Friday Conversation: Your First Experience With Friday the 13th
A lot of us grew up during the 80’s and the renaissance of the horror genre. Not only were slashers huge, but classic monsters were being revived such as vampires and werewolves. Special make-up effects were all of the rage in Hollywood and the horror genre gave many artists a chance to expand their craft and take movie making into a much broader horizon. The fans were the beneficiaries of this horror boom and as such many of us fans were able to witness some truly awesome films as children, even though we probably shouldn’t have seen much of what was released.
With that being said, when did you first see a Friday the 13th film and how old were you? If you saw the films at a very young age, say, before you were in the double digit age bracket, do you think it is acceptable looking back now? What are you fondest memories of the first time seeing a Friday the 13th movie?
I was young myself. I was always trying to sneak in and watch horror movies when my parents were asleep. I grew up in the country and one night my mom was at my grandparents (they live next door), I was probally about six. I wondered into the living room and was watching a Nightmare on Elm Street movie. I don’t remember what one but it scared the living poop out of me. I ran to the phone and called my grandmother crying that I was so scared and I needed my mommy. LOL, back then it was really scary at that age.
However I was a pre-teenager when I really go into Friday the 13th. I was probally around 11-12. This was an awesome time becasue any Friday the 13th, USA would always run a USA Up All Night marathon. I don’t think my mom knew I was watching them. Being a pre-teen at that time watching these movies was a right of passage. I still love horror movies and can not wait till my own children are old enough to watch them, however they won’t watch them till they are at least in the double digits.
Also I think any parent who allows his/her kid(s) to watch these movies before at least the age of 9 are crazy and are probally not really that much involved in their childrens life.
by the way those Friday vhs covers rock!
I think I was 11 when I first saw a Friday the 13th movie. If I remember right, it was the Final Chapter on one of the pay movie channels. Think I covered my eyes a lot during that first viewing, LOL. Not long after, I watched it a second time, without the couch pillow in front of my face. I was hooked from then on. My fondest Friday the 13th memory is sneaking into Part VII (first one I saw in a theater).
I probably won’t let my kids watch horror movies until they have hit double-digit age.
JASON LIVES was my first. It was my 12th birthday and my Dad took me to the video store to rent a few flicks for a sleepover party I was having. I saw it on the shelf (in all of it’s original VHS cover glory) and somewhat reluctantly grabbed it. I had seen the previous installments sitting there before, and I had a pretty good idea what they were about. Dad didn’t pay attention to what I grabbed and I waited until we got in the truck to go back home before I told him “Mom would NEVER have let me rent this one, Thank You!” He was only a little upset that I had kind of duped him into renting a “bad” movie, but he wasn’t too upset as he let me keep it.
That night, me and a few of my better friends were introduced to Jason, and I have never looked back. I made a point of watching the other five in reverse order. I did this because I could tell that Tommy Jarvis was a character that had been in the series before. The audio flashback in Tommy’s head of his sister yelling at him when he first opens Jason’s coffin tipped me off. Therefore, next came part 5 then 4, 3, 2, 1. (Although my local store didn’t have part 3. I actually waited a while to see that one. I finally found it on a family vacation about 1000 kilometers from my hometown) By the time I had knocked those ones off part 7 came out so that was the first new installment that came out for me. As a result, parts 7 and 6 are probably my favorites, although I love them all.
…except part 8.
I was born in 76′ so while I was taken to watch them with my dad thanks to the local drive-in (no Disney movies for me) so my memory is understandably hazy early on but I do remember very vividly watching Final Chapter in the theater and it scared me to death. It gave me nightmares, for real not joking you. It was a packed house and people jumped at everything. The first big jump that legitimately scared folks was when Jason’s hand fell off the gurney in the beginning. People screamed the entire time. I have a hard time expressing to some of the younger fans who weren’t around that Jason was at one time a very scary character.
You know, I was actually a lot older when I first watched a Friday the 13th film. It was in the early summer of 2024, and I was 18 years old. It still puzzles me as to why it took me so long to watch a Friday film, because I’ve enjoyed the horror genre since I was about six years old! Anyway, in 2024 Sky (BSkyB) acquired the rights to broadcast the first seven Friday the 13th movies, and they aired each film repeatedly, several times per week, over the course of about a year (which is normal for Sky!). So one weekend, my cousin (who was about 14 at the time) was up visiting my family, and one night the pair of us decided to stay up late and watch the first installment of Friday the 13th…
The film was pretty entertaining, but one part in particular provided one of the most (if not THE most) memorable movie-related experiences I’ve ever had. You can probably guess which part I’m referring to… yep, it was the ending. Before I continue, I should probably set the scene. Firstly, it was quite late (long after midnight), my folks were asleep in bed and, with the exception of the sound coming from the TV, the house was deathly silent. Secondly, my cousin was *supposed* to be in bed, but being the nice big cousin that I am (and since it’s generally more fun to watch a movie with someone else) I told her that she could stay up with me and watch the film provided she didn’t wake anyone else. Okay? Right. Oh, and of course, all of the lights were switched off.
