09/02/2026
Victor Miller, creator of Jason Voorhees and the original Friday the 13th has sadly passed away at the age of 86.
Drawing inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Victor decided to create a vengeful mother distraught over the death of her son. The New Orleanian writer set out to make the “mother that he never had”. One that would kill for her son. Along with Sean Cunningham, he wanted to cash in on the success of the independent low budget film Halloween which had returned a large profit just two years prior.
He took “mom and apple pie” and turned them upside down into the ideal summer camp slasher where teens were away from adult supervision and able to be picked off one by one. He inadvertently created a character that unbeknownst to him would become one of the most recognizable characters in pop culture, even surpassing his own death multiple times across the 4 plus decade franchise. A franchise that spawned 12 entries and a tv show.
Thank you for your contributions to horror cinema, sir. You will be greatly missed.
