Movies
My Favorite ‘Friday The 13th’ Moment! What’s Yours?
Happy Friday the 13th! For me, one of the big allures of the franchise is that it takes me back to simpler times. There’s not a single installment I don’t like on some level. I love the atmosphere of the first four installments, not just the woodsy environment but their inherent innocence. Sure the characters had sex and smoked dope, but there was something (usually) innately sweet about the whole endeavor. I also loved the sleaziness of A New Beginning, the cleverness of Jason Lives, the Voorhees design from The New Blood and Creighton Duke from Jason Goes To Hell.
The 2009 remake also hit a lot of sweet spots for me and is among my very favorites of the franchise. For those of you who think that the most recent entry is cynical, I actually don’t think it is so much. Remember, the studio had zero respect for the franchise during its first incarnation, these were turn and burn gigs that people were turning down left and right because there was no money and the powers that be insisted on unrealistic schedules to keep the money flowing in. I’d argue that the folks behind the 2009 version actually cared more about the quality of the film than most of the people involved in the original sequels (especially later on).
I’d also argue that Steve Miner’s 1981 installment Friday the 13th Paet 2 had a lot of care put into it. I think Miner really took Part 2 seriously (as evidenced by the bravura finale). And, while it’s not the hands down best F13 movie, in many ways it’s the prototypical one – even without the hockey mask. You’ve got Crystal Lake. You’ve got counselors. The vibe is right (the tone of Part 3 is almost as icky as A New Beginning) and there’s still a sense of mystery about the series.
You’ve also got an all time great F13 kill when Tom McBride’s Mark takes that long tumble downstairs in his wheelchair. Not only is that moment shocking in its (almost literal) willingness to go abruptly off the rails, it’s preceded by one of the most effective pre-kill builds in the franchise. So even with everything else that’s great about this franchise – and there’s a lot – this is probably my favorite moment. Ask me tomorrow and it might be another one.
What’s your favorite moment from the franchise?
Two things that have proven to be pretty dependable at the box office in recent years are horror movies and Christopher Nolan movies. With Nolan’s The Odyssey absolutely dominating the box office this past weekend, many fans of Nolan’s work have been left hungry for a Nolan-directed horror movie. After all, The Odyssey does whet the appetite for Nolan nightmare fuel.
Christopher Nolan has brushed up against the horror genre in the past with 2002 thriller Insomnia, but does he have any interest in someday making a full-on horror movie?
Nolan tells the Empire Podcast in a new chat, “I’ve always been interested in doing a horror film.”
“But horror is most successful when the conceptual framework of whatever the story is is just so undeniable. I think there are very few really great horror movies,” Nolan continues.
So why hasn’t Christopher Nolan directed a horror movie yet?
He explains to Empire, “I’ve never clicked with a particular idea or concept that worked for me. I love the genre. Of all genres, it’s the most visceral. Where the direct response to the audience is the most important. That is to say, you’re trying to make people literally feel something in their bones about what’s going on on-screen.”
Nolan calls horror “a genre in which experimentation is demanded.” He explains, “I go to see a lot of horror films with my kids these days, and you’ll see things in the first half an hour, 45 minutes of any horror film that you’d never see in another genre. Risks that are taken. Dangerous approaches to things. Admittedly, a lot of movies can’t sustain that to the end. But in the horror genre, that kind of innovation is not just respected – it’s really demanded.”
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is now playing in theaters.
Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
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