Kevin Bacon reflects on his gruesome ‘Friday the 13th’ death 40 years later [Video]
Many a major Hollywood star began their careers in horror, but few died as spectacular and memorable a death as Kevin Bacon in the original Friday the 13th (1980), which celebrated its 40th anniversary on May 9.
â[It] was a classic horror movie death, because I smoke a joint and have sex with a girl, and then that means youâre going to die if youâre in a slasher movie,â Bacon, 62, tells us during a recent interview (watch above).
Indeed, Baconâs Camp Crystal Lake counselor Jack Burrell is enjoying a post-coital puff on a cabin bunk while his lover Marcie is in the bathroom when an arm emerges from below the bed and pins down his head. Then the sharp edge of an arrow protrudes up through the bottom of his neck, spouting a geyser of blood as his eyes pop in horror.
Bacon says the scene was a practical effect, requiring a prosthetic chest and neck â though it wasnât an easy process.
âI was on my knees with my head through a hole in the bed, with my neck back. It was very uncomfortable, I had to stay there for a really, really long time. And there was only one neck and chest, so everything had to work perfectly.
âSomeone was under the bed to push this arrow through, somebody else was going to pump the blood. I had to have the right [look] â I donât even know how you rehearse getting that look. And they rolled camera and the arrow came through, but the pump broke on the blood plumper, so the special-effects person [legendary Tom Savini] grabbed it and started blowing through it as someoneâs saying, âMake your eyes roll back.â
âAnd then it was done. And they got it in one take, which was good, because there was no second neck.â
Friday the 13th was Baconâs first notable credit following his meme-worthy breakthrough in 1978âs Animal House and his first taste of horror. Though he has had a prolific, eclectic career co-starring with so many other well-known actors that itâs inspired a board game, Bacon has frequently returned to the genre throughout his career. Some other notable credits include Tremors (1990), Flatliners (1990), Stir of Echoes (1999), Hollow Man (2000) and this yearâs You Should Have Left.
âItâs very, very actable stuff,â Bacon says of his affinity for horror. âItâs high stakes, life or death, emotional turmoil. Itâs challenging to try to modulate where a characterâs emotional life is gonna be over the course of a screenplay.
âAnd people donât like to talk about this, but if youâre doing a scary movie and youâre a lead in a scary movie, 75 percent of the time youâre gonna be scared. So what are those looks and feelings gonna look like? You have to have variation. So I find that to be a great challenge.â
Watch Kevin Bacon talk about why You Should Have Left is quarantine horror:
â Video produced by Gisselle Bances and edited by John Santo
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