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Editorials

45 Years of Launching the Slasher Subgenre For 80s Horror: “Friday the 13th”

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That’s right. His name was Jason, and it’s been 45 years since the massacre at Crystal Lake that led to the birth of a horror icon and, technically, the birth of the 80s slasher.

In the early 1970s, Sean S. Cunningham sat in an editing room with director Wes Craven as the two cut together what would become, one of the most disturbing horror films ever made: THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Cunningham’s first film, THE ART OF THE MARRIAGE, had attracted Craven, who wanted to be in the film business, a friendship struck and then went ahead and made basically a soft porn film together entitled, TOGETHER. Which is totally what I would expect from the master of 80s perky boob shots and gore.

After Last House, Craven would go on to direct THE HILLS HAVE EYES, but Cunningham had a different vision.

In 1978, John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN was released and changed the horror game. Cunningham took notice of the huge success of the premise of a stalker going around killing teenage girls and thus began the creation of FRIDAY THE 13TH. A movie that would spawn 9 sequels, a remake, and a crossover with, ironically, one of his old buddy’s own iconic creations, and become one of the most influential horror movies of all time.

So before we go any further, let’s smack a kiss on little Mikey Myers. Because without him, there would be no Jason.

After coming up with a title that like, Halloween, centered around a mysterious date, FRIDAY THE 13TH, the aspiring horror director pulled a massively ballsy move without even shooting one scene of the movie, by making an advert of his movie idea and somehow getting it placed in the July 4th issue of VARIETY magazine. The idea was to maybe secure the financing necessary to start production. The now-infamous and very first ad appeared for the original film in the franchise, proclaiming Friday The 13th “The Most Terrifying Film Ever Made”. The gamble paid off with Paramount picking up the title and a green light to shoot the film for $1.5 million buckaroos.

The slasher film was still in its infancy back in 1979, and though films like BLACK XMAS (which in my opinion was the FIRST true slasher movie),  THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and HALLOWEEN set the bar for the subgenre, FRIDAY THE 13TH set the standard for the 80s slasher-and the absolute crazy oversaturation of it during that decade. And I wouldn’t have it any other fucking way.

FRIDAY THE 13TH set a new slasher standard for young bloods getting picked off one by one in an isolated setting where no adults could be found anywhere supervising the often horny and impaired kids. If they were around, they were usually presumed as drunk or crazy.

Crazy Ralph, anyone?

Not to mention the now cliché horror movie tropes that we’ve seen in almost every slasher movie since. Sex equals death. Drugs equal death. An unstoppable madman (or in this case, woman) with the killer POV camera shot that doesn’t directly show the killer, that keeps us guessing who their identity is throughout the movie. And of course, we need the all-important final girl. The more innocent she seemed, the better her chance of survival. Of course, FRIDAY wasn’t the first to establish that trend (that credit goes to HALLOWEEN), but they sure as hell ran with it religiously for an entire decade and inspired the very film they kind of-sort ripped off, (HALLOWEEN), to cash in on the slasher boom of the 80s with a couple of sequels. The formula set the standard for FRIDAY movies going forward, and the rest of the 80s slashers that came after.

Also, it spawned Randy. Randy is all of us. Thanks to the likes of Friday the 13th.

FRIDAY THE 13TH opened nationwide in the US on May 9th, 1980. Nobody expected this little horror movie to do much regarding big Box Office numbers, including Sean Cunningham, but holy shit was everyone surprised when this little film shot at Camp Nobebosco in New Jersey blew up and ending up meaning just shy of 40 million in the US domestically, and almost 60 million worldwide. Not a bad profit for a movie that was shot for half a million.

And then just like that, along with a sequel to HALLOWEEN, a film that never intended to have one, a slew of similar films embracing the same tropes that FRIDAY banked on, absolutely inundated theaters and straight to video stores with movies like SLEEPAWAY CAMP, CHEERLEADER CAMP, and SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE. Not to mention the appeal of associating a murderous madman with a holiday like MY BLOODY VALENTINE, APRIL FOOL’S DAY, and SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. The trend continued throughout the entire 80s, with the golden era of horror movies busting out 253 slasher flicks. And it’s all thanks to a little mongoloid named Jason and his vengeful mother who started it all.

