Feeling Lucky?

Friday the 13th was never a bad time for me growing up. It was actually a holiday I looked forward to, because I knew some station would be running a horror movie marathon of Friday the 13th flicks late into the night and some other station would probably counter it with some other horror movie because they could not get their spear guns, axes, machetes, and other mittens on the those 80's parables against young premarital sex. These were good times. Staying up late after the parents had gone to bed to watch the movies that I had looked at the boxes of so many times at the movie rental and been denied. On a good night I'd get paralyzed with fear until the sun came up. I miss that feeling. These days you can only get it when there is something bad happening. Being scared used to be fun. Even if it was the darker meat on the rotisserie chicken of my imagination, there was always something nice about that feeling of magic. That belief that boogiemen existed, and dragons were but a broomstick away from being slain while I wore a towel for a cape. It was also the thrill that you weren't supposed to watch something. That someone had told me I was too young to watch it. Yet, could anyone at 18 or 20 feel the wonder and terror that I did at 9? Movies don't make you hide under the covers when you're old enough to watch them. At least they don't make me.

Awhile back I picked up The Crystal Lake Box Set, which contains all of the original 8 films that Paramount Pictures produced, and indeed Mr. King... "the thrill is gone!" Now they are all just stupid slasher films... arguably the lowest rung on the ladder of horror sub-genres. In fairness the Fist is still quite good and the sequels are scattered with moments for prospectors to sift through. Perhaps I'll pay attention to the calendar and write up a break down of all of them next time around. For now I'm just basking in some twisted nostalgia. Some people look back fondly at all the horrible junk food they enjoyed as kids... I look back at the horrible movies... and how much fun they were.

Peace.