Friday the 13th

Today is Friday the 13th. When I was in school, we would try not to step on cracks, avoid all sorts of things which might bring us bad luck and a few of us would always try to get in a horror movie. And what could be better than the namesake of the day aka Friday the 13th!!

And Friday the 13th isn’t anything without JASON! Aka The boy who lived- somewhat. The-boy- with-a-face-only-a-mother-could-love. Ol-hockey-face and what have you! In world of Screams and Urban Legends, Jason and Michael Myers are the only two super villains who have silently, steadily slashed, hacked and maimed their way through teenagers and pretty much anyone that got in their way.

Of course Leatherface never said a word either, but the buzz of his chainsaw ensured that the machine often drowned out the screams of the victims.

Why is Jason such a cult classic for so many? Well, among other things, you can’t help but feel sorry for him. You never feel bad for the likes of Freddy or the Cenobites. But you do feel for Jason. A lake meant to be a cooling and fun respite in the summer, ended up being a watery grave for a boy who was already ostracized for being different.

But he showed them, didn’t he? Not only did he come back in a full-adult version but he bulked up into the bargain, grabbed himself a machete and started his rampage that started in 1980 and continued well into the early 2000s. Now that’s durability.

The entire franchise has suffered with the lack of decent actors over the years. The first one famous starred Kevin Bacon but over the years, the other faces who went on to become famous did really hammy roles in the movie and were imminently forgetable. How hard is it to look scared and scream your lungs out? It has also become hokier with the ways Jason kills. It’s almost like his heart is no longer in it and he’s just going through the motions…

But before I get certified as a blood-thirsty lunatic, let’s take a look at the impact of these movies. They were a in-your- face representation of the times they were set it. They probably scared the crap out of a generation of kids whose parents wanted to send them to summer camps and it has endured over the years to an extent where a hockey mask is almost always identified with Jason Vorhees! Not to mention, it was the first campground-slasher to set the trend for the Sleepaway Camp series and the homage paid by American Horror Story et al.

However, the cherry on the cake for me will always be Betsy Palmer aka the original killer in the first movie. She is the lynchpin who sets everything off. She is insidious and really is the last person you would think of as the bad guy. It’s her demise that sets off Jason on his unending sprees of murder and mayhem.

Horror movies aren’t for everyone but this one remains a classic. Enjoy Friday the 13th with a movie that’s guaranteed to make you cringe, jump and wonder just how many gallons of corn syrup did Hollywood go through in creating those bloody special effects back in the day.