By Travis Johnson
There are two crucial dates in the horror head calendar. One is fixed: October 31, known to all and sundry as Halloween (and to joyless CHUDs as “that fun American thing we’re against for no good reason”). The other is a movable feast – Friday the 13th, which by dint of the nature of the Julian calendar tends to jump around the map a fair bit, but just so happens to fall on… today!
It may have snuck up on you this time around, but never fear: your buds at SBS VICELAND have got your back. they’ve programmed an eight movie Friday the 13th season for discerning slasher aficionados, starting with Sean S. Cunningham’s original 1980 classic tonight at 9.30pm, and culminating in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan at 9.30pm on Thursday the 19th (which really lacks the je ne sais quoi of Friday the 13th, doesn’t it?)
https://www.facebook.com/SBSVICELAND/videos/1798463176914971/
This does mean that we’re missing out on the weird mythology and gonzo lunacy of 1993’s Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, 2001’s sci-fi crossover Jason X (guest starring David Cronenberg!) and 2003’s Freddie Vs Jason, but screw it – eight Jason movies is nothing to sneeze at.
Well, seven, if you discount the first one where, as Wes Craven’s Scream reminded us, Mrs Voorhees was the killer (Jason does kinda show up at the end, though). As is almost invariably the case with long-running slasher franchises, the quality varies wildly, but we’re here for the kills, right? And we get plenty of those. Enjoy your Camp Crystal Lake weekend getaway, gorehounds.
