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About Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th is an iconic movie series and franchise starring infamous deformed hockey mask wearing killer, Jason Vorhees, and his nonstop killing spree of teenage camp counsellors. However, in the first film, Jason is only in it for a few seconds. After all, it's his mum (Mrs Vorhees), who is the maniacal killer.
After a recent viewing, it's made me think about other horror Friday the 13th that fans will enjoy. So we've put together this list where each film features nonstop kills at the hands of a terrifying boogeyman. Have you seen any of these horror movies?
1. Halloween (1978)
It’s hard to kick off this list without mentioning John Carpenter’s original Halloween. In it we’re first introduced to Michael Myers as he stalks Laurie Strode throughout the neighbourhood on the eve of Halloween. John Carpenter expertly builds tension throughout the film and creates a spooky atmosphere, unlike any other slasher movie, which adds to the fear of Michael Myers. The scene where Michael Myers appears in the dark behind Laurie Strode with just his mask showing is so iconic and still terrifying, even to this day. It’s hard to believe this movie is over 50 years old!
2. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
I Know What You Did Last Summer is quintessentially a 90s horror movie. With heartthrobs like Freddie Prince Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Jennifer Love Hewitt as part of the cast it’s hard not to get swept up the 90s furor of this movie about these teens who run over a fisherman, dump him in a like and then flee in terror as he kills them off one-by-one a year later.
While the killer’s outfit is quite ridiculous, there’s something about a raincoat, his face drenched in darkness and armed with nothing but a hook that adds a level of fear to this horror movie.
3. Prom Night (1980)
A couple of years after the success of the first Halloween movie, Jamie Lee Curtis returned to the Slasher sub-genre of horror in Prom Night. While far from a complicated plot, the film follows a masked killer and the teenagers he’s killing off as revenge for a young girl that died accidentally years before. While the kills aren’t spectacular by today’s horror standards, they are fun, and the movie itself is a time honoured horror classic which everyone must watch at least once in their lifetime.
4. Urban Legend (1998)
Another great 90s horror film, Urban Legend is about a string of murders which occur on a college campus. The absolute kicker is the murders are inspired and styled after popular urban legends. Hence, the name of the film. Like most 90s slasher films, there’s plenty of sex, violence and teenager fuelled drama to keep you distracted enough until the murderer achieves their next kill. If that’s not enough to draw you in then how about this?
Urban Legend is filled from the start to the end credits with an assortment of popular character actors like a young Jared Leto, Robert Englund, Tara Reid and Brad Dourif, to name a few.\
5. The Babysitter (2017)
There aren’t many memorable Netflix movies out there. In fact, I’d argue that the vast majority is complete and utter trash. However, the same couldn’t be said about The Babysitter, which is a fun little addition to the slasher franchise. It follows a 12 year old boy named Cole and the crush he has on his babysitter Bee. But when Cole figures out that Bee is part of a satanic cult of teenagers that secretly wants to kill him things go from bad to worse very quickly. Definite highlights are seeing actress Bella Thorne’s character get killed and Robbie Amell act like a f***ing lunatic. It’s so much fun!
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Produced and directed by Tobe Hooper, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was one of the first horror movies which took the violence of murder to extremes (at least for the 70s). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre first introduced us to Leatherface and his miserable cannibalistic family.
Interestingly, some of the details in this film were inspired by the crimes of serial killer Ed Gein. While Leatherface’s weapon of choice was often a chainsaw, it’s the “meat hook” scene that is still so iconic.
7. Scream (1996)
Wes Craven’s Scream injected new life into the veins of a very tired and overworked sub-genre. While seen by many as a serious slasher film, Scream has many satirical undertones. Often poking fun at well known horror films like Friday the 13th, Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Scream invented the boogeyman Ghostface and started the franchise involving Sidney Prescott and her friends as they struggle to survive being slaughtered.
8. X (2022)
Set in the 70s, where a group of young adults find a secluded barn to shoot their porn movie. X quickly morphs from a sordid sexy film into a movie filled with horrors as the elderly owners of the barn figure out what the porn film makers are doing and look to kill them off one-by-one.
Despite all the carnage that ensues, nothing will prepare you for Mia Goth’s character hiding under the bed while the two elderly killers go at it like a pair of rabbits.
