Considering that it was one of the inescapable horror franchises of the 1980s, it’s kind of unbelievable to think that there hasn’t been an official Friday the 13th film released in 17 years. 2009’s simplistically titled Friday the 13th marked the start of an almost two-decade hiatus for a series that, during its heyday, released 8 installments across nine years — like Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers — Jason Voorhees was a ubiquitous horror icon that pretty much defined the 80s slasher era. Despite disappearing from theater screens, the hockey-masked murderer has had an eclectic journey through cinema, traveling everywhere from Manhattan to the depths of Hell to even the far reaches of space.
Courtesy of the original Scream, a well-known bit of horror trivia is that despite how immediately recognizable Jason is as a character, he’s actually not the primary antagonist of the franchise’s first film. That distinction belongs to his mother, Mrs. Voorhees, one of the all-time great horror moms right next to Norma Bates and Carrie’s Margaret White. Even though she only appears alive in the original, her presence looms large over the rest of the franchise, and 46 years after Friday the 13th, Mrs. Voorhees is coming back in a TV series that marks the long-awaited return to the cursed campgrounds her son calls home.
