friday the 13th

Audio

His Eyes

TRACK #67:

His Eyes by Pseudo Echo

Let’s keep the 80’s dance party/Oddball sequel thing going here.

1985 offered us Freddy’s first foray into sequel-dom, however Jason was already and old man by ‘85, going on his 5th outing.

Perhaps one of the more derided films of the series, and certainly it’s oddball entry, Friday 5 is still Paramount, still hugely 80’s and (I think) rather unfairly maligned.

It’s hard to say which is the “worst”, as some thrive where others lack and vice-versa. Honestly, a lot of it just comes down to personal preference after a point.

5 however has the distinct honor of being the only entirely Jason-less sequel (save for the pre-credit sequence…I guess) as the killer is merely assuming the MO and hockey mask. This, more than any other reason, is why it finds itself on the bottom rung with fans.

What 5 has going for it however is a serious body count. Notably the most of any Friday the 13th film at 22. That’s gotta be worth something.

Sure the effects aren’t on par with other entries and a lot of the murders are cut-aways but this dude ices 22 different people and that’s an achievement, however lessened it may be by the fact that its not actually Jason killing these people (except the first 2 guys…I guess.)

This song, by Australian pop-smiths Pseudo Echo, plays while Violet is dancing and being murdered. The song was actually a suggestion of actress Tiffany Helm, a fan of the new wave and punk music of the day.

Imagine being able to select which song to which you’d be murdered by Jason? Pretty dope.

Interesting side note regarding Violets death. Originally, she was to take a machete to the vag. Now that’s a way to go.

However, the producers thought that was a bit much, and changed it to her stomach, which they don’t even really show anyway, so I guess it doesn’t even matter. Oh well.

This song is pretty awesome though and almost sounds as if it were written specifically about Jason. It was produced a year early however, so no luck there. It does fit in nicely into the movie however, and makes a great addition to The Shindig.

 

Audio

Love Is A Lie

TRACK #52:

Love Is A Lie by Lion

We’ve already gotten a sampling of Freddy Krueger’s sonically iconic offerings, but surely his contemporary and adversary Jason Voorhees has a thing or two to say on the matter awesome 80’s soundtracks, no?

Yes. Yes he does.

From 1984’s prematurely subtitled The Final Chapter (a title made all the more ridiculous considering there are fewer Friday the 13ths proceeding it than following it), comes this tune from LA butt-rockers Lion.

Man, that’s pretty emphatic. They even blow up the mask for God’s sake.

This is the song to which Crispin Glover (aka George McFly, or Jimbo here) famously does he’s strange and erratic gyrations.

I’ve heard from unconfirmed sources (read: my buddy Matt Mastrella, AC/DC fan and possible rumorist) that during filming, the actual song playing was Back In Black, which they could not ultimately use after failing to secure the rights. If that’s true, it would certainly go a long way to explaining Jimbo’s arrhythmic seizing.

 

However, Crispin Glover is a pretty bizarre bastard himself and maybe that’s all the explanation needed. Click here for some support of this assertion.

Led in with the archetypal campfire tale of Jason, originally featured in Part 2 and rehashed in pieces during the pre-title sequence from Part 4. Its a favorite moment of mine from the series, and goes great with the song, if a tad lengthy.

I think it’s worth the wait though, and makes for a spooky interlude where your party guest can kick back and take in a little histrionic Voorhees history before Lion commence to rock.

Enjoy!