So we’re watching Friday the 13th, and Alice is out in the lake looking at the police officers in the distance. The calming music is playing, and Alice slowly strokes her fingers through the water. Both me and my cousin are staring at the TV, making fun of the fact that it’s “so cheesy”. And then, out of nowhere, good old Jason pops up and drags Alice into the lake. I kid you not, my cousin pretty-much hit the roof — her arms and legs shot out, and she let out a deafening shriek that lasted about three or four seconds (which is quite a long time, really!!). Now let’s be honest, the chair-jerker at the end of Friday the 13th is very well done; the first time you see it, you’re going to get a fright… but when the person sitting next to you spontaneously EXPLODES in synchronisation with the visuals/music… !! And add to that the fact that her screams woke everyone up, *and* she wasn’t supposed to be watching TV in the first place! Let me tell you, I was absolutely terrified on so many levels!
Anyway, after the initial screams, we started laughing at how well the movie “got” her (and me too, I guess). It was a very memorable first viewing.
I remember when I saw my first Friday the 13th movie. It was part 3 and I was probably 4 and I don’t really remember being scared of Jason, I thought he was cool. Yeah I was a weird kid by everyone else’s standards but what the hell do they know. Anyway I remember telling my brother who is 2 years older than me, that “the girl in the blue sweater is pretty”. My parents were really cool about the whole horror movie stuff. They knew that I knew it was just all make believe and fun. I saw part 3 then not too long after that I remember seeing the original and that scared the shit out of me. I don’t know why Jason in his hockey mask didn’t scare me but his damn mother stalking around crystal lake and hacking everyone to death frightend the hell of me. Part 2 was the same thing, that scene where the cop is driving down the road and you see a quick glimpse of Jason run across the road, that freaked me out, along with his mom’s head being in his shack at the end. I remember seeing the boxes as well on the video store shelves, and always wanted to see them, there was something about those box covers that just looked really cool. I remember when JTM came out and seeing the big poster of Jason over the city thinking man I want to see that. I’m 26 now and to this day still think “the girl in the blue sweater is hot”…lol… Man the good ole days. I think I’m gonna go watch one now.
I saw Halloween at the age of 4 or 5. I snuck out of bed and laid between the couch and love seat on the floor cause my parents wouldn’t let me watch it. After that I was hooked on Horror films and still are. So then it was Friday the 13th Part 6. And today it remains my fav. in that Franchise.
It’s funny this was brought up,I was thinking about this on the weekend. I was 7 when I first saw part one at the point when Brenda got the axe in the face, I got scared but a few days later I popped it back in to the vcr (ah yes the days of the vcr/vhs) and watched that part again and was like “wow”, amazingly, I asked my mom if I could watch the movie and she was like yes. That was it, I was hooked and it became, well, what it is now. Very cool.
Hm, i saw my first when i was maybe…9 or 10…maybe even 11. I think it was part 7: The New Blood. I was so terrified, at that age, of horror movies. It seems silly now. I then saw the 6th one. Then all the rest. Then I moved on to the Nightmare films, and the Halloweens.
Sorry I meant when Marcie got axed in the face,not brenda.
I remember going to a haunted house on Halloween when I was 8. While I was standing in line with my mom, my brother, and a friend there was a big movie screen showing Friday the 13th part 4. The line was so long that I ended watching most of the movie. When they showed Jason I actually really liked it.
For some reason when I finally reached the haunted house, I was really scared. I went through a couple rooms and I heard someone scream Jason, then I heard a chainsaw. I ran out of that place. The movie made me really tense, it was awesome!
the first slasher film i saw was the burning i have to admit and i was probbably around ten years old! but the first horror movie that got me hooked was friday the 13th part 3! in my opinion the best friday the 13th film! and the one that made me a huge friday fan!
the first slasher film i ever saw was friday the 13th part 3! and in my opinion the best of the whole series! i was probbaby twelve years old at the time! from then i was hooked on the horror/slasher genra and became a huge friday the fan!
Growing up, one person I saw a lot of during visits was my Aunt and I was always borrowing about 3-4 tapes per visit. The films she had were all recorded off HBO during the 80’s and it provided me my first encounter with both the Fridays and the Nightmares.
