Horror by Harrison

  We close out the first Friday the 13th theme month not with a bang, but with a sad little fart. After four films that varied in quality but were still enjoyable in their own way we are at the first true stinker of the bunch. It’s Friday the 13th: A New Beginning , also known as the other one without Jason Vorhees. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning was written by Martin Kitrosser ( Model Behavior ), David Cohen ( Hollywood Zap ), and Danny Steinmann ( Savage Streets ) with Steinmann also directing the film. A New Beginning was made on a budget of $2.2 million, made $8,032,883 upon opening, and went on to make $21,930,418 worldwide. The film was released on March 22nd, 1985 to largely negative reviews.  After killing Jason Vorhees, Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd, The Hunt for Red October ) spent several years in several psychiatric institutions and is sent to a halfway house near Crystal Lake. After one of the teens at the halfway house kills another, someone takes up Jason ...

  As I sat down to watch Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter I found myself getting a bit confused, nothing in this film seemed familiar. I didn’t recognize the characters, the sets, or the kills. At around the halfway mark I had to admit it: I had never seen this film before. Somehow, the first time I watched the franchise, I skipped from three to five and didn’t even realize it. With that being said, this was a damn delight to watch.  Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter was written by Barney Cohen ( Sabrina the Teenage Witch ), directed by Joseph Zito ( The Prowler ) and was released on April 13th, 1984 to generally negative reviews. The Final Chapter was made on a budget of $2.2 million, made $11,183,148 upon opening, and went on to make $32,980,880 worldwide. As the title suggests the film was originally intended to act as a finale for the franchise, but its success prompted a sequel released less than a year later. After his seeming death at the end of Part III , Jas...

  In which Jason finally gets his iconic mask. With this installment the franchise finally settles into the aesthetic that it will maintain for most of the subsequent installments.  Friday the 13th Part III was written by Martin Kitrosser ( Model Behavior ) and Carol Watson ( South Park ), directed by Steve Miner ( Lake Placid ) and was released on August 13th, 1982. Friday the 13th Part III was made on a budget of $2.2 million, made $9,406,522 upon opening, and went on to make $36,690,067 worldwide. At the time of its release the film received largely negative reviews.  Set the day after the events of the previous film, Friday the 13th Part III finds Jason (Richard Brooker, Deathstalker ) retreats to a house on Crystal Lake to recover from his injuries. At the same time, a group of friends arrive at the house for a weekend getaway. As before, Jason begins killing his way through the group until his climactic showdown with the homeowner, Chris (Dana Kimmell, Sweet ...

  Friday the 13th is a really bizarre franchise. Even before we get to the truly out there installments late in the series, the way the franchise came together is weird. Jason appearing as the main antagonist comes about here in the second installment, and it’ll take another film to get his iconic mask. This film also begs the question of how Jason is alive. He’s implied not to be a supernatural entity (yet) but the exact nature of his survival is unclear (even the cast were basically told “don’t worry about it”). So yeah, it’s a weird franchise. Let’s take a dive into one of the more grounded entries. Friday the 13th Part 2 was written by Ron Kurz ( Off the Wall ) and directed by Steve Miner ( Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later ). Friday the 13th Part 2 was made on a budget of $1.2 million, made $6,429,784 upon opening, and went on to make $21,722,776 worldwide. Friday the 13th Part 2 was released on May 1, 1981 to generally negative reviews. Shortly after the events of the ...

  “His name was Jason.” Welcome to the second theme month. Since the 13th of November falls on a Friday this year, I will be covering the first five Friday the 13th films. Friday the 13th and the franchise that followed was largely inspired (and takes many ideas from) by the Halloween franchise. It’s actually a bit appropriate that I’m following a month-long dive into that franchise with its spiritual sequel. Friday the 13th was written by Victor Miller ( All My Children ) and directed by Sean S. Cunningham ( The Last House on the Left ). Friday the 13th was released on May 9th, 1980 to largely mixed reviews. Friday the 13th was made on a reported budget of $550,000, made $5,816,321 upon opening, and went on to make $39,754,601 internationally. Friday the 13th tells the tale of a group of counselors preparing for the reopening of Camp Crystal Lake, a camp where two counselors had been murdered 22 years prior. One by one the counselors are killed by a mysterious assailant who ...