It has been a lot of fun coming up with the topics for everyone to discuss, but soon everyone will have the ability to talk about whatever they want, so it is an exciting time to be a part of this website. Now that the fans will be able to create their own topics of discussion on this website, I wanted to know what is the very first forum thread that you are going to create in relationship to the Friday the 13th series?

In lieu of the announcement that David Grove will be creating a comprehensive retrospective on the original 1980 film, Friday the 13th, we thought we would find out what our visitor’s thoughts were on what they would like to see in this type of book. There is so much that can be included in retrospectives. What type of information would you most like to see about Friday the 13th 1980?

Obvisouly, interviews with cast and crew are must haves. Anecdotal stories about behind the scenes issues are always juicy morsels for every fan to chew on. Probably the biggest contribution to a retrospective are the images of the crew working behind the scenes. These inclusions are what fans yearn for to better understand why they like their cherished movies so much. Outside of these offerings, what else would be a welcomed addition to a retrospective?

If you had a choice, what sequel would you like to see a book soley based on with respect to a specific Friday the 13th film?

Friday the 13th Part 2 setup Jason Voorhees as the quintessential slasher and his story and circumstances were ripe for a franchise to be born. The ending of that film left open the possibilities of future Jason adventures and that is exactly what happened. Friday the 13th Part 3 picked up that very same day from the end of Part 2 after Ginny is driven away in the ambulance. Jason leaves the Camp Crystal Lake area and decides to change some clothes before he heads out to Higgins Haven. After meeting up with Chris Higgins and her carefree friends, Jason suffers the iconic fatal axe blow to his head and is left in the barn for the film’s finale. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter begins the very same day as the last shot of Jason laying in the barn at Higgins Haven. After Jason is taken to the morgue, he awakes and heads to the residence of the Jarvis family for this trilogies swan song and the introduction of Tommy Jarvis.

The second trilogy within the franchise is the Tommy Jarvis trilogy, which runs from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter through Jason Lives: Friday the Part 6. This set of three films do not succeed each other from day to day as the other trilogy does, but they are all tied together by the Tommy Jarvis Character. The three parts of this second trilogy introduce the Tommy character, explore the emotional trauma that he suffered at the hands of Jason Voorhees, and then finally show how he deals with the trauma and his past. Interestingly enough, Jason seems to be the backstory in these films if you follow the  trilogy mode of thought for these three films. Tommy is not as prevelant a character in The Final Chapter, but he plays the most important part in the film by the end of the story.

So, knowing that there is indeed trilogies within the series, which trilogy laid out here is more interesting or relevent to the Friday the 13th franchise? Could these trilogies be watched on their own as seperate film series and be enjoyed solely in that capacity?

In the Paramount films, especially the original four or five films, pick-up trucks and VW Beetles were the vehicles of choice. You could also throw in conversion vans as another popular way to travel, but the most unique mode of transportation was the mobile home that Cort wanted to use to take out things that go bump in the night! These vehicles are truly as much of the personality of the franchise as any character or death created for the screen.

What are your favorite vehicles in the franchise and which do you think served as a better part of the narration to the film it was in?

Lost amongst some of the hatred for the new 2024 film, which seems to have waned thanks to the Nightmare On Elm Street remake, is the fact that the Friday reboot brought back the jump scare/dream sequence ending. There have not been too many debates about this ending and it is a little surprising, considering how much fans like to pick these films apart and also like to reminisce about the old Paramount films.

Was the ending of the Platinum Dunes produced 2024 film a dream, or did Jason swim back to the dock and pull Whitney underneath the water to her death?

In 1982, the Halloween franchise shifted gears and left Michael Myers behind to embark on an entirely new story about the maniacal Conel Cochran with his terminator like robots and magically possessed Halloween masks. The idea of John Carpenter and Debra Hill to create a type of Anthology series of films seemed like a great idea at the time as everything Carpenter touched turned to gold. However, as everyone found out, you don’t change something that works, as fan backlash destroyed the franchise for six years.

The one constant in the Friday the 13th franchise is Jason Voorhees. Even in the original 1980 film, Jason made his appearance towards the end of the movie to scare audiences around the world. So, it baffled fans when Paramount decided to kill Jason in 1984 and eventually create a new Friday film without their star as the main focus of the franchise. The decision to move forward with Tommy as the new killer still baffles many faithful followers and still is a focus of discussions 25 years later.

Looking at these two films, which black sheep of their respective franchise is the hardest to swallow in terms of concept as it relates to the movie series they belong to? Is there one movie out of the two that is more superior to it’s predecessor in terms of production value and story concept? Are both just as relevant in their film series as the others within the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises?

 Sometimes, however, the discovery of a body just does not make any sense. This can be from a logistical standpoint of where a body is placed to how a body can be triggered to fall or appear at just the right moment when a final character is passing by. Such a moment happens in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. After Rob is attacked in the basement of the party house, Trish runs up the stairs of the basement and tries to run out the front door. Her attempt is thwarted by the discovery of party twin Tina’s dead body at the foot of the doorway outside.

The question is this, how did Jason move Tina’s body to the doorway outside of the house, when Trish and Rob walked through the doorway to enter the house minutes before and Jason was in the basement turning the power off to the house and waiting for Rob to come downstairs?

Would bringing Ginny back for the third film have worked for the fans? She is one of the most popoular characters in the series and would have kept more continuity in the early series. If she was brought back, would the hospital setting have worked, ala Halloween 2 (1981), or would having her back in Crystal Lake or a different area have been better?

Harry Manfredini’s score is at its very best in this scene. Never before or after this scene has his score resonated true terror and imminent death. After the lights go out in the house, Rob decides to go into the basement, by himself, to check out the situation with the lights. This would be the first moment to think to oneself, “should I really be going into a dark basement after the lights were just turned off and a mass murderer could be waiting for me?” The thought process should always be, “Never go into the basement alone.”

Even after Trish discovers Doug’s body in the bathroom upstairs and runs downstairs to warn Rob, he still decides to go back into the basement. Why? To get a knife he dropped running up the stairs? Dude, Trish has a machete! Get up the stairs and get out of there quick. Of course he does down the stairs and Jason dispatches him quickly.

The moral of this story is, “Never go into the basement alone.” What does everyone think. Can you fault Rob for going back for his knife? Would you go into a dark basement or cellar either knowing or not knowing there was a maniacal killer about?

Was the road the Deputy driving on a back road? Such a road was not travelled very often and perhaps that is why the car was not found? Or did Jason drive the car off of the road in the woods to conceil it’s existence. The idea of Jason driving would be an interesting idea and different twist on the character. Also, if Jason did stash the car away in the woods then the 2024 reboot film might seem more legitimate as Jason was hiding cars in that film as well. What is everyone thoughts?