Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (Enhanced Edition)

by Peter M. Bracke

  PAUL KRATKA, "Paul," Part 3:

  What really amazes me is that not a week goes by that I don't get an email from somebody about Friday the 13th. And this really has only been in the last few of years. It's like there is a cult-like fanaticism that goes on. I think many of them came of age during the 1980s and they've kept up with Friday the 13th, for whatever reason, and now with the Internet, they can track down and share their interests. And thanks to the DVD box set, there is this whole thing with teenagers discovering it—it just cracks me up.

  What's really surprising to me is that most of the emails I'm getting now are from gay men. There's this following among them for these movies. I don't know what to make of it. And some of them are very blatant, like, "You were my first crush." Then some are a little more hidden in their wording. But it's the most unusual phenomenon.

  GLORIA CHARLES, "Fox," Part 3:

  I've been out of the business for years. I made the choice when I became pregnant to not work anymore, at least full-time. I've since devoted my time to raising my son. But I did work fairly steadily for about 10 years, most on TV and in commercials and theatre. Yet, Friday the 13th was this first thing that I did and it is still the one thing that people tend to remember. I've probably gotten more fan mail from this film than all else I've done combined. Even last week, I was at the mall in an elevator. And a kid, who couldn't have been more than 20 years old, turned to me and asked, "Weren't in you in a horror movie?"

  It's funny, but as an adult, I don't watch horror movies. I have bad dreams now. Even having done one. But I am just amazed at the longevity the character of Jason has had. I think it is a genre that just regenerates itself. It always seems to be popular amongst teenagers. And I remember that's when watched a lot scary movies. But to see this go on, to see all the writers and directors and actors that have gotten their start in the Friday the 13th movies, it is a lovely thing. I think it offers a great opportunity for a lot of young filmmakers to learn and grow. So I hope it continues.

  DANA KIMMELL, "Chris," Part 3:

  Supposedly, when I killed Jason that was going to be it. We never dreamed it would go on and on and on. We had no idea it would still have this following. I'm just amazed that, after all this time, people are still so involved and watching these movies.

  CATHERINE PARKS, "Vera," Part 3:

  I remember, I had a moment on the set of Part 3, it was very strange. All the cast were standing around talking, and I remember looking off to my left into the sky and seeing this sunset. And having this incredible feeling of déjà vu. Like, this was meant to happen. Or this was supposed to happen. Sometimes people say déjà vu is a psychic dream. But it was just this incredible feeling like, "I'm supposed to be here. And everyone here is supposed to be here." Maybe my subconscious was saying, Hey, this isn't it. There's more to come.

  But if someone had told me back then, when we were shooting, that these films were going to go on and on, I never would have guessed that. I don't think at the time, when I saw the hockey mask, that it struck me that this was going to be something so iconic. Now, I can see why. It just seems to be that kind of film that never dies. But I also see, in the future, that there is going to be more of a sense of humor with it, too.

  Today, I travel all over the country signing autographs at conventions honoring the cast members. I meet people from all over the world. And it was a jaw-dropper when I first started doing it. I am very proud to be a part of something that has lasted so long, and I am very happy to be able to meet so many fans. It has been a wonderful experience.

  PETRU POPESCU, Screenwriter, Part 3:

  If you like horror, you're very young at heart—even a child. People who are older never liked horror movies, anyway. It's not realistic, for one, but it's not good for the psyche. They'd say, "Why would I waste nine dollars and two hours on something I'm trying to shut out of my psyche?" Because if you start to have a lot of internalized experiences with death, like an adult will—you start losing loved ones, and you come to accept your own mortality—you are no longer curious, while a kid is always curious. That's why Jason continues to appeal to these new generations, and will probably keep on going and going.

