10 Classic Horror Films That Aren't Scary Any More

6. Friday The 13th

Having gained notoriety first as the director of Together (€œFinally, an X-rated picture your wife or girlfriend can enjoy!€), then as the producer of The Last House On The Left, Sean S Cunningham turned out a string of flops before calling his friend Victor Miller in the summer of 1979 and saying, €œHalloween is making a lot of money. Why don€™t we rip it off?€ Friday The 13th€™s most interesting aspects are what it blatantly copies (title, opening sequence, basic premise) and what it€™s too unsophisticated to even attempt (widescreen cinematography, hiring name actors, slow-burn suspense). Every hoary cliché worked its way into Miller€™s script: the scenic town with a Dark Past; the Prophet of Doom; the Comically Unhelpful Cop; the Car That Won€™t Start; the Climactic Thunderstorm; the Talking Villain; the It-Was-Only-A-Dream Scene. The picture proved you didn€™t need name actors or even a good script to enjoy a monster hit, just a knock-off of a popular title. Viewed today, the scariest thing about the film is that it made so much money by underestimating the good taste of the general public.