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HalloweenandFriday the 13thare both classic of the horror genre , but it turns out the former ’s achiever directly inspired the latter . It ’s a bit hard to pinpoint the first slasher movie . Some point to Alfred Hitchcock’sPsychoas an early harbinger , while others would callThe Texas Chainsaw MassacreorBlack Christmasthe slasher ’s grandfathers . disregarding of where the wedge - musical genre start , many would go for up John Carpenter’sHalloweenas the best model of how to do aslasher movieright .
However , it ’s unbelievable Carpenter ever stop to think about on purpose making a slasher moving-picture show landmark , as the label did n’t become widely used until afterFriday the 13th ’s 1980 release get to the floodgates for imitators , includingHalloweenandFriday the 13th ’s own subsequent continuation . Made on a dirt trashy ( for Hollywood ) budget of only $ 550,000,Friday the 13thwent on to clear virtually $ 60 million at the box office , an enormous counter on investment , if not quite the profit margin ofHalloween .
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WhileHalloweenandFriday the 13th- along withA Nightmare on Elm Street- would go on to spend the 1980s fighting for slasher dealership ascendence , there never would ’ve been aFriday the 13thwithoutHalloween . For proof , just ask the the great unwashed who madeFriday the 13thpossible .
How Halloween Directly Inspired Friday the 13th
According toFriday the 13thwriter Victor Miller , he received a call in 1979 from Sean S. Cunningham , who would go on to bring out and directFriday the 13th . Cunningham pointed out howHalloweenwas perform financially , and according to Miller , flat up suggested that the pair - who had act upon together antecedently - make a movie design to rend offHalloweenand ride its coattails at the box office . It ’s not laborious to understand the logic , as if one plastic film about a silent killer haunt and slashing adolescent belong over well , why would n’t another do the same ?
Verbatim details of that conversation away , Cunningham , Miller , andPamela Voorheesactress Betsy Palmer have never been shy about admitting thatFriday the 13thwas a picture primarily made to make money , and that there was n’t much consideration devote to it as a oeuvre of art . Palmer specifically has enunciate she postulate the part because she needed a car , and Cunningham was n’t incisively rolling in immediate payment at that point either .
Interestingly enough , John Carpenterhas actually address at distance about theFriday the 13thfilms , not consider them to have much note value , and he ’s sure enough entitle to his judgement . That said , Friday the 13thand Jason Voorhees ' legions of fans would beg to differ . No matter what the motive was behind making the film , Friday the 13this still one of the in effect slasher produced to date . divertingly , Halloweenwas really inspire by an musical theme Bob Clark had for aBlack Christmassequel , evening things out a snatch in the end .
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