I'm of course talking about Carpenter's Halloween, Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th.
This shirt of course is for the latter on that list and memorializes everyone's favorite hockey mask wearing fiend, Jason.
Truthfully - when compared to the other two - I find Friday the 13th to be the inferior series. Michael Meyers established the genre and - until the last couple movies - stayed true to his origins. Nightmare on Elm Street took on an intensity and fantastical tact that, to this day, I think is unrivaled. I remember the first time I saw it (with a girl I was dating at the time) and getting chills at how incredible Freddy was. The melding of dreams and horror was perfection. The sequels, while making Freddy a wisecracking, shell of Craven's original monster - still had impact.
I can't say the same about Friday the 13th.
Friday the 13th very quickly degenerated into absurdity and never redeemed itself. Which is a shame because the original was really good. It took the idea of teens (having sex!) in peril (while having sex!) and killing them (while having sex!) to new levels. It had the gore that Halloween didn't have or need, and introduced some of the tropes that became de rigeur in every slasher film after that. The thing is, Friday the 13th (the first one) wasn't even about Jason Voorhees. The killer was his mother and Jason was dead... or at least we thought so right up until the final frames.
That said, one's got to give props to old Jason. He's not - in my opinion - as scary, but he does kick ass. I did root for Freddy in Freddy Vs. Jason, though. How could I not?!?
When all's said and done, Jason's horror royalty. No proper horror collection would be complete without him!
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