Friday The 13th — Jason Voorhees
In the summer of 1957, at a summer camp called Camp Crystal Lake, two camp counselors were having sex and not paying attention to a mentally disabled camper, Jason Voorhees, who was drowning in the lake. In 1979, as the long closed camp is preparing to finally reopen, the new staff of camp counselors is slowly being killed off by Mrs. Voorhees, the mother of the drowned camper. After she is killed by a machete in the first film’s finale, the specter of Jason himself acts as the killer in the subsequent sequels, killing both to punish hedonistic teens and avenge his mother.
Social/Psychological Function: The Friday the 13th series served as a metaphorical “attack” on the free love and hedonism of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The promiscuity and partying of the counselors results in the original “death”, Jason’s, from which all other deaths follow. This is why typically the characters in Friday the 13th movies that partake in sex, drugs, drinking, etc. are usually the first to be killed. They are being punished for their corrupted morals. The water of the lake is symbolic as both the death of Jason as an innocent child, and as his “rebirth” as an indestructible killing machine. Jason is also more sympathetic than many other iconic horror movie monsters because the origins paint him as a figure seeking justice for his own unjust death as well as his mother’s. The fact that his most popular weapon of choice is the machete, (the same weapon by which his mother was struck down,) further reiterates his purpose. His hockey mask worn from part three onward is evocative of the fact that he died as just a child. It’s also worth mentioning, that the title of the series as an unlucky omen has roots all the way back to ancient Norse mythology.
A Nightmare on Elm Street — Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger, a child killer, is confronted by a mob of angry parents from the neighborhood and pursued to the boiler room in his house, where he is trapped and set on fire by the parents. Years later, Freddy’s spirit returns in the dreams of the teenagers in the neighborhood, haunting them and carrying on his work of killing. If Freddy kills the teens in their dreams, they die in real life.
Social/Psychological Function: Freddy’s death and rebirth by fire, much like Jason’s relationship to water, serves as a means of transformation by which he becomes the immortal force that he is. He doesn’t wear a mask like most horror movie killers. Instead, his burnt face is the mask, literally making him become the dream occupying boogeyman of the films. His torture of the teenagers in their dreams is symbolic of the way that parents are helpless when it comes to comforting their children from the continued suffering that accompanies childhood trauma. The pain the teens experience at the hands, or rather, claws, of Freddy is also interpreted by some as symbolic of the pain of neglect, as most of the adults in the Nightmare on Elm Street films are either drunk, overly medicated, or altogether absent, resulting in a noticeable disconnect between the teens and their parents. Because Freddy appears in our deepest nightmares, he also represents subconscious fears in general, and the way they manifest themselves in our minds.
Halloween — Michael Myers
On Halloween night in 1963, a little boy named Michael Myers stabs his sister to death and is sent away to an insane asylum. On the eve of Halloween in 1978, Michael escapes from the asylum and, pursued by his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis, heads back to his hometown. Michael goes on a killing spree and in the subsequent sequels it’s revealed that the primary focus of his murderous escapades are the destruction of his younger sister who was put up for adoption, or his niece and her daughter, (4–6). The only film that has nothing to do with Michael and his attempts to kill the rest of his family is Halloween 3: Season of the Witch.
Social/Psychological Function: One major theme and focal point of the Halloween Franchise is the breakdown of family identity and the way that tragedy can tear down the family unit mercilessly. Michael’s mental health is consistently discussed throughout the movies and his attempts to elude his psychiatrist could likely be a symbol of the way mental illness can be elusive and dangerous. The fact that Michael uses a common kitchen knife is suggestive of the immediacy of the danger facing a killer who looks like your neighbor or your brother, but is actually an unhinged maniac. His mask keeps him emotionless and cold much like the way a psychopath’s face can keep their true thoughts and emotions hidden.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre — Leatherface
A young woman named Sally, her brother Franklin, and several friends are taking a road trip to visit her Grandfather’s house in rural Texas. After an intense encounter with a hitchhiker, the friends are murdered one by one at the hands of a deranged chainsaw wielding man called Leatherface and his family, former slaughterhouse operators and cannibals. Subsequent sequels, prequels, books, etc. have revealed more of Leatherface’s backstory, in particular that his name is Jedediah Sawyer, (Thomas Brown Hewitt in the remakes,) that he suffers from a skin condition that he tries to hide by skinning animals and later people, and wearing them over his face, and that he has a deep sense of loyalty and concern for his family.
Social/Psychological Functions: From a social standpoint, the primary focus of the Leatherface character was to serve as an indictment of the serial killer Ed Gein, but his intensity and brutality was also intended to be a reflection of the Vietnam War. The chainsaw, the hammer, the hook, the slaughterhouse, etc. were images surrounding Leatherface meant to comment on the meat industry and the killing of sentient life by the meat industry. The Sawyer/Hewitt family is symbolic of victims of Industrial Capitalism as well. Due to his skin condition, the various masks Leatherface wears reflect the type of mood or emotion he wants to display at that moment in lieu of facial expression.
Child’s Play — Chucky (Charles Lee Ray)
A serial strangler named Charles Lee Ray is fleeing from the police when he is shot down in a toy store. He grabs a “Good Guy” doll and in his dying breath chants a Voodoo incantation that sends his soul into the doll. Newly resurrected, he continues his murderous behavior while trying to transfer his soul into a new human body, primarily a boy named Andy.
Social/Psychological Function: The killer’s name Charles Lee Ray is pulled from the name’s of three killers, Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray, which was intended to make viewers feel like Chucky is a sick and uniquely perverse figure like the aforementioned killers. The connection between the “Good Guy” doll being inhabited via Voodoo and the image of a Voodoo doll is intentional. Chucky even uses a Voodoo doll to kill the man that taught him how to transfer his soul in the first place. The relationship between Chucky and Andy, the boy he is trying to possess in the first three films has a dual function of symbolizing the perils of kids talking to strangers, and the dangers of the things children are exposed to in their entertainment, toys, video games, etc.
