Even if you’re not superstitious, Friday the 13th is a good day to look back on the iconic horror franchise with unusually persistent staying power. Here are 13 things about Friday the 13th movies you might not already know:
1. The original Friday the 13th movie was strongly disliked by critics, but probably none more than Gene Siskel, who described director Sean S. Cunningham as “one of the most despicable creatures ever to infest the movie business.”
2. Even some of the actors involved in the movie weren’t into it. Betsy Palmer, who played Jason Voorhees’ murderous mother Pamela, reportedly said the script was “a piece of shit” and that she only took the role because she needed to buy a new car.
3. Kevin Bacon starred (and — spoiler alert –was brutally murdered) in Friday the 13th, when he was a relative unknown. So don’t forget to think of Friday the 13th next time you play “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”
4. Bing Crosby’s son Harry Crosby also appeared in Friday the 13th. He went on to become an investment banker.
5. Critical reception be damned: Friday the 13th went on the become a mega-franchise with 13 movies and a TV show. The movies have made a total worldwide box office revenue of nearly half a billion dollars.
6. Friday the 13th took place on June 13, 1979 — which in reality was a Wednesday. There was a flashback scene to June 13, 1958 which was a Friday.
7. Thirteen different actors played Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th movies, at various ages. Director Sean Cunningham wanted to cast his own son as Jason in one movie, but his wife said nope.
8. Nightmare on Elm’s Street‘s Freddy Krueger appeared in not one but two Friday the 13th movies: There was Freddy vs. Jason, of course, but the villain was also in a brief scene in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.
9. In Friday the 13th movies, there appears to be an advantage to being a blonde: In nine of the 13 movies, the surviving girl has blond hair.
10. Sally Field (!) auditioned for the role of Alice Hardy and lost out to unknown actress Adrienne King.
11. Crispin Glover (Back to the Future) appeared in Friday the 13th Part IV. He was attacked with a meat cleaver.
12. In Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Kane Hodder — who played Jason — got a concussion during a stunt when a roof fell on his head. He didn’t tell anyone, though, because he was afraid he would be replaced. He’s okay now.
13. There are a total of 166 deaths in the Friday the 13th franchise.