Jason/Freddie/Michael
One of the most recent trends if not most annoying was the idea of an invincible killing machine. The stereotype was simple, you have an escaped lunatic who returns to his home town or stomping ground and
kill a dozen or so overage teens, who are usually engaged in drinking and sex. Yet what is unique is that the three movies best known for this trend are considered to be some of the best horror films of their period. Halloween would introduce Michael Myers as a deranged escaped mental patient who dons a mask and stalks teens on the most famous of scary holidays. Freddie Krueger would blaze across the screens in the mid 80's with his scary dream stalker in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Finally in a note of irony Jason would not appear until the second movie of the Friday the 13th series and since then would be the very symbol of the unstoppable killing machine. What I find most annoying is that this style is nothing more then a money making machine used to crank out cheap copycats of more famous films and in some their own source film. They are almost always without much plot or innovation and usually rely on naked woman and overage stupid 20 something actors to generate a body count that would put Hitler to shame. Fortunately this style of movie has more or less died off with the only remaining films coming from Full Moon or Troma productions. The one exception to this rule has to go to Tony Todd and his masterful portrayal of the Candyman, which I will speak of later in this essay.
Friday The 13th (1980)
Halloween (1978)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
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