But to answer the question I must have been 9 or 10 at the time when I saw my first Friday…The Final Chapter. Loved every second of it, but the score gave me nightmares and so did Jason, lol. Had a very errie feel to the film, but man I couldn’t get enough.
Like many I was sharing via e-mail a few days with my good buddy Soren who posts here of how I first got into the series. Like many, it was around 1988 when I noticed that all the major then premium Cable channel providers, but especially HBO and Showtime and Cinemax (anyone remember the old HBO/Cinemax guide? It seems like only yesterday we got them monthly). And it seem’d like HBO and occasionally Cinemax would be running the first four or so Friday installments either back-to-back or in an unusual non chronological order A LOT around the times of the release dates of Part VII & VIII. Just seem’d that way to me.
And that is no lie. Granted I was still VERY young around this time (barely five-years-old) of the original cable airings during the same decade of they’re release, but I specificly DO remember them. I’d sneak off into one of the three bedrooms with the old trusty floor-model Zenith brand TV sets were to watch some old school tits & bloody murder set pieces. I’d say it felt like Parts 2, 3 and 4 were on A LOT at that time to the best of my knowledge A New Beginning and Jason Lives I only remember so much, but I do remember HBO having Part VII’s fullscreen pay Cable premiere on the eve of Part VIII’s release to North American theaters. As for the first one I remember wanting to see theatrically? That would have to be Part VIII, which I agree is very flawed in the end, but I’ll still take as more of less the end to the original Paramount-era. The rest after that are simply alternative universe timeline films in the Voorhees cannon.
But I was still very young at the time, and I went with an older brother and parents to see Tim Burton’s seminal ‘89 Batman on opening night, while my eldest sibling sister and eldest brother double dated with they’re then boyfriend & girlfriend to see Jason Takes Manhatten. Now I DID make an excuse to go use the restroom and snuck in there to see J.J. scream for her death down in the boiler room/lower sterage part of the ship, but I only snuck my head in and got scared and plus, I ended up loving Batman ‘89 anyhow. Oddly enough it’s flaws & all my favorite of the entire Batman sega.
But my faves during the early original fullscreen broadcast master tapes being played on the cbale airings were probably Parts 3 and The Final Chapter, which coupled with Part 2 are easily my faves of the whole series (as I’ve explained with Part V thrown in there as a real guilty-pleasure of an exploitation slasher film). Very nice stories so far! Just wished mine was more original, but nope, the original first-generation cable airings are all I got. I wasn’t old enough to sneak into a newer generation Friday installments until the time of the lameoid Jason X-era. Ugh.
Ah well.
I was young. How old? no idea. Back when show scary movies on standard cable channels. no movie channels. One halloween when it rain really bad I came home they were showing horror movies.
halloween, friday the 13th 1 and 4, critters, killer clowns from outer space.
I have been hook to the hockey mask. mike myers, freddy just didnt do it for me. Robert role as freddy is amazing.
I remember seeing the very first Friday the 13th, when I was about 11 years old. It was on dutch television and I remember watching the trailer a few days before that. Back then it was just called Vrijdag de 13de…nowadays we call all movies by their original name, but to tell you the truth; hearing the dutch title made me curious….anyways…I was watching the movie at my grandmothers bedroom..because she didn’t want to watch this movie, so, all alone in a dark room and only inches away from the screen, I watched and was terrified..everytime I saw the dark woods and heard the famous chi-chi-ma-ma, I would switch the channel, only to switch it back a few seconds later..it was very creepy.
By the end of the film, just seconds before Mrs. Voorhees lost her mind and revealed to be the killer, I still thought she was the saviour. ( because they already showed her appearence in the trailer, so I thought she was the good person) After the chop chop by Alice, my grandmother yelled at me to come downstairs..( she too was watching the movie downstairs, and didn’t want me to see more)….so I didn’t see the ending with Jason….my mother also watched the film, and told me that the little boy Jason, jumped out of the lake, covered in dirt and worms…well that was my first experience with Friday the 13th…after that we got a video recorder, and I discovered atleast 6 Friday- movies have been made…and that was cool enough for me to be a Friday fan…and it has never been gone since then
I was 21 and went to see the first F13 on opening night.
The first time I watched a movie was the original in 1980 or 1981…I was 10 or 11 years old and was watching it on HBO with my older brother who had seen the movie in the theater. My two biggest memories of watching if to for the first time are 1) Almost not wanting to watch any more after Jack’s death, but being talked into continuing by my brother 2) who then had me watching the last seen very closely telling me that you could see the killer move on the shore of the lake…so as Alice wakes up in the canoe I was about 3 feet from the TV watching for something in the background when Jason popped up out of the lake. Needless to say it scared the hell out of me…but I was hooked and have loved the movies ever since
I’m proud to say that I was right there from the beginning. I was 10 years old in 1980, and my first official Friday the 13th experience started with the poster. My dad had taken me to see a Jaws/ Jaws 2 double feature, and there was that icon poster in the front lobby. Being a budding 10 year old artist, I was intrigued by the imagery and wondered what the hell it was.
