Yay! You survived Friday the 13th!


Congratulations!

Depending on where you live, Friday the 13th is either over or nearly over!  And, if you’re reading this, you survived!!!!!

Obviously, you listened to Crazy Ralph and you did not have sex, smoke weed, skinny dip, go out at night, take a boat trip to Manhattan, go into space, go to sleep, go out for firewood, ask any strange people if they needed help, go looking for your friends, strip down to your underwear so you could go run around in the rain, or have any fun whatsoever!

In other words, today was a boring day for you!  But you survived!

In honor of your survival, here’s the end theme from Friday the 13th.  This was composed by Harry Manfredini and, believe it or not, it’s actually a rather beautiful piece of music.  So, celebrate your survival by listening.

And be prepared to make up for lost time on Saturday the 14th!  Be bad…be very bad….

 

Scenes That I Love: Amy Steel Confuses Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part II!


Since today is the second Friday the 13th of 2026, it only seems appropriate that today’s scene that I love comes from Friday the 13th Part II.  In this scene, Ginny (Amy Steel) proves herself to be the only camp counselor in history to be smart enough to confuse a backwoods vagrant who wears a flour bag over his head.  This scene is one of the reasons why Ginny is one of the franchise’s most popular characters.

Happy Friday the 13th From The Shattered Lens


 

Happy Friday the 13th!

Today is the second Friday the 13th of 2026!  (We’ve got another one coming up in November.)  Some people consider Friday the 13th to be unlucky but those people have obviously never been the only “good girl” at a weekend party up at Camp Crystal Lake.  Ask any of them and they can tell you just how lucky Friday the 13th can be.

To our readers who are currently struggling today, we make the following suggestion: Sit back and enjoy the antics of those fun-loving kids up at Camp Crystal Lake.  It’s a lot safer to watch them than to be them!

In fact, in case you need help picking which movie to watch, I have reviewed every single Friday the 13th! here on the Shattered Lens!  I personally recommend that you watch parts 1, 2, and 4 but it’s totally up to you!  Here’s some links to my reviews:

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th Part 2

Friday the 13th Part 3

Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

Friday the 13th: Jason Lives

Friday the 13th Part VII: A New Blood

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday

Jason X

Freddy vs Jason

Friday the 13th: The Pointless Remake

And then be sure to check out: 12 Thing You May Not Have Known About Friday the 13th and my review of Camp Crystal Lake Memories!

The world will still be here when you get back, I promise.  Tonight, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix and I’ll be showing a classic Charles Bronson film to everyone who survives the day.  The details will be posted soon.  (In about 15 minutes, in fact….)

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

Scenes That I Love: Jason Emerges From The Lake In Friday the 13th


In 1980, when director Sean S. Cunningham offered Ari Lehman a role in his new movie, he asked only one question. “Can you swim?”

At the age of 14, Ari appeared in Friday the 13th.  He didn’t get much screen time but his performance and appearance as the young Jason Voorhees created a moment of fright that lives on today.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Friday The 13th Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

The Friday the 13th films aren’t exactly known for being the most visually impressive horror films ever made.  That’s especially true of the first 8 films, which were all shot on a low budget and in a hurry.  Actually, I think you could argue that’s a part of the enduring charm of the series.  Today is Friday the 13th and there’s no way that I, as a lover of the horror genre, couldn’t use the 4 Shots format to pay a little bit of tribute to one of the most successful and influential horror franchises of all time.

So, with that in mind, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Friday the 13th Films

Friday the 13th (1980, dir by Sean S. Cunningham)

Friday the 13th Part II (1981, dir by Steve Miner)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984, dir by Joseph Zito)

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989, dir by Rob Hedden)

Back in 2012, I reviewed every single film in the Friday the 13th film franchise!  It was a lot of fun!

My Friday the 13th reviews:

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

Scenes That I Love: Betsy Palmer in Friday the 13th


Today would have been the 99th birthday of actress Betsy Palmer.

Though Palmer started her acting career in 1951 and was a regular on television, she will always be best known for playing Mrs. Voorhees in 1980’s Friday the 13th.  It’s a role that she took, in her own words, because she needed $10,000 to buy a new car.  At the time that the film was first released, Palmer did not particularly care for the film but she also definitely also gave the best performance.  It’s impossible to imagine that the film would have been as much of a success without her.  The scene where she speaks in the voice of Jason inspired Harry Manfredini’s iconic score.  Palmer eventually came to embrace her status of being a horror icon.

Today’s scene of the day comes from Friday the 13th.  Here is Betsy Palmer as Mrs. Voorhees, an old friend of the Christys.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films: The 1980s Part One


This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 Shots From 4 Films.  I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.

Today, we begin the 80s!

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films

Friday the  13th (1980, dir by Sean S. Cunningham)

Friday the 13th (1980, dir by Sean S. Cunningham)

The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick)

The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick)

The Beyond (1981, dir by Lucio Fulci)

The Beyond (1981, dir by Lucio Fulci)

The Howling (1981, dir by Joe Dante)

The Howling (1981, dir by Joe Dante)