Series: Friday the 13th

The Friday the 13th series serves as a map of the rise and fall of slashers as a subgenre of film, peaking early with teen popcorn fun before tailing off into silly oblivion, stupid lore, and abandoned rebirths.

I find the origin story of Friday the 13th to be poetic.

I am not a historian on the matter, but as far as I can tell, slasher franchises did not exist before Friday the 13th.

Though a mere two summers had passed since Friday the 13th debuted and turned slashers into the de-facto teen film of the nascent 80s, the trend was on the verge of burning out in 1982.

Friday the Thirteenth: The Final Chapter has a title so inaccurate that Lionel Hutz would pursue restitution.

It’s an obvious joke to point out that Friday the 13th: A New Beginning came out just 11 months after the supposed series-ending Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.

The sixth Friday the 13th offers a massive course correction from Part 5.

We’ve now reached the back half of the Friday the 13th series released as of 2023, and the franchise’s commitment to gimmicks keeps increasing.

Don’t be misled by the title.

Where were we?