Film Junk Premium Podcast #22: The Friday the 13th Franchise

Posted by on October 4th, 2013   Filed under: Featured, Film Junk Podcast, Premium Podcast

In celebration of the recent release of the Friday the 13th film collection on blu ray, we thought it was time to tackle this popular horror franchise on this, the 22nd episode of the Film Junk Premium Podcast. In an attempt to keep things a bit more manageable, we decided to skip Jason vs. Freddy and the 2009 remake/reboot in favour of focusing on the first 8 Paramount Pictures films along with Jason Goes to Hell and Jason X. While we were initially concerned that we’d struggle to find enough substance to talk about within the series, our fears were quickly quelled as we dug into the minutiae of the franchise in an attempt to finally settle some long standing debates. Shelly or Joey: who would you rather? What exactly are the rules of strip Monopoly? Is Friday the 13th the Police Academy of horror franchises? Join us on our three hour journey as we break down TEN Friday the 13th films and discuss whether or not this series is a classic or a dead fuck.

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This series of premium podcasts was created to help support the regular weekly Film Junk Podcast. Head on over to Bandcamp and download full episodes for a minimum donation of just 99 cents. As always, let us know if you experience any technical difficulties or if you have any other suggestions for future specials. Thanks for your support!



  • Tommy

    Yesss. I was set on rewatching all the movies for this ep, but I only got through the first. I think my childhood memories should serve me well enough.

  • Z

    Got through the first 5 movies so far in preparation for this episode. Part 4 definitely holds up as my favourite still but I have very good memories of Jason X too….

    Thanks guys!

  • Tommy

    Without listening to this yet, I hope someone starts watching the Nightmare series this month. I’m going through them on Bluray and I’d love to hear thoughts on Part 2. It’s totally crazy and misguided. It’s awesome.

  • Sam

    I’m pretty happy I made it through all the needed movies in preparation for this. Had only seen I believe half of these prior.

    Some pretty bad entries in this franchise, especially after part 4, but I actually think Part 6 might be my favorite overall.

  • Joachim Lothe-Rikenberg

    Ey, gonna have myself a good time next weekend with this. I’m dead broke atm, so I have to wait a week to buy this. Thanks, guys. Running through some of the entries I haven’t watch until then.

  • Tommy

    I’m all for this Police Academy premium idea, guys.

  • devolutionary

    I almost burst out laughing 3x with the preview alone. This is gonna be good!

  • Lori Cerny

    I don’t have enough resolve to watch ALL these films, so maybe someone knows this. Does Jason ever show up at a Halloween party and someone mistakes him for wearing a hockey costume?

  • Steve Kroodsma

    I would agree. Part 6 is just retarded enough to be brilliant.

  • devolutionary

    No, not to my knowledge. Although the later films after VI sort of blur together into a forgettable amalgamation for me (still haven’t seen Freddy vs Jason either). I’ve always imagined that a scene with him showing up at a hockey game would be appropriate too.

    The ‘boxing’ fight in Manhattan is still the most ludicrous kill scene for me, which is saying a lot for this franchise.

    http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/jason-10kills/

  • Sam

    I watched all of them over the last few weeks and don’t recall that at all.

    Sounds like the part in Halloween 2 where they mistake a guy I believe trick-or-treating or at least walking on the street in a Michael Myers costume as being Michael Myers.

  • Kasper F. Nielsen

    Another fantastic premium! I had high hopes for this one and you totally delivered.

    Also, please do a premium on the entire Police Academy series.

  • Sam

    I love Jay’s impression of the “It’s got a death curse!!” guy.

    Though, I’m very surprised no one had the moment when he awkwardly hops on his purple bicycle and peddles away after shouting doom at the teens in I believe his first appearance. Was a highlight for me at least.

  • Loren

    Celebrity Apprentice meets Friday the 13th. Google “Gary Busey looks like Jason Voorhees”. Not that Gary Busey is a mongaloid, but the similarity is definitely there :( Great podcast guys!

  • Loren

    Delete if possible, stupid mobile discus wouldn’t show picture then puts it 4 times.. sorry for that. Didn’t know picture was posting. Not intentional.

  • mystification dog

    You guys should really consider doing more commentaries. The one you did was very enjoyable.

    I’ve been listening to the show for many years, and I thank you for all your time and effort. I bought all the premiums thus far and I will buy this one eventually as well but it’s a painful commitment to have to watch ten mediocre films first. I don’t want to come across as disrespectful or anything, but I work 11 hours a day. I just don’t have enough time to catch up. Sure I can listen to it without watching them, I did this for most of the premiums to be honest.. but it’s just not the same experience. With the commentaries is more easy because you watch the film as listening to something you like

  • I think it’s better that way. Really sends the point home.

  • Sam

    I know it’ll be announced on the next episode, but thought it would be fun to ask what people think should be part of the Carpenter premium.

    Assuming there’ll be about 7 films in the premium, I’d say:

    The Thing
    Prince of Darkness
    In the Mouth of Madness
    The Fog
    They Live
    Escape from New York
    Assault on Precinct 13

    The first three are a given as they are part of the Apocalypse trilogy and I assume Halloween will be saved for a possible Halloween premium in the future.

