Friday the 13th Movie Cameos

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Lifestyle Scary Movies and Series

Celebrity Cameos in the Jason Movies [Friday the 13th Trivia]

Are There Any Cameos in the Friday the 13th Movies?

The Friday the 13th franchise has been highly entertaining for decades. In fact, Jason Voorhees and Camp Crystal Lake never seem to get old! That said, throughout the long duration of Voorhees killings, there have been plenty of opportunities for celebrity cameos. There are a lot of ‘short lived’ roles (pun intended) that need filling, and cameos are sometimes the perfect way to get the job done.  Many of these cameos will be super obvious!

List of Celebrity Cameo Appearances in the Friday the 13th Movies

The Friday the 13th movies are iconic in the horror slasher genre, and thus a cameo appearance is a really cool ordeal!  Here is the complete list of celebrity cameos that appear throughout the Friday the 13th movies.

Betsy Palmer

Mrs. Voorhees, Jason’s mother, from the original film was invited to partake in a cameo for the second film, Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981).

Steve Miner

The voice of the TV newscaster in the 3rd film, Friday the 13th Part III (1982), is the director, Steve Miner!

Corey Feldman

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985), was supposed to star Corey Feldman, however, his role of Tommy Jarvis was given to someone else due to scheduling conflicts.  Instead, Corey shot a few scenes to be used as a cameo in the film.

Walt Gorney

Walt played Crazy Ralph in the first two films.  He then returned to lend his voice as the narrator in the beginning of Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988).

John Carl Buechler

John is one of the best special effects and makeup  guys out there. He also plays a firefighter who finds and retrieves Jason’s broken mask at the end of the movie.

Kane Hodder 

The screenwriter for Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) makes a cameo in the movie.

California DJs

Two California DJs can be seen in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993). When Jason goes to hell, he throws a party first!

David Cronenberg

Cronenberg was killed on screen in a cameo appearance during Jason X (2001) as part of a deal made with director, Jim Isaac. Call it…pay back.

Robert Shaye

Robert Shaye has produced all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, including Freddy vs Jason (2003).  He makes a cameo in this film as Laurie’s high school principal.

Rey Mysterio

Famed wrestler makes an appearance in Freddy vs Jason (2003). He can be seen “as the person who jumps.”

Evangeline Lilly

Evangeline is a part of a crowd about 27 minutes into the film. She is wearing a long-sleeve green shirt.

Last Notes About Friday the 13th Cameos

There were a couple that probably could have happened, but some red tape must have got in the way.  One example is the cameo of Adrienne King (the heroine of the original Friday the 13th movie) which was rumored to happen for the Friday the 13th (2009) remake.  It ultimately did not happen because the producers decided they did not want any originals to be in the remake.  It is obvious the franchise has had a lot of chances to cast cameo appearances, but has been rather conservative in doing so.

If you think you have found a new cameo or find other great cameos from famous actors in horror movies, please comment below so we can add it!

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From the Original Vampires to Modern Representations in Movies

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Horror Books Horror Mystery and Lore Scary Movies and Series
Vampire woman walking through the forest
Photography by Racheal Lomas

Have you ever wondered where the modern vampire first appeared within human history? Well, any documentation outside of ancient mythology came with historic value, from credible sources such as historian William of Newburgh. Due to his reputation as a noteworthy and careful historian, his History of English Affairs serves as one of the earliest records of vampire phenomena of the British Isles. Unfortunately, his reliance upon spoken folklore caused these chronicles to come under scrutiny and these chronicles are often considered to have vague and inaccurate content. The reliance on this folklore was due to commonplace belief in the dead returning to life as vampires, so it seemed that diminishing these beliefs would have been considered a disregard of viable information. The relish with which Willaim of Newburgh accounts for the living dead in several of his chronicles is present in his History of English Affairs, he speaks of visible ghosts or animated corpses that were believed to have returned from the grave to terrorize the living–his reports documented several stories of the undead, however, they do not attest to any blood consumption by such creatures. So were these true vampires he was documenting or were these revenants a different type of demon or spirit that was dedicated to terrorizing those who still lived? Well, they did have a few similarities with what we consider vampires.

