Similarities That the Friday the 13th and Halloween Movie

This essay will focus on the similarities that the Friday the 13th and Halloween franchises share. First, I will compare the movies and the years they came out. Second, I will touch on the characters and the actors who played them. Third, I will compare the revenue of both franchises. And Finally, I will critique both of the franchises, and hopefully something will be learned about these popular culture and cult horror icons. The Friday the 13th series consists of eleven brutal slasher films; the first one simply titled Friday the 13th( 1980), Friday the 13th part 2(1981), Friday the 13th part 3(1982), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter(1984) in 3D,Friday the 13th: A new Beginning(1985), Friday the 13th part 6: Jason Lives(1986), Friday the 13th part 7: A New Blood(1988), Friday the 13th part 8:Jason Takes Manhattan(1989), Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday(1993), Jason X(2002), Freddy vs. Jason(2003), Friday the 13th(2009). The Halloween series started out two years prior to the Friday the 13th series, and has ten films; Halloween(1978), Halloween 2(1981), Halloween: Season of the Witch(1982), Halloween 4:The Return of Michael Myers(1988), Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers(1989), Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers(1993), Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later(1998), Halloween Resurrection(2003), Halloween(2007), and Halloween 2(2009). On seven occasions both franchises put out a movie the same years (1981, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2003, and 2009). Both franchises did relatively well at the box office and over all revenue. Both of the franchises have a slasher character that has stood the tests of time. The Villain in the Halloween movies is a druid cursed psychotic killer named Michael Myers who has 94 confirmed kills. Jason Vorhees is the undead hockey masked being in the Friday the 13th movie series. He holds the record for confirmed kills in the movies with an outstanding amount of 141. Both characters wear a work suit and a mask. Jason Vorhees started out with a pillow case in part 2, and then he found a hockey mask in part 3 which solidified his character. Michael Myers started the killings wearing a William Shatner prototype mask he got from the Halloween store. Both franchises included reoccurring characters played by the same actors. Donald Pleasence was in five of the original six Halloween films, and really did well with his character Doctor Samuel Loomis. Donald Pleasence in fact died in the middle of filming Halloween part 6, and they had to alter the outcome of the movie. I was a fan of Donald Pleasence due to the Halloween movies, and even his black and white films from the fifties and sixties. Kane Hodder played Jason Vorhees in four of the Friday the 13th films (IMDbPRO, 2010). Jaime Lee Curtis played the character name Laurie Strode who was Michael Myers niece, which was not good for her, because he wanted to kill her. The Friday the 13th and Halloween franchises are both in the top five highest grossing horror films of all time; Friday the 13th being number one, and Halloween being number four. The total box office revenue for the Friday the 13th series is $465,239,523, and Halloweens total box office revenue is $366,893,444 (IGN, 2006). Both of the franchises also do well with merchandise sales as well. There is an extended amount of products each franchise has to offer including; masks, costumes, DVDs, t-shirts, video games, toys, dolls, comic books, novels, and bobble heads. The Jason Goes to Hell toy in the Mcfarlane toys Movie Maniacs Collection is a top seller (IGN 2010). It seems that each franchise wants to keep striving; they both have new movies, masks, toys, and comic books coming out this year. Both of the franchises do a lot with their DVD marketing and sales; they have DVD box sets, VHS box sets, extra scenes, digitally re-mastered versions, blue ray, and more. I know this because I have some of that stuff, because I am a collector. I am an all around fan of slasher movies, so I already knew most of what I was going to include. I personally like the Halloween series a little bit better, due to the in depth character origins, and extra creative story lines. There is also a certain amount of creepiness I love about the Halloween films; they are still made very scary and original. I will not take anything away from the Friday the 13th franchise; I think it is almost as good. Friday the 13th is not as storyline oriented as Halloween, but makes up with that in sheer brutality. Friday the 13th placed number seven on IGNs top twenty five franchises of all time. â€Å"One of the most influential franchises of the 1980s† (IGN 2010). I discussed the similarities of the two franchises, in the amount of movies, the characters, and the revenues of both franchises. The Friday the 13th franchise has made a little bit more money than Halloween, but they are both worth watching on a Friday night in October.