  Documentarian Daniel Farrands snapped numerous behind-the-scenes pics during the making of the 2009 Deluxe Edition DVDs of the Friday the 13th films for Paramount Home Entertainment. Clockwise from top left: directors Danny Steinmann (left) and Joseph Zito hang out during their audio commentary recordings; Jason Takes Manhattan's Jensen Daggett and Scott Reeves reunite for the first time in over 20 years; Farrands and Final Chapter's Kimberly Beck; Part V's dueling Jasons Tom Morgan (left) and Dick Wieand make nice.

  STEVE MINER, Director, Part 2 & Part 3:

  Younger people tend to understand that genre films are meant as a piece of entertainment, in a nightmarish sort of way, but in a fun sense. But then there are older people, including some critics, who don't understand that concept and never will. A perfect case in point is a scene I did for Friday the 13th Part 3, this terribly silly scene where Jason takes a guy and squeezes his head together hard enough so his eyeball pops out. I can't imagine that anybody has been inspired to go out and squish somebody's head until their eyeballs pop out. I'd like someone to prove this and I'll never do a violent scene again.

  I still feel that I made the right choice in directing my two Fridays. Without sequels, we wouldn't have a movie business. And I was able to use Friday the 13th as a training ground for the career I have today. I've had practically every job there is in film production, from being a gofer to being one of the most influential people on the set, as an editor, producer and director. Doing so many jobs in film is really a broadening experience. You learn so much—about yourself and the moviemaking process as a whole. What more could I ask for?

  BONNIE HELLMAN, "Hitchhiker," The Final Chapter:

  I was teaching pre-teen kids right after I did The Final Chapter. And they loved to play make-believe—every single thing we did had to have Godzilla and the Grim Reaper in it. So they're already aware of death. And Friday the 13th is played out in an entertaining, non-realistic way. Jason's a monster. He's not a real person. Look at the old Frankenstein movies—they're meant to make you scream and throw your popcorn in the air and have a good time. It's like being on a rollercoaster.

  TED WHITE, "Jason Voorhees," The Final Chapter:

  Right after I finished The Final Chapter, I went on to do Starman with Jeff Bridges. I played the hunter at the roadside diner who gets in a fight with him. And we were down in Mississippi late one night, and the local newspapers were interviewing Jeff. Then the director called him off to do a shot, so Jeff said, "Talk to Ted, he just finished a show." And they turned to me and asked, "What did you do, Ted?" I said, "Oh, I did a little nothing picture." And they went, "Well what was the name of it?" And I said, "Friday the 13th. I was Jason."

  Well, the next night we came out to finish shooting, and they must have put that in the paper because all of a sudden there are tons of cars just jammed all around the location. Jeff said, "Jesus Christ! You're going to have a sore hand before the night's over with, buddy." Because there were all these kids, just lined up to come and get my autograph. I had no idea when I did the role how many young people loved Friday the 13th, and that they were even allowed to watch something like that.

  CAREY MORE, "Terri," The Final Chapter:

  Why are people still interested in Friday the 13th? Is it symbolic of a certain period of life? Or just a cult phenomenon? I can't think of a thing. What is funny for a lot of us who were in these movies is that you just have a laugh about it now. It was never anything more serious than that. I haven't taken anything of Friday the 13th with me in my life since then. I'm certainly happy I did it, but it just means a lot more to other people than it ever meant to me. So it's really flattering that all these kids say such nice things about me, and they're complete strangers! I really can't understand why, but it's great.

  BARNEY COHEN, Screenwriter, The F
inal Chapter:

  After The Final Chapter, my career could have gone either way. I could have become the great "undiscovered cult drive-in classic writer," or the one that everybody in Hollywood only called to do horror movies. Guess which way it went? I ended up writing nothing but horror scripts for six or seven years. Now I could boo-hoo that, but the truth is I was happy to be working and I'm still happy to be working. You know that great song, "I'm Still Here?" That's my national anthem. Because a lot of us aren't here anymore.

