During a recent podcast John Carpenter expressed his hatred for the Friday the 13th franchise. In his discussion with Bret Easton Ellis about his involvement as executive producer for the new upcoming Halloween film currently in development, Carpenter ripped the 1980 horror classic a new one with a string of insults, basically calling them copycats and reviving the long running feud between the two franchises.
“I think the reason that all these slasher movies came in the 80’s was a lot of folks said, ‘Look at that Halloween movie. It was made for peanuts, and look at the money it has made. We can make money like that. That’s what the teenagers want to see’. THR quoted Carpenter as saying. “So they just started making them, cranking them out. Most of them were awful.”
I reached out to Friday the 13th‘s creator Victor Miller to find out what he thought about Carpenter’s statement. Miller’s response was not only civil, but respectful.
“I have always credited Debra Hill and John Carpenter with my success on Friday the 13th. They taught me how to write a really good horror screenplay. It seems awfully late not to complain, but that’s his right.”
Let’s face it, the 80s saw some of the best horror films of our generation released. I understand that Carpenter feels that the trend of slashers began with his, and it may have, but I think there’s room for both Jason and Michael in our lives.
The new Halloween film is being produced by Jason Blum and co-financed by Miramax and Blumhouse and should see release in late 2017 or early 2018.
