20 Things You Somehow Missed In Friday The 13th (1980)

4. The Movie Way Of Hitting People

Friday the 13th was Betsy Palmer's first cinema film role since The Last Angry Man (1959). In the interim she had appreared on television and in the theatre.

Even though she did not have much (if any) confidence in the production, she wished to perform the role of Mrs Voorhees professionally and therefore asked Adrienne King if they could rehearse their scenes together, including the sequence in which Mrs Voorhees physically beats Alice Hardy.

In later years, Palmer revealed that she actually struck King with her cupped hand, just as actors do on the stage. A tearful King told Sean S. Cunningham that Palmer was actually hitting her during rehearsals. Amusingly, Palmer recounted that Cunningham instructed her as follows: "No, no, no Betsy, we don't hit people in movies. We miss them".

Proving that there were no hard feelings, Adrienne King and Betsy Palmer remained good friends, attending Friday the 13th fan conventions together until Palmer passed away in 2015.

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.