We’ve seen Jason vs. Freddy, but what about Jason Voorhees vs. Michael Myers – a.k.a. “The Shape”? Kings of the slasher genre, Halloween and Friday the 13th have been halloween movie favourites since they released, and while every great horror villain has a hook – sometimes literally – it’s fair to say not every entry in either franchise has been a hit. Which slasher series makes for a stronger franchise: that of the hockey masked butcher, or the William Shatner masked Michael Myers? And more pressingly, who would win a one-v-one bout to the death…?
“I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up, because I realised that what was living behind that boy’s eyes was purely and simply… evil”
Dr. Samuel Loomis on Michael Myers, “Halloween” (1978)
Inspired by 1974’s Black Christmas and Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic Psycho (1960) – starring Halloween final girl Jamie Lee Curtis’s mother, Janet Leigh – John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise spans twelve entries with a fatefully numbered thirteenth on its way. This includes three entries called Halloween, three Halloween 2’s, and two Halloween 3’s – if you consider Halloween IV: The Return of the Michael Myers the true third entry given Halloween III: Season of the Witch was an attempt to make the series an anthology series. Not to mention three attempts to “reboot” the series in some capacity. Trying to figure out how these films fit together is a nightmare conundrum in itself. No wonder Myers is so angry.
Before donning his iconic Shatner mask and blue mechanics duds, Michael Myers was institutionalised at the age of six for the murder of his sister, Judith, on Halloween night, 1963. Returning once more to Haddonfield in 1978 during the events of Halloween and Halloween II, Michael Myers has rather consistently plagued the quaint suburbs Halloween festivities time and time again, crossing paths with Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis multiple times over the course of 40 years, as well as a young Paul Rudd. A remorseless killer, proving impossible to kill, later entries in the franchise moved more towards the supernatural with the somewhat unpopular Cult of Thorn story, before Rob Zombie’s deeply macabre and divisive 2007 reboot duology.
While Rob Zombie’s take on Haddonfield’s Boogeyman attempted to flesh out the backstory of the young Myers, with a directorial style that dripped with the raw, pulpy flare of his horror themed music videos, it was held back by convoluted, poor writing. Zombie’s attempted reboot may not have fared well with critics and fans, but thankfully 2018’s confusingly named Halloween, acting as a sequel to the original Carpenter slasher set 40-years later, has enjoyed much greater success. The first of a new “final” trilogy, David Gordon Green’s Halloween reintroduced Laurie Strode as a traumatised victim dealing with the memories of her confrontation with the menacing Shape – obsessed with the idea that her masked assailant will eventually return for her. Now with a daughter and granddaughter, this trilogy shows how she spent the past 40-years preparing for this eventuality, going full Batman with contingency plans to finally put an end to Michael’s reign of terror. To be fair, even his beheading at the climax of H20 wasn’t enough, so let’s not hold our breath. Unless he’s close by…
Getting out of Haddonfield, Illinois for a holiday getaway at the notorious Camp Crystal Lake, meanwhile, doesn’t prove to be much safer. The Friday the 13th series is twelve strong, including a cross-over with the ever dreamy Freddy Kreuger, a less-than favourably received attempt at a reboot, and a trip to space. To reiterate: Jason Voorhees was hacking and slashing in space, while Michael Myers was getting karate kicked by Busta Rhymes in Halloween: Resurrection. 2002 was a strange time for these franchises…
While we all recognise the hockey mask of Jason Voorhee’s as the killer mascot of the Friday the 13th franchise, our first outing with the doomed High School Counselor’s saw Jason’s mother machete-ing her way through a throng of “pre-occupied” teens, in an act of vengeance for the supposed death of her son years earlier. While Jason made a startling appearance during a dream sequence at the end of the first Friday the 13th, the brooding killer didn’t appear until Part II, and didn’t don his infamous hockey mask until Part III. Like the Halloween series, it’s fair to say each entry steadily became less well received, culminating in a cross-over with Wes Craven’s Freddy Krueger and a banal reboot produced by Michael Bay. No coincidence his attempt at Nightmare on Elm Street didn’t exactly pan out, either. However, while the likes of Halloween V might be criticised for being admittedly boring or introducing convoluted plot ideas, Friday the 13th became less about developing its story in meaningful ways and instead focused on popcorn thrills, making even its poorer entries at the very least somewhat enjoyable for their silly, over-the-top Jason kills.
They might both hinge on rather unhinged, large masked menaces with a penchant for slaying teens, leering creepily around dark corners, and appearing uninvited out of nowhere, but the two franchises present different takes on the gory slasher horror. 1978’s Halloween, essentially a low budget independent movie, focused on a smaller cast, with characters who felt more relatable in their otherwise ordinary small American suburb. The more recent Halloween Kills reiterates – perhaps to its detriment thanks to massive exposition dumps – that the story of Haddonfield is one of a town traumatised by the events of the fateful Halloween night of 1978, even forty years after.
