Myers, Krueger, Voorhees: for some, these names evoke fear, for others—like myself—these names bring back nostalgic memories of childhood sleepovers and endless sleepless nights of recurring nightmares. Though we may have had different experiences, we have all learned a thing or two from horror films. Uncle Pinhead taught us not to mess with the puzzle box, Danny Torrance taught us to listen to the little boy that lives in our mouths when he says he doesn’t want to stay in a hotel, and big brother Myers taught us that although a serial killer may look dead, he’s probably not. All are important life lessons, if you ask me.
These villains may have tormented us for decades, yet how well do we really know them? Let’s take a look at some common misconceptions about horror films.
5. Jason Voorhees Does Not Acquire His Infamous Hockey Mask Until The Third Film
Chh Chh Chh Huh Huh Huh. Did you guys hear that? Don’t worry, it’s probably just a momma’s boy with a fear of water and an affinity for butchering camp counselors.
That’s right, first up is Jason Voorhees, a machete wielding supernatural force that returns from the dead to wreak havoc on Camp Crystal Lake visitors, who are undoubtedly partaking in underage drinking and premarital intercourse. However, the iconic hockey mask attributed to Mr. Voorhees didn’t actually show up until Friday the 13th Part III. Jason only makes two small appearances in the first film, as a young child drowning and as a disfigured child who overturns Alice’s canoe at the end of the film. In Friday the 13th Part II, Jason returns to Camp Crystal Lake to avenge the death of his mother and carry on her tradition of attributing wrongful blame and punishment onto innocent teens (after finding and murdering Alice, of course). In this film, Jason murders his victims with a sack over his head. The sack has one hole cut around his left eye and a rope which fastens it around his neck.
It isn’t until Friday the 13th Part III that Shelly (an outcast with a love for practical jokes) brings the hockey mask up to Camp Crystal Lake to scare his friends. Once murdered, Jason recovers the mask and the rest, as they say, is blood-splattered history.
4. The Lead Cenobite In Hellraiser Is Not Named Pinhead
We all know who Pinhead is, the leather clad badass with nails hammered into his skull. He’s the villain that you had that dream about where you two were romantically involved, which led you to question if you’ve been watching too many horror films and the overall state of your psyche. Oh, that was just me? Well, this is awkward. Anyways…
Hellraiser first began as a novella by master of horror, Clive Barker, called The Hellbound Heart. After the success of the film, he later wrote the novel, The Scarlet Gospels. Clive Barker refers to Pinhead only as a Cenobite or as Hell Priest. In fact, he has previously stated that he hates the name Pinhead. In an interview, he states that it was actually the special effects artists who attributed the name to the Cenobite to distinguish him from the other Cenobites. Barker believes the name is “undignified.” Even on the IMDB website, Doug Bradley’s character is simply known as Lead Cenobite. So next time your friends call Priest Pinhead, just let them know that “we’ll tear your soul apart!”
3. “The Grady Twins” From The Shining Aren’t Actually Twins
What’s creepier than two small dead girls? Why, two small dead twin girls, of course! That was the thought process of Stanley Kubrick, and let’s be honest, he isn’t wrong. Charles Grady’s daughters weren’t actually supposed to be twins. This is evident during the interview scene in The Shining. Mr. Ullman tells Jack of the tragedy that occurred at hotel previously. He states that Grady came up to The Overlook with his wife and daughters, age eight and ten, before butchering them with an ax.
When twin sisters Lisa and Louise Burns, the actresses who played the Grady sisters, showed up to audition for the part, Kubrick thought the look of the twins was much creepier, and they were given the role. So, alright, they are twins in real life, but it is a common misconception that the Grady daughters themselves were twins.
2. Michael Myers Was Not Supposed To Return
That’s right, Michael Myers was supposed to be a one-time villain, but then who would have infiltrated our childhood nightmares? In an interview with Deadline, John Carpenter states that there shouldn’t have been any sequels to the Halloween franchise. He refers to Michael Myers as, “an absence of character,” and believes that the film’s sequels search for motive and reason, which does not coincide with his own vision of the character.
Knowing that Michael Myer’s would return with or without his consent, Carpenter agreed to write the second film, in which he sat “with a six pack of beer trying to get through this thing.” When the talk of a third film arose, Carpenter pitched the idea of an anthology series. Each of the following Halloween films would be different from the last, and Michael Myers would be put to rest for good. Enter Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Unfortunately, the film did poorly at the box office and Michael Myers rose from the grave to terrorize Haddonfield over and over again.
1. A Nightmare on Elm Street Was Inspired By True Events
We’ve all had nightmares that seemed too real to be dismissed. What would happen if that little voice in our heads that whispers it was only a dream after we wake up shaking and drenched in sweat is wrong?
It seems like common knowledge that Freddy Krueger is a fictional character brought to life by Wes Craven, but every fictional story comes from some truth. For Wes Craven, reading several newspaper articles inspired the supernatural villain who claims his victims as they sleep. In one article in particular, a condition called Nightmare Death Syndrome or Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome claimed the lives of 18 Laotian refugees in a span of four years. All were seemingly healthy and died as they slept of irregular heartbeat. Craven explains that a news story told the tragedy of a family who came to the U.S. from Cambodia. Their son began having nightmares and explained to his parents that something was after him. After staying up for days on end, he eventually fell asleep. His parents heard a scream from his room and discovered that their son had passed away in his sleep.
I hope you had fun and learned a little something new about the movies that I grew up with. These films have influenced my life in more ways than one. They’ve expanded my imagination, inspired me to write horror stories and, of course, scared me endlessly as a child. Hopefully this provokes you to flip on a horror film, join the horror fandom and “come play with us. Forever… and ever… and ever.”
MORE HORROR MOVIES:
– A-Z of the Best Horror Movies of the 21st Century
– 10 Underrated Horror Movies
– The Best Horror Games
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