9. Psycho (1960)
Psycho is probably the very first slasher film ever created. In it, Norman Bates, one of the owners of the Bates Motel, seems harmless enough but pretty soon who turns into a savage killer who likes to turn his kitchen knife on his guests while they’re in the shower.
There’s also the aspect of his fetish for cross dressing as his dead mother who happens to be just a skeleton looking down at the motel from their house. If you’re looking for that infamous horror scene involving a stabbing in a shower - this is the movie it’s from.
10. Valentine (2001)
After seeing David Boreanaz as the brooding and heroic Vampire with a soul in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it’s spin-off Angel, it’s hard to imagine David Boreanaz as a relentless killer in a slasher film.
Valentine is a sexy slasher film from the early 00s involving a killer taking out numerous attractive women in ways that can only be described as “101 ways to kill a Hollywood starlet.” The kills, brutal, inventive and sometimes random - but it makes for a better film than you’d expect given the synopsis is about a heart broken killer.
11. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this horror movie probably involves a slumber party and it probably involves a killer looking to take them all out. Right? I mean, it’s all there in the name.
The Slumber Party Massacre's killer isn’t like Jason Vorhees in preferring a kitchen knife with each kill. Oh no, the preferred weapon of choice in this horror flick is a power drill. What’s more 80s than a crazed killer looking to take out hot young women in a sleepover scenario involving power tools? It’s a really fun time if you ask me.
12. The Strangers (2008)
The Strangers definitely brought the home invasion sub-genre of horror into the mainstream. While not necessarily filled with savage kills, it does play a lot with masked boogeymen stalking and lying in wait outside a very expensive looking house.
There’s a certain ominous element to The Strangers that I can’t quite put my finger on which fills you with dread. What could be scarier than masked assailants looking to invade your home? Not to mention the question being asked of do they want to kill you or not? For what The Strangers sets out to achieve, it does it really effectively.
13. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Like the name suggests, this horror movie is set at a summer camp and follows a group of kids who are gradually killed off. Sleepaway Camp focuses on Angela and her cousin Ricky and features nonstop gratuitous violence. Not to mention an ending twist rarely seen in 80s horror movies of this type.
So many memorable kills are featured in Sleepaway Camp, making it one of the more underrated movies in this list.
14. My Bloody Valentine (1981)
The original My Bloody Valentine is one of the many horror films in the 80s named after a popular holiday. Like most of those movies, My Bloody Valentine has very little to do with the holiday itself and more to do with the fact that it just so happens to be set on Valentine’s Day during which a party occurs. A party where the teenage partygoers suffer at the hands of a killer in mining gear. If the idea of teens getting killed by an array of mining gear appeals to you then check out this horror movie.
15. Madman (1981)
Another film set at a summer camp and featuring camp counsellors, Madman is often overlooked. Probably because the synopsis feels like a no frills Friday the 13th but instead the killer is awoken when one of the counsellors calls out his name: “Madman Marz.”
As expected, each counsellor is killed off one-by-one, while the core group tries their very best to survive the night. Madman comes into its own with the atmospheric film play and creepy score. Giving it the richly deserved cult following.
16. The House on Sorority Row (1983)
When Sorority Housemother, Mrs Slater, suffers a stroke from a prank being played on her by the sorority sisters, a killer decides to exact revenge by taking out every sorority girl. The killer is eventually revealed to be Eric, the son of Mrs Slater, who originally witnessed her suffering a stroke at the hands of the sorority girls. The House on Sorority Row is another great addition to the slasher genre.
17. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
There’s no other horror boogeyman quite as terrifying as Freddy Krueger. A Nightmare on Elm Street introduced us to the infamous child molester who was set on fire by the townsfolk and now haunts teenagers in their dream before killing them in their nightmares. Unfortunately, as the lore tells us, killing someone in their dreams also kills them in the real world.
While later in the franchise actor Robert Englund took his approach to Freddy in a bit more comedic way, it’s the first film which depicts Freddy Krueger as a supernatural homicidal maniac - complete with metal claw. It’s worth giving this movie a watch to see Johnny Depp’s character die in a spray of blood and guts!
What did you think of these Horror movies like Friday the 13th?
Did we miss any films which you think are like Friday the 13th?
Let us know in the comments.