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Friday the 13th and 13 Facts about Jason Voorhees

By Scotty Hall

Friday the 13th and 13 Facts about Jason Voorhees (Updated)

Most people think of bad luck on the day of Friday the 13th. For me, Friday the 13th is the day of Jason Voorhees. The Friday the 13th movies, according to fridaythe13thfranchise.com (yeah, they have a website!) started when the first movie was released on May 9th, 1980. Friday the 13th was first conceived as a quick money grab after the success of Halloween with Michael Meyers. With help from Wes Craven, director Sean Cunningham was able to complete the first film of this iconic slasher.

Since 1980, there have been twelve Friday the 13th movies with a series planned for 2023. Jason has been from Camp Crystal Lake to New York and even to SPACE! He’s had cross-overs with Wes Craven’s Freddy Kreuger and appeared in comics fighting Detroit local Bruce Campbell’s Ash from The Evil Dead.

I’ve been a big fan of horror movies all my life and an even bigger fan of monsters. Even though some Jason movies can get very cheesy, I’ve always loved the monstrous aspect of Jason. He’s unstoppable and you have to be creative to survive in a world of monsters. So it’s always cool to see how characters (victims) will manage to evade this hockey-masked beast.

There also is a possible prequel series coming out this year called Crystal Lake on Peacock coming in 2024.

There is also a fan movie called Friday the 13th The Awakening released today, Friday the 13th, 2023.

Now if you are a horror fan as I am and go back to the 80s you may know a lot about Jason. I still covet this old Cracked (Like Mad, but not) magazine where they listed every “kill” that happened in all the movies. However, there may be some things you don’t know. So here are 13 facts about Jason Voorhees.

  • 1. Where's Camp Crystal?

    The camp that was used in filming is Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in Hardwick, New Jersey. A still active Boy Scout Camp. There’s nothing on god’s green earth that would get me to camp there!

  • 2. Sex Education?

    While there are plenty of horny teenagers in the Friday the 13th movies, you may not know that Sean Cunningham directed sex education films before directing Friday the 13th. 

  • 3. Hockey Mask

    Jason’s infamous mask is actually not worn until the 3rd movie, Friday the 13th Part 3. 

  • 4. Mother Dearest

    Jason actually doesn’t start his killing spree until the second movie, Friday the 13th Part 2. In part 1, his mother, Pam, kills numerous camp counselors. This was revenge for camp counselors being the cause of her son Jason’s supposed drowning. Turns out he was alive all along and just hanging out in the woods I guess.

  • 5. No, I'm Jason!

    Jason has been played by many actors. These actors included: 

    • Ari Lehman in Friday the 13th (1980)
    • Warrington Gillette in Friday the 13th Part 2
    • Richard Brooker in Friday the 13th Part 3
    • Ted White in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
    • C.J. Graham in Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives
    • Kane Hodder in Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood, Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes to Hell, and Jason X
    • Ken Kirzinger in Freddy vs. Jason
    • Derek Mears in Friday the 13th (2009)

  • 6. Kevin Bacon

    I knew a guy who knows a guy who knows that Jason kills Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th Part 1.  Actually, it was Jason’s mother that does the killing since Jason doesn’t get his hands dirty till the 2nd movie of the franchise. This was Kevin’s fifth movie of his career.

  • 7. MTV Lifetime Achievement

    Yes, in 1992, Jason Voorhees, a fictional monster, received a lifetime achievement award from MTV. He was the first of three fictional characters to win this award. The other two were Godzilla in 1996 and Chewbacca in 1997.

     

  • 8. He likes Blondes!

    More or less all the surviving women in the films were blonde (or blondish?)

    1. Friday The 13th – Alice Hardy (dirty blonde)

    2. Friday The 13th Part II – Ginny Field

    3. Friday The 13th Part III – Chris Higgins (dirty blonde)

    4. Friday The 13th Part IV – Trish Jarvis

    5. Friday The 13th Part V – Pam Roberts

    6. Friday The 13th Part VI – Megan Garris

    7. Friday The 13th Part VII – Tina Shepard

    8. Friday The 13th Part IX – Jessica Kimble

    9. Friday The 13th Part XI – Lori Campbell

  • 9. Maybe you should look into that?

    Maybe someone needs to stop that Jason guy, because, per viddy-well.com, Jason was responsible for 146 kills in total (which only includes the core films).

  • 10. Old School 3D

    The third film, Friday the 13th Part 3, was ahead of the time, filmed with fancy red and blue old-school 3D technology. I am happy to this day that I own both a copy of this and Valentine’s Massacre, in glorious old 3D.

  • 11. Who Does a Guy got to Kill?

    Jason Voorhees ranks number 3 as the most iconic horror character. Only Freddy Kreuger and Michael Meyers beat him. Much better numbers than other ranks that have Hannibal Lector above Jason. Come on, I know he eats people, but he’s not Jason!

  • Based on a true story?

    Quite loosely, but the story is based on the real-life murders of three teenagers at Lake Bodom in Finland. Remind me to never go to Finland.

  • Friday the 13th Show Vs Friday the 13th the Movies

    Horror aficionados may also be familiar with the 90’s horror show The Friday the 13th The Series. Ironically, the series was named as such as a cash grab from the popularity of the franchise. While the original movie was also a cash grab from the popularity of Halloween. So let’s ride on each other’s coattails I guess.

    And just as a bonus, the dog Maymo making friends with Jason.

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