The first report from William of Newburgh occurred in Buckinghamshire, in which a man returned from the grave and assaulted his wife for several nights; when she finally told her family about what was happening, her husband returned to terrorize her family and her neighbors as well. Only when a local clergyman wrote an absolution and placed it upon the corpse, was the body formally bound to the grave. Another report from History of English Affairs states that the body of a deceased clergyman escaped from his grave to haunt the abbey and in particular a woman from the town in which he had served in life. This woman sought out a monk who vowed to stand guard over the grave at night; when the corpse tried to escape from the grave again, the monk attacked it with an ax until it returned to its grave. When a group of monks dug up the corpse the next day, they found it sleeping in a pool of its own blood from ax wounds. They burned the corpse to ashes to prevent it from coming back again. This wasn’t the only account in which the returning corpse was burned to ashes in order to keep it from returning, as it is a common belief that vampires are exceptionally difficult to kill, but their vulnerability lies during the day while they are sleeping. As nocturnal creatures, they reportedly avoided the sunlight and then would come out at night as a means to hide their true nature. None of these reports indicated a bloodlust, but it’s still possible that these instances were missed.

Vampire lovers aren’t always aware of the vast amounts of lore that is connected to their favored creatures of the night, but the long history of the blood-sucking undead is as colorful as it is convoluted and complex. Within what can be considered the modern era, the lore attached to vampires has inspired hundreds of books, movies, and television references to these creatures and will continue to do so in times to come.

Ambrogio, the First Vampire

Swan with open wings on a lake
Photography by Kari

The very first recorded story that depicts the origin of vampires is from ancient Greek mythology, it is not as well-referenced as it should be in modern times. This story came from Delphi, a city that has existed and been inhabited since 1600 BC–the Scriptures of Delphi written by the infamous Oracle of Delphi were one of many archaeological discoveries that have emerged. These scriptures provided a solid foundation of ancient beliefs and evidence, but there are reportedly other archaeological finds that date back even further into ancient times that validate the existence of vampires. Within these scriptures is a section that has come to be known as the “Vampire Bible,” which tells the story of a man named Ambrogio, an Italian adventurer whose lifelong dream was to have his fortune told by the Oracle of Delphi.

Upon meeting this Oracle, she offered only a few cryptic phrases which translated to, “The curse. The moon. The blood will run.” Needless to say, our hero Ambrogio was disturbed by this message and spent the night pondering this message and its possible meanings. When the morning came, a sister of the Oracle, the beautiful young maiden Selene, came to care for her sister and the temple as she did every morning–upon meeting her, he decided to stay and met with her again every morning before he fell deeply in love with her. He asked for her hand in marriage and to return with him to Italy, but the god Apollo had watched this all unfold and took great disrespect that a mortal would try to take the maiden that was dedicated to him.

In a rage, Apollo cursed Ambrogio so that the sun would burn his flesh, which kept him from meeting Selene again the next morning and depart with her to his homeland. Ambrogio sought the protection of Hades, having fled to the caves, and the god of the underworld made a deal and Ambrogio had to leave his soul with Hades. Hades bestowed upon Ambrogio a magical wooden bow with eleven arrows, with which he was to hunt and kill a creature and offer it up to Artemis in order to gain her favor; once this had happened, he would have to steal her silver bow and deliver it back to Hades in order to retrieve his soul. Unfortunately for Ambrogio, he squandered the arrows killing swans and writing poetry to Selene in their blood. Realizing his plight, he stole the silver bow of Artemis anyway, but upon discovery of her missing bow, she too cursed Ambrogio, so that the touch of silver would also burn his flesh.

This new curse caused him to be unable to deliver the bow to Hades and in his grief, he fell to his knees and begged for mercy–Artemis felt pity for him and gave him one more chance. She bestowed upon Ambrogio the speed and strength of a god so that he would be as powerful a hunter as she was, as well as fangs so he may draw blood from his prey and continue to write his poetry. Newly immortal, Ambrogio was to abandon all other gods but the virgin goddess Artemis and with that pursuit of any physical love with Selene. Even though he agreed to the demands of Artemis, he wrote Selene a message that night, instructing her to meet with him on his ship. She found a coffin in the hull of the ship, with a note attached that told her to order the ship to sail and to not open the coffin until sunset–they ended up living inside of the caves of Ephesus together for many years, Ambrogio not having aged a day but Selene, still a mortal fell sick with age.

