Movies
Five Horror Movies Set Around Friday the 13th to Stream This Week
Despite an entire franchise named after one of the most superstitious calendar dates, very few Friday the 13th movies actually take place over, well, Friday the 13th. Considering this Friday brings the first and only Friday the 13th of the year, we’re theming this week’s streaming picks accordingly. Instead of slashers or the entire Friday the 13th franchise, this week’s recommendations are horror movies set on or around the day largely considered unlucky.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Freaky – Prime Video
Director Christopher Landon, who co-wrote the script with Michael Kennedy, mashes together Friday the 13th with Freaky Friday for a fun slasher with a lot of heart. Millie (Kathryn Newton) is a timid teen struggling with a loss on top of the usual teen woes. Then she crosses paths with the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn) and a newfound Aztec weapon on Friday the 13th. That weapon transforms his attempt to murder her into a body-swapping nightmare. Freaky is a love letter to slashers and teen movies, but it’s also a comforting cinematic hug dripping in blood.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives – Pluto TV
The final entry in the Tommy Jarvis saga injected a self-referential sense of humor and a Frankenstein-inspired twist, courtesy of writer/director Tom McLoughlin. That meant a less severe and traumatized version of the hero, now played by The Return of the Living Dead’s Thom Mathews. Tommy returns to Crystal Lake, now named Forest Green, to burn Jason Voorhees’ remains. It all goes awry thanks to some freak lightning, igniting a new wave of murders from the undead slasher villain. Jason Lives is one of the entries actually set on Friday the 13th and makes references to it in dialogue.
The Hound of Baskervilles (1959)- Fawesome, Pluto TV
This adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 novel makes for a slightly lesser-seen option. This gothic mystery sees Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) and his pal Watson investigating the murder of his friend, believed to have died of fright from seeing a ghost hound. A moody mystery full of danger and shadowed menace, all set within and around a grand manor, makes this another great gothic Hammer gem. And Cushing makes for a fantastic Sherlock Holmes. The inciting death in Dartmoor kicks off the gothic mystery and happens to have taken place on a Friday the 13th.
My Bloody Valentine (1981) – Kanopy
The sleepy town of Valentine’s Bluffs is shaking off the local folklore of Harry Warden, a man who went mad after surviving a devastating mine collapse to throw their first V-Day dance in 20 years. Naturally, it reawakens the legend as a grisly string of murders begin anew, more ruthless than before. This cult favorite slasher features no shortage of brutal kills, love triangles, and a ballad that’ll get lodged in your head. While it may theme itself around the holiday dedicated to love and romance, this slasher partially takes place over Friday the 13th in the build-up to a proper Valentine’s Day massacre on Saturday.
Saturday the 14th – Fawesome, Night Flight+, Peacock, Prime Video, Roku Channel
“Just when you thought it was safe to look at the calendar again.” An all-American family inherits a creepy old house full of monsters in this horror spoof that extends the superstitious horrors of Friday the 13th, completely unrelated to the franchise. The Roger Corman-produced horror-comedy sees the house become increasingly infested with monsters, played for pure cheesy laughs. It’s a kitchen sink type of spoof movie that aims for silliness above all else, making for a more family-friendly gateway into Friday the 13th superstition and horror.
In the wake of Backrooms and Obsession, everyone is prowling YouTube for horror shorts to adapt and horror filmmakers to scoop up, so don’t be surprised to see a whole bunch of upcoming articles about YouTube success stories crossing over into theaters. One horror short that’s already been picked up for expansion is Dolly director Rod Blackhurst’s Alone Time.
The 12-minute short was uploaded in 2014 and has amassed nearly 2 million views at the time of this article being written, and Deadline reports that it’s getting a feature adaptation.
Witchcraft Motion Picture Company & Fever Dream will turn the viral short into a feature film.
Alone Time follows Ann Saunders, a young NY professional whose carefully constructed life begins to unravel following a devastating personal loss. “Seeking refuge from a collapsing relationship, a deteriorating family situation, and mounting emotional trauma, Ann reluctantly joins her closest friend on a remote camping trip deep in the Adirondack wilderness.”
The synopsis continues, “When her friend mysteriously disappears, Ann becomes convinced that an unseen figure is stalking her through the forest. What begins as a survival nightmare slowly transforms into something far more disturbing as fractured memories, conflicting realities, and hidden truths force Ann to confront the possibility that the greatest threat may not be lurking in the woods at all, but buried deep within her own psych.”
“Alone Time has quietly followed me for over a decade,” director Rod Blackhurst said in a statement. “What began as a short film about isolation and the weight of life now feels more relevant than ever. The original short found its audience organically online long before that was considered a legitimate path for filmmakers. Bringing it to life as a feature allows us to explore those themes on a much larger and more psychologically unsettling canvas.”
Blackhurst is directing the feature length expansion.
You can watch the original Alone Time short film below.
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