The Differences and Similarities of Friday the 13th and Sinners

Horror movies have a very special importance in the world’s culture and is a genre usually associated with Halloween and fall as that’s when it starts to get dark and “scary” outside, this genre usually consists of things that are supernatural in nature but can also just include gore or gore related crimes like murder, but horror has a tendency to lean more towards supernatural beings as it’s more unknown and scary as it’s based in some real stories but the supernatural really has no scientific evidence to prove it’s based in any truth.
The compare and contrast is of Sinners and Friday the 13th. Both of these movies could be considered supernatural thrillers, based on creatures of the night that attack people who are having some sort of gathering in the woods. Although both set in the past Sinners is set around 1932 and Friday the 13th is set in 1979 meaning that there are different historical changes, but both could be considered time pieces from the 20th century although 1932 and 1979 are vastly different in culture. Both movies also feature a supernatural creature, but Sinners is about Vampiric creatures of the night that feed on anyone they can get their hands on rather than targeted attacks, and Friday the 13th is based on an undead zombie that targets the camp that he drowned at as his spirit feels like the councillors neglected him and he wants revenge for what they did to him. As for the actual filming comparison of both they are quite different other than the obvious use of zooms, music, and atmosphere to build tension like every other horror film. Both films have very different coloring, Sinners utilizes a lot of yellow tones and bright nature tones whereas Friday the 13th uses gray tones and dull nature tones to show the dry heat and lack of green from summer drought. Not to mention the difference in budgets and technology between the era’s they were created, Sinners had much better tools to create a more realistic slasher.
Both demonstrate very different cultures and the monsters that came from it. Sinners tells a story about African American biblical driven stories in the deep south at a time where slave labor, the KKK, and cotton fields were heavily normalized. Sinners tells the story of these KKK members being the real Sinners instead of African Americans that was believed by the white folk at that time. Sinners is an allegory for really how evil racism is, and how African American’s were unfairly attacked and segregated in 1932. This story utilizes a common folktale and horror theme of vampires while telling it from an African American southern biblical POV rather than the trope of Transylvania, gloomy, and dark vampires that are most notable. However, Friday the 13th follows a very generic zombie trope made to cater to pop culture, although it does have some mentions of East Coast American summer camp culture it is very much made to just be a generic scary movie that draws in money at the box office rather than being made to tell an important cultural story unlike Sinners.
Sinners and Friday the 13th do both have meaning in them and do tell important stories. Friday the 13th’s most pivotal moment is when it’s revealed that the hockey mask killer isn’t actually Jason Vorhees but really his mother who has been plotting her revenge for what happened to her child 12 years prior, this explains the tragedy and pain that comes with grief which doesn’t always just go away with time, and can drive people insane. Especially when Jason’s drowning was completely preventable. Mrs. Vorhees killing all these kids at the camp was her way of resolving the great grief she had faced when she lost her son, she didn’t want to help make sure it didn’t happen to other kids she instead wanted other people and their families to feel the exact same way she felt, this changes the meaning of the film from a supernatural slasher to a vengeful slasher that was really a woman who let grief engulf her rather than it being about a zombie who is trying to get revenge while he can.
Sinners most pivotal moment is when Smoke decides to sacrifice himself in order to let Sammie and his community be free while also coming to terms with his violent past and letting go to see his child in the after life. This satisfies the movie by giving Sammie a happy ending, letting Smoke end as a selfless character instead of being portrayed as selfish, Smoke also gets to see who he dreamed of most in his child. It finishes an ongoing battle in Smoke’s head and gives the remaining characters peace and having them chase their dreams instead of grieving and missing what they could have had.
Visual Techniques are important to horror movies and both Sinners and Friday the 13th have unique ones that make them terrifying for different reasons. Friday the 13th uses a grit and killer’s POV to make you feel like you’re in the room when each kill happens, the grit also helps with an unsettling feeling while watching. The camera movements transition from slow to fast creating a jump scare type of feeling. Sinners uses different aspects to create different feelings with each shot, it uses lighting to capture an old timey feeling as well, but when the scares are happening it does the same thing as Friday the 13th with the speeding up and slowing down to jump scare you.