico lol. Everyone I know that has a question about the genre comes to me.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: John Carpenter's Halloween. Personally I feel that it's the perfect horror movie.
Q: Why do you love the Friday the 13th: Jason Goes to Hell?
A: I was 10 years old when it came out on VHS and it was the first Friday the 13th that I watched. I knew who Jason was, and knew the box art for the other movies, but I was too scared to watch the others. My mom chose it to watch that night and man, my 10 year old mind was blown. A lot of nostalgia for sure is one factor, but now twenty four years later, I think the beginning is probably the most 'Friday' feeling of the Friday the 13th movies. The unrated version is so brutal with all the head smashing and torso ripping, to name a few kills. Is the body hopping and other new additions to the mythos a little over the top? Sure, but at least New Line tried something new with the tired franchise.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: No... I love it! Out of the unholy trinity of Nightmare, Halloween and Friday, it's my favorite of the three.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: Because Jason is so iconic, as is the hockey mask. Everyone knows who Jason is even if they've never seen any of the movies. I don't know how many times I've heard someone call Michael Myers "Jason".
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: That's hard because I love each one in their own way, but I probably watch the first one the least of them all.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: Am I bummed? Yes. But can't judge mother! since I haven't got the chance to watch it yet. I've heard all the hubbub about it, but can't comment one way or another.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: I think they should go the route Jurassic world did where all the movies before still happened and they're continuing years later. Obviously it would have to take place after Freddy vs Jason and before Jason X. How cool would it be for Tommy Jarvis to come back with a few other survivors to take Jason out for good? It could explain how the army has Jason captured at the beginning of Jason X.
Jason X (2001)
Q: Who are you?
A: Carlo, the blog where I write is www.back-row.com (and my art tumblr is productbasement.tumblr.com)
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: 100% Yes. I try to contain my horror watching for September and October, but it’s pretty much impossible and I go kinda buck wild when those leaves start changin’ color. I always say that a 5-star horror movie is like a 10-star movie compared to a regular 5-star movie.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: This is like picking a favorite child… If I had one… Or wanted one… So it’s much harder actually! I guess John Carpenter’s The Thing has always been “The One” that re-ignited my passion for horror and movies in general when it was at an all-time low.
Q: Why do you love Jason X?
A: You know when you read about a horror movie, or see a really gnarly cover and your imagination goes wild in anticipation but then when you watch it it’s kind of a let down? Well, Jason X is just one of those movies that DELIVERS. As a fan who likes stupid high concept nonsense like seeing Jason go cybernetic and the mere idea of a sequel set in space; it's one of those things you’re glad they made a reality. I can totally owe up to the fact it’s not the “best” of the franchise, but I seriously think it’s my most revisited because it is so much fun. And that frozen head-smash? Ooooof.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: LOVE IT. Once again I don’t know if that means it’s the best horror franchise, but it’s the one I grew up with and have the most fond memories of. The rawness of Americana and that iconic hockey mask, yeah baby!!!!
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: I think a combination of starting at the perfect time, and a formula that was straight-forward enough to have mass appeal. It’s interesting how for almost every year of the 80’s there was a F13 movie, and then when the 90’s came around it failed to stay relevant.
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: I mean, Jason Goes to Hell… It’s just not much of a F13 movie is it? What’s even worse is that the opening minutes lure you in into thinking it is but then BOOM: rug swept.
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: Uhhhmm I have not seen “mother!” yet but I don’t understand how an Aronofsky movie cancels out a F13 sequel? Maybe I should watch “mother!", haha. Anyway if true I don’t mind too much, I wasn’t crazy about the reboot.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: Maybe if they get Jordan Peele to do it? Or you know, just someone with fresh ideas. Zero studio notes, total anarchy. You won’t ever re-capture that 80’s zeitgeist, but it shouldn’t be that hard to do something fun with the mythology of Jason & Crystal Lake. Heck, make it direct-to-video if you have to. Those movies never needed a budget to be fun.
Freddy vs Jason (2003)
Q: Who are you?
A: Hiya, I'm Findlay and I am an alumini of the Video Namaste boys who do a youtube show (red flag) about films and that.
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: Aye!
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: My forever number 1 that burns eternal is Fright Night (1985). An absolute treasure.