Let’s raise our machetes to Pamela and her fucked up kid this weekend! FRIDAY THE 13TH is currently streaming on PLUTO for free! Now, I’ll be right back…

Editorials

The Moment in A Nightmare On Elm Street: the Dream Child That Proves Freddy Was A Deviant

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A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD is well known in the Freddy franchise for a lot of good (and bad) reasons. But there’s one tidbit about the 5th installment I’m willing to bet a lot of you missed; no matter how many times you’ve seen it. As a matter of fact, every time I bring it up to someone, they’re actually surprised they missed it- and it’s the moment in the film where the franchise actually admits to Freddy being a pedophile.

The only reason I bring this up is that despite the large Freddy fandom, and the first film premiering over 40 years ago (wow I feel old), this is STILL a debate amongst some fans. I guess some people have never seen the NEVER SLEEP AGAIN doc that actually goes into this subject. But anyway, the now-famous viral panel interview with Robert Englund addressing the million-dollar question with vagueness hasn’t helped the internet debate either. Although I don’t blame him much as he is probably sensitive about the topic. I’m sure he doesn’t want his greatest movie role that he made iconic to be remembered as being a child molester.

But, here we are. I guess if you blink while watching THE DREAM CHILD, you’ll miss it, but I’m one of those people that looks around the screen at things in the background, especially now rewatching older movies to catch glimpses of nostalgia or things I may have missed the past 5,000 times I’ve watched it prior. And a few years ago, I actually caught this.

More than halfway through THE DREAM CHILD, Alice (Lisa Wilcox) and Mark (Joe Seely) are seen in Alice’s bedroom discussing how to move forward after realizing Freddy is after Alice’s unborn child. Mark brought over a bunch of old newspapers ranging from the demise of Amanda Krueger, to the trials of Freddy and behold- this screenshot from the ending of that scene:

There’s no denying it. It’s as they, “all there in black and white.” I mean, I hate to even be writing this or putting it out there, but the debate has to end. It’s not like me, a Fred head myself, wants to be one to actually say it out loud. I don’t think any of us do. And I personally think it’s one of the (many) reasons why the 2010 remake failed so tremendously. I mean, besides the horrific makeup, the way they made Nancy into such a weak bitch, and the center plot stating the dirty secret outloud. There’s a big difference between subtle hints throughout the franchise and blatantly being so in your face about it. To throw in another cliché saying, “ignorance is bliss”; if we don’t talk about it, it never happened. Even though we all know deep down, this was always the premise for the Springwood Slasher. But, to be a true Fred Head is to be in the know. And now you know.

For those who have still been in denial about it, I hope I didn’t ruin your day.

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Editorials

40 Years Later: “Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning”, Was Way Ahead of its Time

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It all started with a candy bar. If Vic hadn’t gotten “completely out of line” with fat fuck Joey, we never would have bore witness to enchilada diarrhea death or Ethyl’s grandeur home cooking segments. It’s a hideous thought to ponder, and while some might disagree, A NEW BEGINNING is the definitive breakout star sequel of the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise.

Yes. I’m as serious as Tommy Jarvis’ stare when I say that.

Every horror franchise seems to have ONE film in the series that goes off the rails. HALLOWEEN had “SEASON OF THE WITCH”, NOES had “FREDDY’S REVENGE”, and FRIDAY the 13th has “A NEW BEGINNING”; and that’s precisely what it was meant to be. A way to veer off from what was definitively “THE FINAL CHAPTER” where Jason had clearly met his demise at the hands of a young Jarvis and an opportunity to pass the machete, so to speak, to a new killer in the franchise. In the past 40 years in horror movies, switching killers in an iconic horror franchise has never really seemed to pan out with the majority of fans and A NEW BEGINNING was no exception as Crystal Lake campers flocked to the theater to see Jason back from the dead in 1985, only to leave confused and pissed off the for the most part. To this day, the fan base seems to be divisive on that matter, while Part V has a cult following, that yours truly is Vice President of the Violet Moraine Fan Club, while others deem it as the red-headed stepchild of the series and a low point for Friday films.

I tend to think those are the same people who hate SEASON OF THE WITCH because Michael Myers isn’t (technically) in the movie. Although I do like to point out that he actually is when that argument comes up.

YEAH, SEE RIGHT THERE! He is actually PIVOTAL in the (assumed) demise of millions of children wearing Silver Shamrock masks, since the original movie is marketed with the BIG GIVEAWAY.