Jump ahead a year later, and my parents bought our first VHS player ($1200 from what I remember). It wasn’t long before I twisted their arm into renting Friday the 13th. My dad was on a late-afternoon shift, and I remember watching the film on a sunny afternoon while he was shaving in the bathroom. The first thing that blew my mind was Jack’s death, only to be freaked out minutes later by Marcie’s axe in the face demise. I ran into the bathroom and told my dad what I just saw. I could believe you could show something like that. I continued until the end and was hooked for life. I immediately invited my two friends over for another viewing, and watched them hit the roof when Jason jumped out of the water.
The film stayed with me all day, and when I went to bed that night, I had serious nightmares of Jack’s death. I remember jumping out of bed in the middle of the night crying to my parents that Mrs Voorhees was going to get me. I settled down, and pretty much couldn’t wait to see the film again.
Since then, all Friday the 13th films have great and interesting memories attached to them. But being there at the very beginning, and watching each film unfold year after year, was a real treat to this fan for life.
My first experience was at seven, and it was a taped copy of Part III. I was looking for something to watch, and saw the label of the tape. It had Death Wish II, Force 10 From Navarone, and this. I fast forwarded the tape to Part III, and it just into the Jason Inc. part of the credits (my parents were not good editors. I didn’t get a Paramount logo. For shame!) Then it showed the end of Part 2, and I didn’t quite understand it at the time, but then the nice 3D credits popped out, I mean, up. I was hooked from there. Then all of the death scenes! Even all these years later, my three favorite kills are Andy, Rick, and Vera’s deaths.
Then, after years of hearing about it being in 3D, we finally got the 3D version on DVD. I was (sadly) not impressed. But, this year I upgraded to BD (and will never go back) and saw it on BD in 3D. Much better. Even if they don’t make any more, I can die happy now.
I was 13 years old. I’m 28 now. Anyways, I was flipping through channels and I found ‘Sam’ from Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter topless walking towards the lake. I was definitely gonna watch that being a 13 year old. lol. Then soon after Jason popped up out of the water and killed her. I fell in love with F13 right away.
Back in 1981, when I was 12, I remember my cousin telling me what about the first 2 films. We were the same age and I thought it was cool that my aunt took him to see those movies. I remember thinking damn, why didn’t they invite me! My father first started allowing me to go to the movies by myself after the 7th grade and on the last day of school I went to the movies alone with friends for the first time. By then, Friday the 13th Part 2 wasn’t playing at the local mom and pop theater we used to go to. So I missed the movie by a month and a half.
A year later, Friday the 13th Part 3 3D was released and I was now 13 years old (13! It was destiny! LOL)and I went to see it with a bunch of my friends and one mom. I remember loving the 3-D and thought the film was great! I loved it and to this day it remains my favorite part. I remember the audience cheered when the Friday credits zoomed off the screen with the scary disco score and everyone was grooving to the beat from their seats. By the chase at the end of film, everyone was screaming and the mom we went with had her ears covered because of how loud it was. I remember the loudest scream came when Mrs. Voorhees popped out of the lake to drag Chris under. I came home and summarized the entire movie to my mom who was saying ‘yuk’ through all of my descriptions of the death scenes. I wish I could relive that August 13, 1982 day again.
That same year, a friend invited me to his house to see Part 2 on WHT cable in NY after we had seen Part 3. I loved it and when I got home I couldn’t sleep a wink. That one really scared the crap outta me. I seriously couldn’t get that Jason sack face out of my head.
A few months later, Part 1 premiered on channel 5 in NY and I was so excited to finally see the first one. I watched it with my mom and 3 sisters, two of those sisters being only 5 years old twins! My mom and two of my sisters fell asleep and one of my 5 yr old sisters made it through the entire film. I loved it. It’s funny because a year earlier I had watched the original Halloween with my other sister who was 4 at the time and she cried the entire time but refused to go to bed and begged to watch the whole film.
So, I basically watched the first Friday films in reverse order, part 3, 2, 1 etc.
When Part 4 came out, I was 16 by then and took my two little sisters with me to see it, of course with my mom and older sis. I of course loved it. I then had a new favorite along side Part 3. After that it was a yearly event with the family to go see the latest Friday chapter. Damn, the 80’s were such good times.
