Skip to main content

My Belated Friday the 13th Post

The great trifecta of horror: Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, & Friday the 13th. I've been tackling them, one at a time, and being that yesterday was (in fact) Friday the 13th, it seemed a fitting time to finally write about the movie.

Before I jump into the movie itself, let's talk for a minute about why these three film franchises are so very important to the horror genre. Each falls into the subgenre of "slasher films" which are commonly believed to have grown out of Psycho and Peeping Tom. The ways in which they conform to and break free of that genre makes them interesting, influential, and lasting.

Everything about these movies, down to their names, is designed to elicit fear in it's viewers.

Halloween - A day when it's believed that sprits can walk the Earth amongst the living.
Directed by John Carpenter. Released in 1978.

What's it got?
  • Halloween is remarkably "un-gory" (much like Psycho itself.) Being considered a large piece of "exploitation cinema" and bearing a name that implies a graphic kind of killing, being subtle is unusual.
  • Killer POV. Although borrowed from Psycho and Peeping Tom, Halloween is unique among is peers for offering us the killer's perspective during murders. The true beauty of the killer POV is that it implicates the audience in the murders; making us more than just coconspirators it turns us into killers ourselves. (We'll see this again in Friday the 13th.)
  • It's got a nod to the Final Girl. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) very nearly defeats the killer on her own. She's a step closer to being a Final Girl than any of the B movie queens of the 50's but she actually pales in comparison to Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) of Texas Chainsaw Massacre or even Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) of Nightmare on Elm Street.


Nightmare on Elm Street - Nightmares, terrible dreams that scare us.
Directed by Wes Craven. Released in 1984.

What's it got? (I'll keep this one short since I just wrote about it a few days ago.)
  • Personality! Freddy is no mindless killing machine - he's a true character.
  • A great Final Girl. Nancy doesn't just escape by accident, she proactively defeats Freddy.
  • A terrific gore factor. 


Friday the 13th - Traditionally believed to be an unlucky day when bad things happen.

Directed by Sean Cunningham. Released 1980.

What's it got?
  • A female killer. Not as uncommon nowadays but fairly irregular when it was released. Particularly when looking as slasher movies. There's a gender argument to be made here - one that revolves around genitalia and penetration - but I'll leave that be for now.
  • Red herrings and a twist ending. Friday the 13th is one of the primary forerunners in the art of tossing out plenty of "fake leads", implied guilt, and possible suspects, none of which tell the audience who the killer really is.
  • A morality lesson (that we now think of as, "common place" in a slasher film.) We all know who dies in a horror movie: the kids who have pre-marital sex, the kids who use drugs, the kids who "misbehave" or otherwise break polite societal rules.
So, Friday the 13th. Man oh man did mainstream critics hate this movie when it came out. Which, as we all know, is usually reason enough for audience's to love something. And, despite that mainstream slamming, Friday the 13th has gone on to become a much loved, genre "classic." (The magic of bad press, I tell you.)

I think one of the most interesting things about this movie is that you're really routing for the villain. You really love to hate the group of terrorized kids - they're completely douchey - and you really just want Jason to hack them to bits in creative and excessive ways.

Half the fun of a good slasher flick is tabulating and discussing the various ways the characters are dispatched. It's like a game: who do you think will be the next to die and how will it happen?

Despite what critics tell you, you don't need to feel bad. It's okay to hate those kids. The killing isn't real. It's only a movie. You're not some deranged sicko. Rejoice in your vicarious killing.

But seriously though, this kind of horror breeds audience participation and regardless of the gruesome nature of the material, it truly engages people's imaginations. As well as their critical thinking skills; when you're not betting on who bites it next, you're often discussing how you would escape or how you would defeat the killer.


Okay. Okay. Wrap up time.

Us horror fans owe a lot to the original Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th movies. Despite criticisms, remakes, reboots, and countless sequels, these original pieces will forever remain pillars in the horror genre foundation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rebuttal: 17 Disturbing Horror Movies You Will Never Watch Again

When I'm not watching movies, I'm reading about movies. I stumble across all kinds of articles, blog posts, book excerpts, etc. in my quest to absorb as much movie knowledge as possible. Now, I'm snotty and loud-mouthed and opinionated but I'd never begrudge another human their opinion. Seriously. You're absolutely welcome to have any opinion about any thing you want. However, I must warn you, if I think your opinion is stupid, I'm absolutely going to say so. I've recently stumbled on an article completely  brimming with so many idiotic opinions that I'm actually compelled to craft a response. Here's the gist of the original article: there are some horror movies out there that are so disturbing , you'll only ever want to watch them once. I've have taken her original list and refuted her claims without pulling her entire article over. You can read the original article here . Let's start at the beginning, with her opening statement

Escape From Tomorrow

I love creative people who are willing to take risks with their art. I appreciate the refusal to do things by the rules. I'm also terribly impatient with mediocrity. Enter  Escape From Tomorrow . Created by a team of rogue filmmakers, the movie was shot in the video mode of high-end still cameras. Actors shared scripts and shooting locations across their smartphones. Shot on location at Disney World, the parks were completely unaware this was all going on right under their mouse ears. I wanted to love Escape From Tomorrow. More than that, I wanted to be completely taken with its ingenuity and creativity and - oh yes - its originality. And there is really a simple brilliance to their covert plan; all families are roaming around the parks, taking videos and chatting on their phones. Just blend the fuck in, act like you belong, and you won't get caught. Too bad the movie can be summed up as: ambitious but Rubbish. As you can imagine (or possibly know), there was a ton of con

Mother!

Alright friends and readers–this one is probably doubly filled with typos and grammar errors because I wrote it while angry. Good luck and happy reading. There are unpopular opinions in every realm. As a film student, you can truly strike a nerve when you say things like, "I fucking hate the self-indulgence of independent films and the way people idolize them." Or, you know, "Low lighting and slow pacing does not a good movie make." Or whatever. You can of course, objectively, understand how this happens. When you are creating art–when you are outside the system  so to speak–you are free to explore things (subjects, techniques, etc.) that may need to be addressed and that freedom can become intoxicating and go to one's head. While it may seem only right  or only fair  to respect and accept each creative endeavor that every artist undertakes, it is unreasonable to believe that the world will remain forever patient with the self-obsession artists have. Th