25 Best Horror Movies on Amazon Prime Right Now

2. Friday the 13th 

Release Year: 1980

Written By: Victor Miller

Directed By: Sean S. Cunningham

Starring: Adrienne King, Betsy Palmer, Harry Crosby, Kevin Bacon, Jeannie Taylor, Mark Nelson, Laurie Bartram, Ari Lehman

Another iconic slasher film with a long list of sequels and reboots, Friday the 13th opened in 1980 and forever changed the way we think of Fridays that happen to fall on the 13th of the month. The superstition took on a whole other life in the hands of Jason.

Friday the 13th centers on Camp Crystal Lake, which reopens after being shut down for two decades after a string of unsolved murders. Even though the new crop of campers hope for a fresh start, the camp’s curse remains on Friday the 13th, when a killer fatally attacks each of the counselors.

The film went on to become a cult classic and generate a successful franchise of films about Jason, the central antagonist. Friday the 13th crossed over with A Nightmare on Elm Street in 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason and received a reboot in 2009. But the original left its lasting legacy on the slasher film subgenre of horror movies.