    Though it hurts me to leave off Christine and Big Trouble in Little China.

  • Sean

    Not to spoil the surprise, but I already posted the line-up on Twitter:

    The Thing
    Prince of Darkness
    In the Mouth of Madness
    Halloween
    The Fog
    Christine
    Vampires

    We’re just focusing on his horror films, so no Escape from NY, Big Trouble in Little China, etc.

  • Sean

    We’re hoping to do more but most people seem to prefer regular premium podcasts. If you have specific suggestions, let us know!

  • Tom Nook

    This was amazing guys! Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these things for our enjoyment. This kept me company as I marathon’d through an essay. Really, it can’t be appreciated enough. I really hope you guys do that video game premium idea you were throwing around.

  • Sam

    Ah, gotcha. Fine by me. I should probably check Twitter a little often.

    Either way, gives me an excuse to finally check out Vampires.

  • David

    Another stellar addition to the Film Junk Premium Library!

  • Kasper F. Nielsen

    Any reason you’re not saving Halloween for a possible future Halloween-centric episode?

  • Kasper F. Nielsen

    I’m on the “regular premiums” bandwagon. Not that the commentary you guys did for Independence Day wasn’t great, it’s just not /as/ great as the regular premiums, in my opinion.

    I know this is rather unrealistic, but if you guys every now and then would release an extra premium episode not in place of the regular monthly one containing commentaries, then I’d certainly buy them, but there’s naturally a limit to how much free time you have on your hands.

  • KennyG

    I agree. I think you should replace Halloween with Village of the Damned as bad films seem to generate some pretty entertaining discussion on the premiums.

  • kyri

    K. we are reaching a point to legitimately consider a police academy premium, maybe this is a sign for a change.?
    A weekly commentary will open new horizons to filmjunk because unlike the current format there is no end to the possibilities..

    Prince of Darkness commentary

    The Exorcist commentary

    Elysium commentary

    Stuck on You commentary.

    Just saying.. it’s up to the boys of-course, whatever they give us we will take it.

  • Jay Cheel

    Don’t worry. Nobody is seriously considering a Police Academy premium.

  • Ripplesdip

    Thank God for that!

  • Sam

    Agree with preferring the normal premiums over the commentary. I’ve probably listened to each premium episode probably about 3 times (listen while I work) and I’d say while I thought it was still good, the Independence Day commentary might be my least favorite.

    Plus, I enjoy being able to watch a series of movies to prepare as it’s often something I haven’t watched in a long time or something I’ve put off watching and is a good excuse to finally do so.

  • Kasper F. Nielsen

    :(

  • parapa

    If you’re gonna do that, I’d rather, you replace it with Ghosts of Mars. That one actually has defenders (myself and Jay included), whereas I don’t think anyone particularly likes Village of the Damned, it’s pretty much been forgotten.

  • parapa

    :( :(

  • ProjectGenesis

    Man, I thought for sure Frank would be all over Bernie from Weekend at Bernie’s as Bad News Crews.

  • PlanBFromOuterSpace

    Guys, you totally forgot a great line from part 6! Towards the end, things are going all to hell, the kids are all hiding under their bunks, and the one says to the other “So, what were YOU going to be when you grew up?”.

  • Guest

    I say: Minority Report commentary!

  • Andrew Lincoln

    I haven’t finished the episode and haven’t read any of the comments, but I think this is your best premium ever. IMMA THROWA YOU SOME MORA MONEY!!

  • Mrespony

    The Police Academy comparison is brilliant. Listening now.

  • Oso Jugo

    I have something you need to hear.

    I figured out why the hockey mask works so well. Jason died by drowning. Ice hockey is a sport where the player, with the use of skates, glides upon frozen water like a floating ghost. Additionally, in Dante’s Divine Comedy, Satan is actually frozen in a huge lake of ice at the bottom of hell. The reason being that the devil is so devoid of goodness that there is nothing even left to burn. So you have the hot fiery evil of Freddy and the cold icy evil of Jason to balance out your eighties slasher movie icons. Moreover, in the Divine Comedy the circle of hell directly above the lake of ice is filled with the counterfeiters who are horribly deformed, just like Jason. This leads me to believe that Jason is a richer metaphor for evil than the similar Michael Myers, who was just a guy in an asylum who killed his sister.

    (I’m bored.)

  • Oso Jugo

    Sorry to do this but a thought had been assaulting my mind now and again over the last few days and I’m sure that anyone scouring the internet for an encyclopedic knowledge of the metaphoric realities of the Jason Vorhees character will be delighted to happen upon these gems.

    In the previous post I mention the connection between Jason and two bottom most rings of hell in Dante’s Divine Comedy, but I realized that the third ring from the bottom, the ring of the sowers of discord, is a perfect fit as well. In this ring, a demon with a giant sword disembowels each of the damned who then travel around the circle while their wounds slowly heal, just so that when they come back round the fun can start all over again. Essentially, it’s a synopsis of the Friday the 13th series.