Horror Facts Vol. 21: Friday the 13th

We made it to Friday! and even better, it’s a Jason Voorhees kind of Friday. For the 21st edition of Horror Facts, we’re taking a trip to Camp Crystal Lake…New York City…hell…space…you get the point, for tidbits from the 12-film franchise. And since this is the last Friday the 13th until August 2021, I hope you make the most of your day. 😉

1 / Screenwriter Victor Miller originally named the film Long Night at Camp Blood in 1979. It was director Sean S. Cunningham who gravitated towards the Friday the 13th title before production began.

2 / Actress Adrienne King claims she never saw a script for Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) before signing on. She asked filmmakers to leave her role open for a possible return in a later film, not knowing her character was going to die towards the beginning.

3 / In order to keep the script for Friday the 13th Part III (1982) from leaking, production used the working title “Crystal Japan” after a David Bowie song. Using Bowie’s song titles became somewhat of a tradition for other films in the series.

4 / Ted White, the actor who played Jason, and special effects artist Tom Savini didn’t initially get along on the set of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984). Once White, who turned down playing Jason again in Part 5 and 6, found out about Savini’s experience doing stunt work, the two became friends. Savini originally signed on for the film so he could effectively age and kill the character he originally created.

5 / Filmmakers of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) originally planned to have Corey Feldman as the lead, reprising his role of Tommy Jarvis. The script was rewritten due to the fact that Feldman was filming The Goonies (1985). John Shepherd, who plays an older version of Tommy, researched the role by briefly working at a mental hospital.

6 / Despite there being one sex scene, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) is the first and only film in the franchise to not include nudity.

7 / According to members of the production, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), has been nicknamed “Frigay the 13th” since a handful of the cast are openly gay, including Susan Blu, Kevin Spirtas, Jeff Bennett, Craig Thomas and William Butler.

8 / The cruise ship seen in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), is named after the biblical character Lazarus, who was brought back from the dead just as Jason was.

9 / The reason the 9th instalment is titled Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) is because New Line Cinema did not have the rights to the Friday the 13th name. The film was originally going to be named Friday the 13th Part IX: The Dark Heart of Jason Voorhees.

10 / Betsy Palmer was working on a play in Toronto the same time Jason X (2001) was being filmed there. Palmer revealed that a producer contacted her about making a cameo appearance as Pamela Voorhees, but ultimately an agreement wasn’t made. Palmer was also asked to reprise her role in Freddy vs. Jason (2003) but turned down the offer.

11 / Kane Hodder, well-known for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees in four Friday the 13th films, offered to reprise his role in Freddy vs. Jason (2003) but was turned down by New Line Cinema who felt he was too short for the role. They wanted an actor who was tall and large to create a David and Goliath visual of Jason and Freddy.

12 / In the remake, Friday the 13th (2009), Jason sports both the burlap sac from Part 2, influenced from The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) and the legendary hockey mask. At one point, producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form also stated that the character of Tommy Jarvis would be returning.

13 / Camp Crystal Lake is actually a Boy Scout camp named Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in Hardwick, NJ and is still operational to this day. The production was given access to film there during the summer of 1979. If you visit the camp today you’ll find Friday the 13th memorabilia on site.

Happy Friday the 13th!

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