  JUDIE ARONSON, "Sam," The Final Chapter:

  Always read your scripts before you accept the part. Never accept any part that takes place in water for long periods of time—I'd make sure to put that in the contract now. Seriously, that is what I definitely got from Friday the 13th. And that it was my first movie, it was a lot of fun, and I worked with a group of really nice people.

  BARBARA HOWARD, "Sara," The Final Chapter:

  I'm just amazed, because the Friday films still show up regularly on TV, especially around Halloween. Most of the residual checks I get now are pretty small, but it is still a nice little bonus to get every year. I call it my blood money.

  In 1993 and '94, Berkley Books published four original Friday the 13th young adult novels by William Pattison (under the pseudonym Eric Morse). While copies of these long out-of-print books remain hotly sought-after collector's items among Friday fans, the author takes umbrage with the publisher's perceived lack of support for his Jason quadrilogy. "I thought I was going to be going to horror conventions and doing book signings," complains Pattison. "Hell, I even thought there was going to be another series of four books." Years later, Pattison's enthusiasm for the series was rekindled after visiting a fan website which featured a section on his young adult books. "I was overwhelmed. For the next eight months I was inundated with emails from fans who were looking for my books. Eventually, these emails inspired me to start 'The Official Bring Back the Friday the 13th Young Adult Novels Series Campaign.' I started this campaign to convince Berkley Books and New Line Cinema to either reprint the young adult novels or start a new series of books based on Friday the 13th." In 2005, Pattison got his wish—sort of—when a brand-new series of rival young adult Friday the 13th books was published by Black Flame.

  KIMBERLY BECK, "Trish Jarvis," The Final Chapter:

  I remember being humbled by my Friday experience, because it was a lot of hard work, and there wasn't an incredible amount of money to be made. It was union scale plus ten percent for my agent. I even tried to get more money from the producers, and they just laughed.

  JOAN FREEMAN, "Mrs. Jarvis," The Final Chapter:

  You know what's funny about Friday the 13th for me? I've never been recognized for being in that movie, not even once. But I did get a call a few years ago from a friend of mine saying, "Did you know that you're listed on the Internet as having committed suicide?" I guess some person went onto a website with bogus information—there was another Joan Freeman who was an agent at one time, and apparently she did kill herself. So I just want to set the record straight and say that the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated. No, Friday the 13th did not kill me off!

  JOSEPH ZITO, Director, The Final Chapter:

  A number of my films have been sequelized and, of course, The Final Chapter was a sequel itself. It's a very strange thing as a director, looking at the movies that follow yours. I don't want to send the wrong signal, because it's not that you wish you had made them, it's just that you wish nobody had made them.

  Still, I'm flattered by what has happened with Friday the 13th. I thought it was cool that the character of Tommy Jarvis continued, because it was something that I had wanted to do with the story. But I can't say I'm responsible for any of this—it's very hard to feel a proprietary stake in it. It's just that my film worked for some audiences, and that's all I was ever trying to do—make an effective movie. If a byproduct of The Final Chapter was that the series has since lived on far beyond my one movie, well, that's great.

  COREY FELDMAN, "Tommy Jarvis," The Final Chapter & Part V:

  I'm not a big fan of blood and gore. I'm more peaceful than that. But the reason I like the Friday the 13th movies is because of the intelligence behind planning them. And none of them try to be too serious about it, but at same time end up being pretty damn good. Of course, that goes up to Part V, and after that I refuse to comment.

  Of course, the question I get more than anything else is, "Aren't you upset that you didn't get to play Tommy in Part V?" Well, I was only a kid, so I couldn't have done it. Then they say, "Well, why don't you do it now?" So I always respond that if I had my druthers, they should do a Friday the 13th Part 20 and skip over all the middle ones. Just pick up the plotline after Part V and have me come back as Tommy Jarvis, and Jason and I have a final confrontation. I think that would be a lot of fun.