Q: Why do you love the Freddy vs Jason?
A: Its stupid. Its dumb. Its replete with plot-holes and its gloriously, deliriously fun.
Freddy vs Jason isnt set in any filmic reality i can think of. Its a coalescence of all the pizza crumbs and late nights suffered by one thousand baby sitters. A teenage nu-metal slasher dream, augmented into a full blown amphetamine cartoon. Directed by Ronnie Yu (who also done the amazing Bride of Chucky) its shot and lit almost like the Giallo-Death video game from Brainscan. Those constant strobes of pale white thunder and overly fake moonlight and venetian blind shadows everywhere. Its filled to the brim with early 2000s clothing, humour and horror tropes. The gore is hilarious and the treatment of Freddy and Jason is great. Freddy's MTV ringmaster shit is slightly toned down and Jason has never seemed so unkillable and relentless. Its a hot bag of popcorn fresh out the microwave, steaming up your glasses so that when you take them off, an extra hand reaches over your shoulder to steal some but its your boyfriend Brad, and its funny for a second before you put your glasses back on and realise Brad has "SURPRISE" carved on his face and he's bleeding over your Spineshank tshirt.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: I do! i have a real soft spot for summer camp/ survivalist horrors so F13th/The Burning/Sleepaway Camp are right in the pocket for me.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: Jason's mythos and legacy is deserved through his simplicity. His character design is iconic through a total accessibility. A guy in a hockey mask and boiler suit who kills teenagers. Easy to get, easy to dress as at Halloween. People love to be scared! It's great fun! And people love to see ridiculous deaths because its great fun!
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: Jason Goes To Hell. Absolutely chronic. Jason Get To Heck more like
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: If I remember correctly, the F13 (2009)'s sequel was going to be found footage which, I personally think would've been a fairly rad thing if done well. I'm not anywhere near a big fan of found footage-style films, but something about seeing Jason/Camp Crytal Lake through handheld stuff seems like there's a lot to play with. So I'm kinda bummed about it, but I'm very sure after its success, we'll be seeing Jason soon.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: Hahaha! I think I might've just answered that!
Friday the 13th (2009)
Q: Who are you?
A: My name is Logan Kenny
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: Yes I consider myself a horror fan, a more recent one as I've only started properly delving into the genre but I've always liked horror films.
Q: What's your favourite all time horror film?
A: My all time favourite horror film is Twixt.
Q: Why do you love the Remake?
A: Because it's phenomenally directed, genuinely tense, has a surprising emotional core to it and Jason's relentless and sadistic slaughter in the first 20 minutes is bone chilling and brutal stuff that set up just how vicious this Jason was perfectly.
Q: Do you like the Friday the 13th franchise?
A: I have my mixed feelings on it overall, think Jason is a great villain and horror icon obviously, but the films themselves mostly don't work for me.
Q: Why do you think it's had such staying power?
A: I think it's because of Jason and the impact that the first film had on slashers and pop culture as a whole in the early 80s, so many kids grew up being terrified by Jason and they wanted to see more of him, and that continued even into their adulthood
Q: What's your least favourite of the franchise?
A: Jason Takes Manhattan? Is that what it's called?
Q: The Friday the 13th (2009)'s sequel got canned by the studio in favour of release Aronofsky's mother! How do you feel about this?
A: Hated mother!, so I was not happy, I would have much rather had a sequel to this than that load of bollocks.
Q: What's your thoughts on Hollywood rebooting the franchise again?
A: Not sure, would definitely go to see another instalment but don't know if they would actually put effort into it at this point
Thanks for all the responses guys! So what can we learn? I'm surprised the majority of people are indifferent to a reboot of the franchise, you would like with all the teeth gnashing that comes along with horror fans that we would see more "stop killing my childhood" stuff, but really I guess once you have gone as far as taking Jason into space and down in Hell there isn't much left to outrage your fans with.
This was particularly interesting for me as a person who has never been IN to the Friday the 13th franchise. It's interesting to see polar opposites, but one thing that's for sure is that there is a film for everyone amongst the twelve.
Robyn is one half of Bimbo Movie Bash, an avid fan of Angel Delight and a Pee Wee apologist.
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