Now back to A NEW BEGINNING– Jarvis, now a teen, is suffering from massive PTSD from his encounter with Jason, and who wouldn’t be fucked up from that? He was institutionalized and then transferred to, of course, a camp institution in the woods for kids with “problems” like himself. And after the death of chocolate-loving Joey at the hands of another unstable teen at the residence, all the teens there are picked off one by one, by well, presumably Jason, Only to come find out at the end of the film, it was Joey’s father, Roy the paramedic who attended to the homicide scene, seeking revenge on the camp for the death of his son. A son of which he obviously told no one about, or was some sort of dirty secret of his. Which at the end of the day, makes perfect sense since Jason was technically DEAD. And the franchise was breathing fresh new blood into the storylines to keep that sequel cash flow going while offering the fan base something other than the same regurgitation of Jason killing teens having sex and trespassing on his stomping grounds.

However, upon release, there was some mixed reviews from fans with the largest complaint being Jason wasn’t actually in the movie. Again, just like HALLOWEEN III, he technically was, via Tommy’s dream sequences and hallucinations. I mean, he sure as shit wasn’t dreaming about a blue-eyed homicidal paramedic. Or maybe he was. I’m not judging.

Director Danny Steinmann told FANGORIA in issue #44 in 1985: “I have complained a lot about other people taking over my films, but on this one I was pretty much allowed to make it happen in a way that I thought would get the biggest response from the audience. I’ve been given a true shot. I can’t complain on this.”

With Tommy and Pam taking out fake Jason, A NEW BEGINNING sets up Tommy to be the franchise’s new slasher, and I can’t help but wonder what could have been if they had gone down that road. Of course, personally speaking my favorite films in the series are actually 5-8, so with that being said, Jason would have never jammed with Alice Cooper or taken a boat, I mean, Manhattan. And I’m not sure I want to live in a world where “the darkest side of the night” never happened. Still, it was a smart move to make if they were indeed going to continue or flat-out end the series. But fans are gonna fan, and they just wanted more of the real Jason.

So let it be written. So let it be done. And he lives.

We also have to talk about the great batch of side characters in PART V. The FRIDAY movies usually have a great set of people lined up for slaughter. Some we like. Some, we can’t wait for them to get a machete through the skull. In this movie though, I think we have some of the most memorable side cast in all the films.

We got Reggie the Reckless. THE FIRST BLACK TEEN TO SURVIVE A HORROR MOVIE. And with that kind of charm, it would have been such a waste to kill his character off. I’m only sorry he didn’t make a return as an older teen or adult in later films.

He also has an older brother, Demon, who by far has one of the most memorable death scenes in the entire franchise. His appearance was brief, but impactful-also probably the most quoted, with “Them Damn Enchiladas”. I can’t be the only one who simply can NOT just say enchiladas when they’re around. They are specifically referred to as THEM DAMN ENCHILADAS.

There’s the ultimate comedy relief of Ethyl and Junior. As far as comedic duos go in the Friday franchise, there are none greater than these two dildohs.

And of course, Miss Violet and what was my first introduction to “His Eyes” by Pseudo Echo. Such a perfect song for the characters of Roy and Jason with a cool kid goth dance before getting a machete to the groin. It was actually supposed to splice her genitals . Too bad that never made it into the movie as the first of its kind.

45 years later, A NEW BEGINNING seems to have found its footing with, ironically, a new generation, making it a favorite among some fans, launching it into cult fandom. But it was also 80s kids like myself who were too young to see it in the theaters, but caught multiple viewings of this on cable television; most notably on the USA Network. I swear they must have played this movie a million times in the late 80s and early 90s when that station had its horror marathons and also during the infamous UP! ALL NIGHT with Rhonda Shear or Gilbert Gottfried.

Case in point:

That being said, one might argue a bit of nostalgia plays a part as well, but I won’t label it as cheap as that. It’s a goddamn good movie that was way ahead of it’s time. OoooOO baby I’m just glad the once bastardized sequel now has its rightful place as a worthy contender for one of the best in the franchise with horror fans that can see this entry for what it is: Not just a slasher movie, but a movie that attempted to bring the series back to its roots with the infamous whodunnit horror. Part V at least remembers that this franchise wasn’t just a mindless killer stalking and murdering teenagers to begin with; it was a mystery killer going around and murdering said teenagers. That was part of the initial magic of Friday the 13th, and I think most people may have forgotten that. It’s damn fun, the kills are brutal, and it’s PEAK 80s horror.

What’s not to love? Now sit down and eat yer fuckin’ slop, haters.