Featuring 12 films over 33 years, Friday The 13th is often placed next to the Halloween and Nightmare On Elm Street series as one of the most important and recognizable horror franchises in, well…ever! And since it’s Friday The 13th, what better way is there to celebrate one of horror’s most iconic dates than by taking some time to appreciate and reflect back upon the very people who brought us the spine-chilling music behind the iconic series?
Below we take a little bit of time to talk about the four composers who have laid their musical stylings upon the Friday The 13th series. We’re going to look at the films that they worked on as well as their other contributions to the horror genre. So head on down and check it all out!
Films: Friday The 13th – Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, Jason X
The original, the master, the founder of what we think of when it comes to the music of the Friday The 13th series. Manfredini is singlehandedly responsible for the infamous “Ki-ki-ki…ma-ma-ma…“, taking Mrs. Voorhees’ recital of, “Kill her, mommy!” as inspiration.
Compared to Bernard Herrmann, Manfredini has scored over 100 projects, including House, Slaughter High, Wishmaster, Swamp Thing, The Children, and more.
Films: Friday The 13th Part VII: A New Blood, Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Mollin co-composed Part VII: A New Blood with Harry Manfredini and then took the reins on Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. He is also responsible for composing the music behind Friday The 13th: The Series, the syndicated television series that ran for three seasons.
While Mollin didn’t delve too much into scoring for other horror projects, he did score a few episodes of The Outer Limits and several episodes of Forever Knight.