Typo… I was 15 by the time Part 4 came out… Not 16. oops
Ive always been a horror junkie since I watched The Exorcist on TV when I was 5 and that scared the crap out of Me. It was the first horror film Ive seen. Then about 2 years later My Mom rented FT13th pats 1,2, and 3. That night My Mom and My Brother and I watched all 3 back to back, and Man was I ever scared. The scene that really got me was Ari Lehmans jump scare scene at the end of part 1. The way it was set up was perfect, theres no buildup to the scene. The music doesnt change until He appears. Plus the sackhead Jason in part 2 at the time scared Me, there was just something about that look. Jason looked more human in that installment and more real. Im tellin ya, I couldnt look at a pillowcase for weeks. And 3 was awesome as well. I remember Veras harpoon gun death, I literally jumped. But after that night (and it was a Friday night by the way) those movies spawned my love for not only the FT13th series, but horror films in general. I became completely addicted. And why not, the 70’s and 80’s were a glorious time for horror. People used to say I was going to grow up to be a killer, but thats just ignorant. I just loved being scared off of horror films. I wasnt into Disney like most kids My age, I was always awaiting the next chapter in the Jason series. Or any of the icons for that matter. But Jason is and always will be my favorite. I forgot to mention that after the night we watched parts 1-3, I watched them all the next morning before the tapes had to go back to the video store. I just love it. Then about a year or so later My Mom,Brother, and I went to see The Final Chapter at the drive in. It became My favorite of the series and still remains My favorite to this very day. In the 80s there was an anti-horror campaign started by angry mothers. I just laughed, its good old fashioned entertainment. Horror movies dont create killers. If someone dresses up as Jason (which some psycho actually did on some show psychic detectives on TRU TV, check Youtube) they have to be screwed up from the get go. Correct Me if Im wrong, but I dont think Hitler or Saddam Hussein were horror fans.
I saw parts 1&2 at a drive in during part 2’s initial run. I was 8 y.o. at the time, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I’ve seen every F13 at the theater or drive in since, and have owned every media version they have been released on. Jason forever! Let’s do another 12 and another 12 after that!
This topic got locked over at the other friday site because members were being attacked. Does anyone here think it is ok to let a 2 year old watch horror movies?
So, once upon a time, I was having an eighth birthday. A relative who wasn’t either of my parents and shall remain nameless took me to the store and asked me to pick out anything I wanted for my present. Growing up in the era of Nintendo, I made a beeline for the video games… and being the weird little ghoul that I was, passed over all the brightly-colored cartridges designed to attract my age group for a box featuring an intriguing-looking man in a hockey mask. Said relative apparently had no idea what this was, because they bought it for me with nary a protest.
Yes, that’s right, I admit it. I was introduced to the series through the video game. And while the game certainly could have been, pardon the pun, executed better, I was completely sold on the atmosphere, the whole idea of an isolated summer camp under assault by an unstoppable killer, the severed head in the shrine, and of course, Jason Voorhees. And when I found out the game was based on *movies,* I begged my mother to the point of annoyance to watch them.
“Not until you’re twelve,” she said.
Fast-forward four years, I was having another birthday. As I sliced my cake, I said, “You promised I could watch Friday the 13th today.”
Mom was honorable enough to keep the four-year-old promise and take me to the rental place every day for the next eight days, until I’d seen every Friday the 13th movie released up to that point, starting with the first and watching them in order of release. They were just as awesome as I imagined they’d be (Although I was a little bummed then Jason wasn’t really the killer in part 5. I can appreciate the film more now). Shortly after that, a new film was announced, and I was finally able to have the experience of seeing Jason in the theater.
“Does anyone here think it is ok to let a 2 year old watch horror movies?”
That’s crazy! No way at all.
“Mom was honorable enough to keep the four-year-old promise and take me to the rental place every day for the next eight days”
Very cool that your mom did that.
Recuerdo por el año 1987 aca en Ecuador vi el trailer de VIERNES 13 PARTE 7 que se iba a estrenar en los cines de mi pais y me llamó mucho la atención, pero en ese entonces tenia 7 años y no permitian entrar a los cines de mi pais a ver peliculas de terror a esa edad.
Esperé que salga en video (beta), la vi y me gusto haciendome un fan de la saga, y comencé la busqueda de las otras partes.
Para mi, la mejor de todas es VIERNES 13 PARTE 6, seguido de la PARTE 4.
Saludos a todos los fans de la saga y que siga viviendo por muchos años mas la franquicia de JASON.
I was 7 when I first watched friday the 13th part 7.It was my step father who let me pick it out at the store,I picked friday over Texas chainsaw massacre 3-which was a good choice.If my mother knew exactly what I was watchin she wouldnt have let me rent it.
