Which of the four listed is most popular with horror movies fans? Which character is most know with general movie patrons? (none specific horror fans, general peeps)
Maybe Cafe Society or GD?
Well if you’re talking strictly gross it goes like this:
Friday the 13th (10 movies) - $234.6 million
Nightmare on Elm Street (7 movies) - $224.8 million
Halloween (8 movies) - $214.6 million
Child’s Play (4 movies) - $109.1 million
If you’re talking average, it goes like this:
Nightmare on Elm Street (7 movies) - $32.11 million
Child’s Play (4 movies) - $27.28 million
Halloween (8 movies) - $26.83 million
Friday the 13th (10 movies) - $23.46 million
Speaking as a horror fan most of us consider Halloween the best single movie out of that group and most consider Friday the 13th the best (most consistently good) series.
As far as non-horror fans, just a guess but I’d say eeryone knows who Jason and Freddy are, fewer know Michael Myers, and the least know Chucky, but that’s just a guess.
Since this is about films, I’ll move this thread to Cafe Society.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Myself and a friend were at the NYC Holloween Parade and in the marchers (it is only loosely organized) was a Michael Meyers. He was standing across the street and was watching someone near us and we heard someone say “Ohh that’s Jason, Jason is looking at you.” Then we both disgustedly said a bit too loudly. “That’s Michale Meyers!”
Personally, and among my peers (teenagers nowadays,) I’d say the order goes like this:
- Jason
- Freddie
- Chuckie
- Michael
I might switch Freddie and Chuckie, but I’m not sure.
Jason is definitely first.
Jason and Freddy are often confused by non-horror fans. I liked the Nightmare on Elm Street movies because they got to be a bit more creative with the whole body count. Friday the 13th was good until after the Corey Feldman one. Then it just got boring. Now when is the goddamn face-off movie going to happen? Jason vs. Freddy (or is it the other way around?) has been “in production” for years now. I could get it written and made in a month, why are they having such a hard time? Anyway, I heard that they are trying to steer away from the humour and self-deprecating references found in so many modern horror movies– bad idea, but we’ll see.
So who would you rather be killed by?
I would’nt want to be killed by Chuckie. Being killed by a doll? That would be really embarrassing.
The nightmare sequences with Freddie are really cool but ultimately you just die in your sleep.
So bascially you come down to Jason or Michael. So if I had to killed by one of these I’d go with Jason. His murders are more threatrical.
I would say Jason, simply because the hokey mask has become such a staple in the minds of people when they think “Horror”. I mean, it’s been used in other movies (most recently, Bloody Murder), countless video games (Zombies Ate My Nieghbors and Splatterhouse to name two), and has been referenced in plenty of other films and television shows (like The Simpsons “HEY BART, WANNA CHECK OUT MY NEW CHAINSAW AND HOCKEY MASK!!!”). Not to mention a few animes (The Irresponsible Cpt. Tyler had a crewmember who wore a hokey mask named Jason, for example). I’m pretty sure more Jason costumes are sold than any other of the four (I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a Chucky costume).
Freddy’s very popular, but I’m sure more people recognize Jason, and he’s been a hell of a lot more marketable. As Justin_Bailey said, Holloween is definitely, without a DOUBT, the best film made out of all the movies containing these various characters, but overall, Jason’s the most popular (which is a downright shame, because aside from the first and last movies, the Friday the 13th movies SUCKED worse than the crappiest of the other franchises, including Halloween 3. But that’s just my opinion).
:insert obligatory Michael Jackson joke here:
As has already been said, the single best movie featuring any of these characters was the original Halloween.
Now, out of the four characters, Freddy has the most interesting backstory, the best personality (Hell, at least he has a personality!), the coolest character design, is the most powerful and is most creative killer. Sure, ultimately his victims all die in their sleep, but we actually get to see the nightmare sequences in the film and that’s ultimately what matters. No matter how high their body counts, Jason and Michael Myers are ultimately interchangable bogeymen, relentless personality-free zombies with sharp objects. There’s only so many times a guy in a mask can stab someone to death before it all starts to look the same.
As for Chucky, it was a dumb idea that only got worse with each subsequent film. Bride of Chucky was one of the most execrable excuses for a horror film I’ve had the displeasure to sit through. I found the Leprechaun more interesting. The friggin’ Leprechaun!
With the exception of part 2 there is, at least IMHO, something good about all of the NoES films (With 1, 3 and New Nightmare being particular standouts in my mind.), while the other three series have between them been responsible for a lot of silly, unwatchable crap.
At any rate, I believe that among both horror fans and non-fans, Freddy and Jason are equally recognizable and equally popular, with maybe a slight edge to Freddy.
One final note, how the hell does Chucky rate on this list but Leatherface doesn’t? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the second best slasher flick ever made after Halloween.
I know he wasn’t on the list, but I think the Tall Man (Phantasm 1-4) could make Freddy back down, and the other three wet their pants.