  JOHN SHEPHERD, "Tommy Jarvis," Part V:

  I look at Part V now and I have a few issues with it, but when I decided to do the film I fully committed to it. I didn't look back. As a result, I'm very happy with the work that I did, and the relationships that I kept. This movie gave me an opportunity to take the training that I had, follow my heart and do the best I could. It doesn't matter that some people discount that now. Because rewards will come, even if they are not immediate. In many ways, Friday the 13th was a big turning point for me—it took me in totally new directions. And it taught me never to discount the gifts that you are given. For me, Part V really did open up a new beginning.

  DICK WIEAND, "Roy," Part V:

  I had been running away from Jason for a long time. My marriage to my second wife lasted 15 years, and I didn't even show her the movie until the 14th year. But then I realized that, like it or not, I wear the mantle for this part—I might as well embrace it. That's why I started doing the autograph shows and things. I've met some people who are huge fans of these movies, and across all age groups. I'd even say there has been resurgence in the past few years. Some really diehard fans even come up to me and say, "Part V is my favorite in the series, because it's just so freaky, so quirky, so weird." It amazes me that people actually have affection for this piece of crap.

  Left: On January 21, 2005, actor Steve Susskind (right) suffered fatal injuries in an automobile accident in Mission Viejo, California. He was 63 years old. Although best known to Friday fans for his portrayal of Harold in Part 3, Susskind had appeared in over 30 motion pictures. The actor was eulogized by family and friends in a special retrospective of his work in the month following his untimely death. He also appeared at a special anniversary screening of Part 3 at the Nuart Theater in Los Angeles on August 12, 2003 (pictured, with co-star Richard Brooker.) "Steve loved the fact that Friday fans were interested in his funny character Harold," said the actor's stepdaughter, Lauren Walker. "And I know he had a great time at the Nuart screening. It was a great night. Steve is and will always be missed by his family, friends and, as we have discovered, his 13th fans."

  JULIETTE CUMMINS, "Robin," Part V:

  My friends tell me that I should be proud I did all these horror films, including A New Beginning. Because someone believed in me, and I got to do a few major motion pictures. And you have to start somewhere. So you should always be proud of what you have done.

  TIM SILVER, Producer, Part V:

  I was always very close to my father, who lived in Cleveland at the time I did Part V. He was a doctor and a public health official for a large portion of the state of Ohio. And he was interviewed right after the film came out, and they asked him about me. "I understand your son is in Hollywood producing movies." And he said, "Yes, he is. He produced something called Friday the 13th and I went to see it a couple weeks ago and it was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. But the next time Tim called me, he didn't call me collect."

  MELANIE KINNAMAN, "Pam," Part V:

  It appears I had the worst director and the worst movie of the Friday the 13th series. Although some fans tell me that the later movies were bad, too.
I didn't know Danny Steinmann had come from porn—I only found out 20 years later. Even if I had known that going in, I still probably would have done it. But what ended up happening was that my agent wanted me to just deep-six Part V and not tell anyone I did it. So that kind of ruined it for me because I didn't use the credit for a long time, and I should have. In terms of my career, it didn't help me or hurt me.

  For a long time after I wanted nothing to do with Friday the 13th. People had started contacting me for interviews and things, and then conventions started calling me. Eventually, I got contacted by Paramount to do something for a DVD release. I said, "Call me back, I need to think about it. I don't want anything to do with Friday the 13th." I told them point blank. So my agents said that if I wanted to do it, I should, but let's negotiate. But Paramount wouldn't pay me. And they were so rude on the phone. I've also been contacted for other documentaries. But I would always just say no. What finally turned it around for me was when I found out someone had been selling my autograph. A fan had contacted me and sent me a picture, asking, "Is this your autograph?" And I said, "No. I'm sorry to tell you, this is not authentic." Now I'm pissed. So I decided to start my own official website. I bought up my domain and everything. And I was contacted by an agent, and he talked me into appearing at conventions. I did my first one, and I was really nervous about doing it. But I was shocked by the long line to get my autograph! I thought, well, I'll make some money off of this, because it did hurt me in other ways.