Lookin back I was pretty young,but I understood that it was only a movie.kids grow up quicker nowadays but I dont know, if I had a kid that I would let him watch it.
ummmm…i was born in 1968….so Jaws was the 1st movie that scared the shit outta me
To let a 2 year old watch ANY movie with violence, cursing, sex, etc is wrong. End of discussion. period. Might as well stick a joint in his mouth and teach him to inhale deeply.
I was sleeping over my friend’s house the month the original F13 premiered on HBO. Back then, the premiere of hit movies on HBO was a big deal. Said friend had watched the premiere with his sister and loved it. He asked me if I had seen it and I lied. I told him I had watched it and loved every minute of it. He informed me the night I was sleeping over it was playing again (it was the a week or two after the premiere) and we should watch it…I readily agreed. This is early 1981…I was 9 years old…lying my ass off to look cool….until the movie started. I shat and shat again. I could feel my heart pumping for the entire length of the movie. I hid in the pillow most of the time. I had NO business seeing that movie at the age I did…
….Jaws also scared the living shit out of me.
I watched my first friday movie when i was 6 years old, 1991, the first friday movie i saw was part 6, and man it terrified me in the first 10 minutes after he was brought back to life from the lightning. I also watched childs play and the thing. But out of all 3 of the films, childs play was the hardest one to grasp scared the shit outta me. I could make a huge list of the movies i saw when i was 6 but those 3 pretty much scared the shit outta me.
I was getting ready for my 13th birthday ironically enough. My mom said I could have some friends over, we would rent some laser discs (yes laser discs, I’m dating myself here) and we could hang out and do whatever. So we go down to our local mom and pop video store and my mom books the player and laves it up to me to pick out the movies. At this point I am a complete novice when it comes to horror movies and my only experiences at TV versions of Creature From The Black Lagoon (in 3D of course), some Dracula versions (Lugosi and the 1977 version) and The Exorcist which scared the living crap out of me.
So I go to the laser disc bin and start flipping through movies. I pick out Airplane! and a couple of others and then I come across Friday The 13th. I look at the cover and it seems kind of creepy but okay and then I flip it over. Without reading a word of the story synopsis I knew I wanted to watch it and I knew it would scar the crap out of me. There is full color is Marcie (Jeannine Taylor) with an axe in her face.
We went home and since I was born in February, sun down came pretty fast and of course the first movie we watch is Friday The 13th. From Barry and Claudette’s demise to the final jump scare in the lake I was hooked. from that day forward I was obsessed with knowing more and more about these movies and still to this day I crave more knowledge on the subject.
I believe I was in 5th or 6th grade when I got Friday the 13th and F13: A New Beginning on DVD for Christmas. I loved the first one, and the 5th movie scared the crap out of me. That was also the same Christmas that I got the original Halloween 2 on DVD.
When I was like 6-7 people at school we would talk about Jason and Freddy but I don’t think any of use had actually watched them. I remember every time I went to the video store I would go to the horror section and straight to the F13s. I would read the boxs and look at the pictures on the back and just imagine what might be going on. Finally I would sneak parts when they came on TV and if I thought my mom was coming I would change the channel, of course I always though she was coming. My earliest memory is one night they played part three and all I remember is Jason creeping around in the barn, I thought it was pretty fucking creepy. When I was 8 my mom finally told me I could watch them on TV, the thing was that summer I had gone to my grandparents(like I did every summer for 2 weeks)and what I rented was based on, “would your mom let you watch this” of course I always said yes and had watched not only the entire F13 series but Halloween as well. A few years later she said I could rent them finally and of course I thought if you only knew.
As far as them scaring me according to my mom when I was 3 we watched The Lost Boys and while that’s not exactly the scariest shit ever it’s not a childrens movie so I was basically tainted then, by the time I was 5 I had seen that and The Monster Squad more times than anybody probably should. She also fucked up and let me watch old horror(B&W) as well and I was even found in my toy box with my cape on and my arms crossed. She couldn’t find me for a good minute either. My obsession with vampires and werewolfs was solely playful but damn did other people think it was creepy. Imagine if it had been F13 and not The Lost Boys when I was three. Anyway the only times I got scared by these things were when I would be sick and have fever and it played tricks on me I guess(damn Frankenstein’s monster). By the time I finally saw F13 I had so badly wanted to see them that it was like a ride to me and I was giddy as shit all the way through the series.
As far as my kids it will depend solely on them. I knew that these were movies and it never really crept into my reality but not everybody is like that. So I’ll test em out(by slyly showing them a scary bit here and there “by accident”) starting around 7 or 8 if it scares them or they seem to act weird over the next few days it will be another few years before I’ll let them watch them. Maybe letting them watch some less violent scary movies when they are younger would be a good test as well.
