10 Horror Movie Secrets You Didn’t Know

Anyone who loves horror cinema (or is just interested in surviving a phone call with the Ghostface killer) can tell you the infamous twist that the murderer in 1980's original Friday the 13th is not franchise favourite Jason Voorhees, but instead his grief-maddened mother.

Played by American TV icon Betsy Palmer, Ms. Voorhees is an villain whose effective creepiness was derived from Palmer subverting her long-established habit of playing bright, cheery characters. The role was so out of sorts for her that overrated film critic Gene Siskel went as far as to reveal Palmer's hometown when slating the movie, in a move which makes modern critics seem positively stable.

So Palmer must have really believed in this role if she was willing to take it on, despite running the risk of public pillory by irresponsible critics, right?

Er, actually, her car just broke down.

Uninterested in the slasher’s story, a reluctant Palmer signed on to play the murderous mother of Jason Voorhees solely because her car needed repairs and she was hard up for cash. And so an iconic horror villain was born out of necessity, which is appropriately enough the mother of invention.