With a smaller cast, some of whom would reappear later, the first Halloween was a decidedly more intimate, claustrophobic experience, where the Friday the 13th series would frequently introduce new characters whose only defining development, aside from Tommy Jarvis, would make them glorified machete cushions. As far as casts go, Halloween wins out with Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis alone, opposed to the heaps of forgettable Camp Counsellor corpses-to-be of Friday the 13th, with the exception of a few. That said, Tommy Jarvis’ narrative through Part IV and Part VI marked him out as the series’ most interesting canonical character, as well as most recurring.
“You’re going to Camp Blood, ain’t ya? You’ll never come back again. It’s got a death curse!”
Crazy Ralph, “Friday the 13th” (1980)
But the ultimate question we’re dying to know – and probably literally, if such a thing were to happen. We’ve seen Jason and Freddy go head-to-head for the title of Spookiest Slasher or Most Malevolent Murder Machine, but how about the masked menace of Camp Crystal Lake Vs. Haddonfield’s very own Boogeyman? It’s fair to say the decisive loser would be the poor inhabitants near their arena of choice regardless, but a grudge match between Jason the Jock Slayer and The Shape, Stalker of Babysitters, is a close call.
For one thing, they’re both built like tanks, have shown resilience to otherwise crippling pain – including being shot enough times to warn anyone else to stay away from guns – and shown unyielding brutality. Jason Voorhees, as of Part VI, is essentially a super-powered zombie, while Michael Myers, a mortal man, has proven to be capable of some truly impressive physical feats (including somehow stabbing someone with the dull nozzle of a shotgun). While the 2018 reboot has shown Myers to have a preternatural tolerance to pain (being shot, frequently bludgeoned and even rammed by an SUV), as well as displaying impressive strength, during the Cult of Thorn timeline, Michael was also given access to supernatural powers of his own, such as superhuman strength.
Besides possession (Jason Goes to Hell), and the possibility to be resurrected, one thing Jason does have Michael doesn’t is the ability to seemingly teleport to his victims, while Michael, often seen menacingly lumbering in the background, has proven himself something of a tactician in his ability to rig traps, hide and stalk without being noticed. In a one-on-one death match, Michael gains an edge for his intelligence and skill, though Jason’s regenerative abilities and immortality are, surprisingly enough, something of an advantage in themselves. As far as endurance and durability, both maniacal murderers have proven themselves impressively capable of shrugging off extreme levels of abuse. While he survived being shot multiple times by Dr. Loomis and landing on his back from a high balcony – which would likely break anyone else’s back – in Halloween (1978), Michael was rendered unconscious after receiving a mighty beat down at the hands of an aged Loomis in Halloween V, and comatose for 10 years after the events of Halloween II. He’s significantly more durable than any normal man, though that doesn’t mean he’s totally invulnerable. The trick is outthinking him, which has proven no easy task even for the most experienced anti-Michael fighters.
Jason, meanwhile, takes little time to recover from harsh beatings, gone toe-to-toe with essentially a dream demon and survived, though has shown not to be the brightest spark in the camp, falling for Ginny Field’s somewhat transparent impersonation of his mother. Not to say that Michael would don a cardigan and wig, though. While they are both driven by an unresolvable desire for bloody murder, it’s fair to say Michael’s smarts could allow him a chance, though given Michael hasn’t shown he is canonically immortal and despite his high pain tolerance, Jason could make it out on top if he overpowers him in someway.
So who wins? Not us, that’s for sure.
There can be no doubt they are both rightfully hailed as Kings of the Slasher Genre. Friday the 13th as a series embraced its ridiculous, over-the-top nature, throwing unremarkable meatbags in Jason’s path – in fairness, fornicating in his camp is punishable by death so they had it coming – while Halloween attempted to develop a continuous story arc with recurring characters that evolved the evil nature of Michael Myers and his story. Though it must be said that this had mixed successes.
Friday the 13th has consistently pandered to fans of cheesy ‘80s slasher flicks, while Halloween’s more methodical approach leant more towards stalker horror – especially in the original. If you accept Friday the 13th as a popcorn slasher, even its “worse” entries can offer some enjoyment, while Halloween effectively killed itself with unsuccessful sequels, leading to multiple attempts to revive the series. The new trilogy, however, following on from the original 1978 movie, are showing to be more interesting with all the brutality and gore a good modern slasher horror movie series should have. As such, the better franchise depends whether you want a straight forward, nonsensical slasher flick, in which case Friday the 13th up to Part VI, or a menacing, brutal, more methodical franchise with fewer, deeper recurring characters in opposition to the dumb fun splatterfest associated with ‘80s horror cinema. Halloween (1978) and the David Gordon Green reboot are definitely superior in this sense.
