Celebrate Friday the 13th With This 1989 Arsenio Hall Interview With Jason Voorhees

You probably recognize Jason Voorhees as the murderous, hockey-masked psychopath from the Friday the 13th movies. Here’s a little-known fact: He’s a terrible interview. In this 1989 clip above from The Arsenio Hall Show, Voorhees (played by Kane Hodder) drops by to promote Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Arsenio Hall does his best to engage his guest, questioning the movie monster about his declining kill rate and the origins of his anger. He even proposes future franchise installments, including When Jason Met Sally (arguably a better concept than the space-based Jason X). Still, Jason won’t give Arsenio an inch — just a frighteningly firm handshake.

At the time this interview aired, Friday the 13th movies were being released at the rate of one a year, and the series had long ago begun its descent into self parody. After the financial failure of Part VIII, the un-killable Voorhees took a leave of absence from theaters. He would return again in 1993 for Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. During the interim, Voorhees was awarded the (very tongue-in-cheek) Lifetime Achievement Award at the first-ever MTV Movie Awards in 1992. Watch him accept the award below, followed by a surprise unmasking by host Dennis Miller. Happy Friday!