PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Greetings and horrortations! As a horror fanatic almost my entire life, I have come to appreciate the art of creating scary stories that make your skin crawl. I appreciate hearts racing and the anticipation of the next victim’s death. It’s something that truly satisfies my brain. It might sound sick and twisted, but true horror fans understand this phenomenon and what horror stories are all about, don’t we?
Speaking of skin crawling, mine did for the first time at the age of five when I first watched my favorite horror film, Friday the 13th (1980). I remember wrapping a blanket around my whole body and peeking through a small opening while I watched Alice (Adrienne King: The Butterfly Room 2012) chop Mrs. Voorhees’s (Betsy Palmer: Today TV series) head off. It was not only that anticipation of her demise, but the incredible score of the film that scared the crap out of me.
There’s always something in a horror film that frightens us… gets our hearts racing and our skin to crawl. I’m sure that’s what the director, Sean Cunningham (The Last House on the Left 1972), and the writer, Victor Miller (Rock Paper Dead 2018 – read our review here), wanted to accomplish to solidify the fear, the anticipation and the guessing game of the camp counselor’s killer. Friday the 13th was made at the beginning of the slasher era and has become a worldwide phenomenon that has inspired many horror films after its debut.
Even though I think some of the acting was amateur, the location was fantastic, the story was unique and the music put this fearful vibe inside my brain that pushed me into another dimension. The location was an actual camp (Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in New Jersey) that was found by mistake. It was extremely worn down, but it worked perfectly for the film as the counselors worked to fix it up for the campers. The lake water by the sandy beach set the tone for the unforgettable ending of young Jason (Ari Lehman: The Wicked One 2014 – read our review here) popping up out of the water.
The story of Friday of the 13th was unique at that time period. It was almost unheard of to cast a female as a killer! I think that’s honestly why I love this film so much. The dominance of a nearly unstoppable female… well, until Alice puts a stop to it all! It’s a revenge plot against the death of her twelve-year-old son. Really, who can blame Mrs. Voorhees? Jason’s death may have triggered something in her brain, and she just lost all hope for humanity. If she couldn’t trust others with her child, who could she trust?
Sean Cunningham did an amazing job not only with telling Mrs. Voorhees’ story in a way that would showcase that scary horror vibe, but also by showing the love that a mother has for her child. It’s sad if you think about it, but it’s one of those stories that still makes your skin crawl. The camp counselor deaths are wicked and Mrs. Voorhees’ death is memorable. Friday the 13th will live on, and so will Jason Voorhees!
