Friday the 13th (1980)

"Did you know that a young boy drowned? The year before those two others were killed. The counselors weren't paying any attention! They were making love while that young boy drowned! His name was Jason!" -Pamela Voorhees.

This is, as they say, the one that started it all! At first glance, Friday the 13th was basically another Halloween knockoff. What made it stick out from the others, though, was that it had the backing of a major studio-Paramount Pictures. As a result, unlike Halloween and many of the films it inspired, Friday was able to get the same across the board distribution that other studio-backed classics like The Exorcist, Jaws, and the previous year's Alien enjoyed. This is why, when the movie opened in the summer of 1980, it made an absolute fortune. The only film that made more money that year was The Empire Strikes Back. Also, much like the James Bond series, the Friday series took its first three entries to establish its characteristics. Indeed, as any horror fan knows, Jason is not the killer in the original but his mother (Betsy Palmer). The second film has Jason front and center, but it isn't until the thrid that he gets his famous hockey mask! Yes, the film has some moments that make you go "Oh, come on!" For instance, Alice not finishing off the killer when she has the chance. But, it has a wonderful atmosphere, not to mention that classic Harry Manfredini score. Nearly all its sequels (including its surprisingly enjoyable 2009 reboot) kept this same tone. Hence, it is not surprising that this series thrived throughout the 1980s. No, the original is not quite up there with other summer scare fests such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jaws, Grizzly, Piranha, and Cujo. But it is certainly as watchable as all those. To summarize, the Friday series is a great example of dumb fun! I even own the original NES video game of it!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

"There are moments when we cannot believe that what is happening is really true. Pinch yourself and you may find out that it is!" -Pam Willard.

It's summertime, and there's currently a scorching heat wave in my neck of the woods. With that in mind, I've decided to look at a few flicks that I always felt were ideal summer viewing. What can I say about this classic that hasn't already been said? It's definitely an intense shocker that will make you have sleepless nights. A group of friends are traveling to the graves of one of their family members due to reports of grave robbing. After an encounter with a creepy hitchhiker(Edwin Neal), they go to an abandoned house owned by another family member. This house is in close proximity to a huge farmhouse. In need of gas, two of the friends decide to see who's home. They soon get their answer when they meet Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen), who wears a mask made of human skin. Eventually, he kills all but one of the friends (Marilyn Burns), whom he and the hitchhiker proceed to torture before she manages to escape. Like Psycho (1960) before it and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) after it, this film was partially inspired by the case of Ed Gein. Gein was a farmer from Wisconsin who was arrested in 1957 after police discovered his home littered with human remains. Another thing I've always liked about the film is its atmosphere. The viewer truly feels like they are in the middle of nowhere in the dead of summer. The climax's closeups of Sally's eyes is reminiscent of the eye shots in Sergio Leone's films, but taken to another level. Despite the outrage that the film caused in some quarters, it became a smash, and its director, Tobe Hooper would later direct Eaten Alive (1976), Salem's Lot (1979), and Poltergeist (1982). Interestingly, it would be a dozen years before the film's first sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (1986), also directed by Hooper. Other sequels and reboots followed. None have matched the original film, although I always got a kick out of seeing then-unknown Renee Zellweger in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995), also known as The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But the best trailer for me is the one for Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990). The sight of the chainsaw emerging from the lake like it's Excalibur always cracks me up.