BPS 285: Creating Friday the 13th & the Horror of Hollywood with Sean S. Cunningham

BPS 285: Creating Friday the 13th & the Horror of Hollywood with Sean S. Cunningham

Sean S. Cunningham had a successful career of starting films cheap and fast. Originally from New York, Cunningham had a vast knowledge of directing films and came to Hollywood. He started about the same time Wes Craven did. Cunningham meets Craven and decided to make a comedy-romance film called Together (1971).

Then they both shocked the world with the rape and ultra-violence of The Last House on the Left (1972). Craven directed the flick and Cunningham financed and produced. However Cunningham wanted to get a mix of comedy and horror and made Case of the Full Moon Murders (1973) and then started other comedy films like Manny's Orphans (1978) and Here Come the Tigers (1978) .Struggling in Hollywood Cunningham saw John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) and wanted to make a follow up type film but would possibly regret it. Cunningham brought Friday the 13th (1980) into the cinema in 1980, a year of many other horror films.

Friday the 13th (1980) was a shocking, gory and violent film about camp counselors being slashed by a killer and had Betsy Palmer in the lead role. Little did Cunningham know that Friday the 13th would have never ending sequels. Cunningham gladly avoided all of them and Friday the 13th remains one of the most popular horror films in history. Instead Cunningham wanted to make it big when he brought a best-selling novel to the screen, A Stranger Is Watching (1982) with Rip Torn, but it was a disappointment. Cunningham went downhill with the over sexed teen comedy Spring Break (1983) and The New Kids (1985). Cunningham then produced House (1985) and several of its sequels. Cunningham next entered the world of underwater terrors after The Abyss (1989) was released. Cunningham did a follow up called DeepStar Six (1989), but it was a flop, however it beat another 1989 underwater thriller Leviathan (1989) at box office receipts.

Cunningham was finished with directing and moved on to producing films and teaching. He produced The Horror Show (1989), My Boyfriend's Back (1993) and Friday the 13th's last sequel Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993). Cunningham then did yet another follow up to Friday the 13th with Jason X (2001).

Enjoy my conversation with Sean Cunningham.







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BPS 457: The Untold Stories of Women in Action Cinema with Melanie Wise

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5 Helmi 52min

BPS 456: The New Rules of Indie Filmmaking No One Is Teaching with the Jalbert Brothers

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29 Tammi 1h 2min

BPS 455: How to Turn a Script Into a Movie Without Hollywood’s Help with Chris Jay

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22 Tammi 1h 19min

BPS 454: What Really Happens After You Write the Script with Michael K. Snyder

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15 Tammi 1h 4min

BPS 453: How to Build a Screenwriting Career That Actually Lasts with Bob Saenz

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8 Tammi 1h 9min

BPS 452: The Filmmaker Who Refused to Tap Out: The Making of Heel Kick! with Danny Mac

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On this episode, we sit down with Danny Mac, a Canadian filmmaker, actor, and producer whose story is a masterclass in indie filmmaking grit. Best known for his mockumentary Heel Kick!, Danny proves t...

1 Tammi 1h 2min

BPS 451: Making Movies Without Sight: Inside the Creative Mind of Gough

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Every once in a while, a filmmaker comes along whose story redefines what’s possible. On today’s episode, we meet Gough, the world’s first legally blind filmmaker to write, produce, edit, direct, and ...

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