Also wanted to add that A Night On Elm Street did not scare me while watching it but they were creepy cause on VHS they were dark and gritty and the sound was kind of distorted. His voice sounds way creepier. What they did do was put some fucked up nightmares in my head and I would wake up in cold sweats and like crap this sucks. It was like I was scared in my dreams but just annoyed when I woke up. I still continued through them 2 a day until they were done and finally the night I finished my dream was literally my first viewing of Freddy vs Jason. But went more like Jason walked in, chopped up Freddy and that was that no more nightmares. As thus Jason became the king of horror to me.
To Wylde86,
Nice stories as everyone else has told. Like many on here, we all have our conflicting ideas and theories about what all this & that is “age appropiate” for children to watch, and like many I grew-up with the late ’80s seminal cult classic The Monster Squad from writer/director Fred Dekkard who also wrote and helmed the enjoyable Night of the Creeps as well as the much malingled RoboCop 3.
I just recently got in Night of the Creeps and also Monster Squad this year on Blu Ray with some Amazon orders earlier in the year, and I feel that Monster Squad is a fine enough PG-13ish style exampe to get them more interested in more youth-oriented horror fiction entertainment around the age of eight-years-old or so. I feel under adult supervision that is plenty fine enough for them. I am somewhat blessed in that I was actually exposed to much more viscual genre entertainment much earlier then even that age, around five as I stated, and I thankfully turned out a sane & rational-minded person who DOES understand that this is all make believe. I understand and read Fangoria articales early on and fully comprehended that it was all a film industry and talented film makers who created this stuff, so it was of no real concern to me.
Even though I have decided for various reasons not to have children myself, I DO very much agree that parents (both parties) need to be there to over see as much of the child’s entertainment experieances very early on during the first few years as possible. You chould also show him or her (or them, natch) several special features on Blu Ray and standard definition DVD in which actors & actresses and film makers talk about getting into the applieances and getting into ‘character’ for the projects they once worked on in order to give them a much better understanding that this all a film fantasy world. And if any clips of overt violence or nudity occur, simply smile and cover they’re eyes for a reif moment. It won’t hurt’em.
Best of luck in your quest, by the way!
Tommy_Jarvis_Guy: I just met Fred Dekker and star Tom Atkins at a “Monster Squad” / “Night of the Creeps” double feature two weekends ago in Rochester, NY! The guys did a Q&A and a “meet & greet” after the show and I bought a ltd. edition poster that mashed up concepts from both films that they kindly signed. It was a great evening…incidentally, the George Eastman House often has horror screenings with the stars (I met the ultimate scream queen Janet Leigh at a screening of “Psych” years ago…) and they have shown Friday The 13th 3 in 3D a couple times in the last ten years…
….I meant “Psycho” of course….
The very first Friday the 13th movie I watched was “The Final Chapter”. I was 9 or 10 years old when my father had the great idea of bringing me to a theater to watch this movie with him… I will always be grateful to him for it!
Nine years old. Saw Jason Takes Manhattan on Cinemax and thought it was one of the funniest movies ever. Mainly because I saw Julius get his head knocked off and see Jason drown in sewage. The next year I saw Friday the 13th 1 and 2 on USA and was terrified! I couldn’t sleep at all. Probably had SOMETHING to do with the fact that my dad said “We live near a lake. Do you think that’s the lake Jason drowned in?” But that day was probably the happiest F13 moment for me. My dad hadn’t seen the first one, so we watched together. When Alice was in the lake at the end and Jason popped out, we both screamed SO loud. A legit scare and a bonding moment. Dad’s been gone for almost 12 years now, and still love to reflect on that day.
When i was 10 i saw my first Friday which was Freddy vs. Jason and Jason X that is the reason why i like both movies yes i said i LIKED JASON X!
I was 5 when I saw my first friday. Now I’m 14. I know real life violence is a wrong thing, I hope most kids understand that. I always get soo mad, when I hear that story of a french teen killing someone because he watched “Scream” it’s bullsh*t. There’s only one movie that has influenced me to do something.
That movie was “Clerks” it influenced me to curse like there’s no tomorrow. But the thing is, cursing can’t hack someone up, stab someone or cut their heads off. I say get to know your kid before you let them watch a horror movie, or any R-rated movie.
i know jason since i have memory but i think i saw my first friday the 13th movie on tv when i was 8 or 9 it was part 6 (Jason lives) my favorite of the series, i remember playing with my casey jones figure pretending it was Jason
Struckworld, I freaking love Kevin Smith, and Clerks II was such a reflection on my life (minus the donkey show).
