Horror has always been a weird genre, often dividing general audiences and critics. Friday the 13th may be the pinnacle of this because in 1980, it was completely panned by critics but went on to spawn ten sequels, a TV series, a reboot, and more.

This sort of disagreement between critics and box office success isn’t that unusual, but it seems to be especially common in the realm of horror. And often, we’ll even see cheesiness or bad acting in horror movies celebrated with that phrase we’ve all heard “it’s so bad, it’s good.”

With the genre embracing qualities that fly in the face of what we’d traditionally call good storytelling, it's no surprise this divide would form. But, why did this happen? What is it about Friday the 13th and other movies like it that make them so popular, despite embracing the pitfalls that would normally sink other movies?

#Horror #Fridaythe13th