The hockey mask-wearing, machete-toting Jason Voorhees has terrorized unsuspecting teens
since Friday the 13th hit screens in 1980.
The franchise has produced 12 movies, a TV show, a series of comics, and a few brutal
video games…but audiences still want more.
Take a look behind the mask to see how he became one of the most recognizable movie
monsters of all time.
Here's the untold truth of Friday the 13th.
Save the date
Following his work on Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left, director/producer Sean
Cunningham sought to capitalize on the growing slasher movie trend.
In a pretty brilliant marketing move, Cunningham took out an ad promoting the film before he
had any financial backing.
He called the unscripted film Friday the 13th, mimicking the date-specific theme set by the
Halloween series.
The strategy worked, and as word spread of what the ads called "the most terrifying movie
ever made," investors actually started reaching out to him.
He found himself with a budget for a film with a title — but no plot or characters.
So why Friday the 13th?
"Jason was my son, and today is his birthday."
Joshua Voorhees?
Miller originally wrote the character of Jason Voorhees as "Josh," but changed it to avoid
giving him the same name as his own son, Joshua.
And because, really, Josh Takes Manhattan probably wouldn't have quite the same ring
to it.
At the time, the character's name had little significance—he wasn't even written to appear
in the film until later drafts, and even then, only in his mother's dream sequences.
Masked Maniac
Jason didn't take his iconic, masked form until Friday the 13th: Part III.
While the original character was created by screenwriter Victor Miller and director Sean
S. Cunningham, the hockey mask was a contribution from Part III director Steve Miner to replace
Jason's usual burlap sack.
"Steve had done a whole bunch of hockey documentaries when he was learning the editing craft.
And I think that just out of that he said 'well let's at least try this.'
And that was the choice for Friday 3 and it just stuck."
The mask worn by Jason in Part III was replicated from a Detroit Red Wings goalie mask, and
variations appeared throughout the rest of the series.
Miner's suggestion of the hockey mask secured Jason as an iconic figure, making him the
master of terror that we know today.
Camp Crystal Lake
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, or the North Bergen Boy Scouts camp, and has been operational since
1927, but you might know it better as Camp Crystal Lake.
The New Jersey summer camp runs regular day tours of the grounds to satisfy the curiosities
of horror fans, but No-Be-Bo-Sco is otherwise reserved exclusively for Boy Scout activities.
According to the official site, the hundred dollar tickets sell out quickly, but they're
good for a five-hour guided tour of all the key massacre locations.
If you can't make it out to Jason's bloodstained stomping grounds, you can buy a chunk of the
original Camp Crystal Lake dock, a slice of log cabin, or a bottle of water from the lake
in which young Jason famously drowned.
Mommy
Friday the 13th's signature sound cue is actually the voice of composer Harry Manfredini.
Cunningham approached Manfredini to create a musical cue that would characterize the
presence of the unseen psycho.
Manfredini took a cue from the film itself, when Jason's mother utters those terrifying
words...
Manfredini repeated the words, applied a heavy reverb to his voice, and the result became
iconic.
The effect that was initially created to foreshadow Mrs. Voorhees would cue the presence of Jason
in all the new films to follow.
A new car
After failing to cast Shelley Winters for the role of Mrs. Voorhees, the production
team sought out veteran television actress Betsy Palmer, who initially turned it down
upon reading the script, which she thought was awful.
Palmer eventually caved and took the role because she desperately needed a new car.
"And truly I only did the darn thing to buy a car, I really did."
At the end of filming, she could afford a Volkswagen Scirocco.
She changed her mind after production began when effects artist Tom Savini showed her
some pictures of his effects work.
When a picture of the effects for the young, deformed Jason came up, he told her, "That's
your son."
From that point on, Palmer gained sympathy for Pamela Voorhees and delivered a performance
that would become a milestone of her career.
"Hahahaha chechecheche"
Best body count
Jason's victims have been tallied at numbers ranging between 158 and 300, but it's still
unanimous that Jason is responsible for more onscreen fatalities than any of his horror
villain contemporaries.
The wide margin of error is attributed to Mrs. Voorhees being the original maniac, a
grief-sick father emulating Jason in Part V, and because much of his body count in Freddy
Vs. Jason are attributable to Freddy via mind control.
Even the lower-end figure lands Jason miles ahead of Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, or
Leatherface.
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