Rod, ME TOO! Casey Jones was my Jason figure! He killed Batman, Michelangelo, Peter Venkman, Man-at-Arms…everyone! I want my toys out of the attic now…
Well, I’m 15 now, I saw FvJ a couple months after it was released so, I was about 8? Yeah, and I was hooked. After, I saw Jason Goes to Hell, then Jason Takes Manhattan, then Jason X. At the time, my video store had a weird way of labeling movies. I was told that was the order they came in lol. I see NOW I was WAY wrong.
First one of the films I saw was “The Final Chapter” which happened to be playing on HBO around 1988. I was 14 when I saw the film and I enjoyed every minute of it. After that I tried to see each film as often as I could. Saw Part 3 on TV later in 88 and the other films after, I saw them out of order,but I was able to see them all. The only ones I saw in the Cinemas were Jason Takes Manhatton, Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X, Freddy Vs.Jason and the Friday remake. It would have been nice to see all of them in the theater,but at least I saw 5 of them in the theater. What I liked best about the films what drew me to them was how stories played out, you never knew what Jason was gonna do next and how he was gonna kill his next victim. I also wanted to see Jason’s look for every film,but most importantly how he looked without the mask! After seeing his face in “The Final Chapter” I was drawn in to seeing film after film so I can see how much he changed from each film, plus something about that hockey mask sent fear down my back, but it was a excited fear. Jason and Friday the 13th will always be a part of my life for years to come.
My first experience with Friday the 13th was watching the original film on HBO back when it 1st aired on the channel. I was maybe 7 or 8 at the time and the movie scared me to death at that young age. When Jason burst out of the water at the end. I jumped right off the couch and ran behind it. I peered out to watch the final moments. One of my favorite horror movie memories. Was hooked after that film and seen every other Friday the 13th since then in theaters.
I seen it when i was 12. and remember thinking wow this movie is great. is there more. and before i seen it two years before my dad told me all about jason and all about the movies. but i do wish i seen them in order because it was confusing.
I remember the very first one that I watched was ‘Jason Lives’. I was born in ‘82, so; I was proly’ around 5 or 6 (it was out on VHS when I saw it). Idk how, but I had gotten a copy of it and I used to watch that movie everyday (sometimes multiple times in a day). Anyways, funny story is my mother threw it away and I was so bummed and so I asked her: “Why mommy, why did you throw away my favorite movie?”. With a slight exhale of breathe she replied: “Because son…I don’t want you to grow up to be a ’serial-killer!”. I remember telling her: “But mom…I love ‘cereal’…i’d never ‘kill’ it!”. lol- Yeah, I honestly didn’t have any clue as to her meaning and all;but, 22 yrs. later and I got my beloved pt. 6 back (as well as the rest of ‘em) and i’m a ‘normal’ working adult who just has an absolute ‘love’ for these films, and in no way do I think it’s ‘un-healthy’ or whatever. Even as a child I don’t think it was ‘bad’ to watch “them”, I guess it was just very fascinating to me (still is) the whole ‘Jason’ character. I believe that Friday the 13th gave me a sort of ‘place to go’ as a child and I totally came out alright. It’s not like these movies are gonna’ “make” people turn into a bunch of masked blood-thirsty killers…it’s simply E N T E R T A I N M E NT folks!
haha, i was born in 1994 (16 now) and i loved these movies, along with nightmare on elm street and halloween. i am a huge fan of horror movies, and everyone else i know that are my age hates them. i remember when i was 8, i got back from trick or treating and there was a friday the 13th marathon on tv. i started watching at part 4, and watched all the way up to part 8, and i was scared shitless. i don’t think i should have been watching them at that time, but everyone in my family loves horror movies, so they didn’t mind, and by that age i knew that none of it was real. i wish i could have been born earlier though, i would love to be around when these films were released.
The Final Chapter, when I was 9 years old back in 2024… The video store near where I lived, would let me rent anything. They didn’t seem to care how old I was. The funny thing is that I never got carded till I was 17, trying to rent a Grand Theft Auto video game. I guess that’s where they draw the line… lol
I think I was introduced to the series by seeing a tape of The Final Chapter and A New Beginning taped from a back-to-back Cinemax airing, I think from 1989. In the next couple years I would catch the rest from the USA marathons and such.
i was about 6 when i was introduced to lovely crystal lake and our favorite homicidal mommas boy jason. i use to go to the video store to get a movie with my parents before they went out for the night and i was always attracted to the horror section. one time i happened upon i believe a part 6 vhs cover and was scared but yet excited at the same time. the first friday i saw was jason goes to hell and it still is my favorite friday.