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Statue of the Greek Goddess Selene

Ambrogio knew that he would not be able to spend the afterlife with Selene because Hades still possessed his soul, so he sacrificed a swan to Artemis to gain the favor of her appearance. Artemis was pleased with his loyalty and service to her, so she made him one final deal, that he may touch Selene one time in order to drink her blood. Upon drinking her blood, her mortal body would die, but she would return an immortal like himself and they would be able to spend eternity together. Selene’s spirit rose to the heavens and at the behest of Artemis became the Goddess of moonlight, where her soft light would touch Ambrogio and the children of the night who were created by him.

The Truth Behind the Legend of Dracula

In the whole of vampire lore, there are no stories that have caused more fear than Dracula; this legendary creature was invented by Bram Stoker in his 1897 novel, Dracula. His novel has inspired more horror movies, television shows, and books than any other vampire origin story–while Dracula as a character in the book is entirely fictional, Stoker actually gave him the likeness of a real historical figure who lusted after blood, who was rumored to have executed between 40,000 and 100,000 people in his famous fashion of impalement. According to legend, Vlad III allegedly feasted on the blood of the dying victims as they writhed in agony, but according to the historical references of Vlad Tepes he was regarded as a hero of his land.

Vlad Tepes, Prince of Wallachia

Son of Vlad Dracul, Vlad Tepes the Prince of Wallachia is more famously known as Vlad the Impaler–this moniker served as testimony to the brutal way in which he dealt with his enemies. Born in 1431 in what is now known as Transylvania, a central region of Romania–but according to a professor of medieval history and archaeology at the University of Florida, there is no record of Vlad Tepes ever having owned property in Transylvania. This means that while Stoker’s Dracula may be centralized in Transylvania, the historic Dracula, Vlad Tepes, didn’t have much to do with Transylvania after his birth. The supposed Castle Dracula was never inhabited by Vlad III, but has been turned into a tourist attraction due to its location and physical appearance.

The Order of the Dragon

The year of Vlad the Impaler’s birth, his father was inducted into the Order of the Dragon, an order of knights, the designation of which earned Vlad II the surname of Dracul, the old Romanian word which translated to “dragon,” this was derived from a related word, drac which translated to “devil.” Eventually, this would lead Vlad III to inherit the surname and come to be known as Drăculea, son of Dracul.

Vlad the Impaler

According to the legends that were spoken after the death of Vlad III, he got the name of the Impaler, when he was the voivode, or ruler of Wallachia. He had invited hundreds of boyars–aristocratic Romanians, who had played a pivotal role in dethroning him–to a banquet where he had them all killed and impaled upon spikes while they were still warm. The terror he reigned and the blood he spilled didn’t stop there, as he is also credited with doing the same to dozens of Saxon merchants who had allied themselves with the boyars who had stolen his throne. Another alleged bloody tale is when a group of Ottoman messengers refused to take their turbans off due to religious necessity, at which point Vlad had their turbans nailed to their skulls so they would forever remain on their hands.

Dante and Virgil in Hell by William Adolphe Bourguereau (1850)
Dante and Virgil in Hell by William Adolphe Bourguereau (1850)

Films that are based on Dracula

Vampires as they are in the Movies

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Fun Facts About Rose Red (the Movie)

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Best Of Best of Movies Lifestyle Scary Movies and Series

Rose Red Facts, Trivia and Bloopers

Facts About Stephen King’s Rose Red You Didn’t Know

Technically, Rose Red (2002) is a TV miniseries. With that said, the film is frequently referred to as a movie, and is played nowadays pretty much like a movie. Still, however, the movie is split up into sections which are conveniently broken down for commercial spots. It is a rather long movie running a total of 254 minutes…but each scene is magic in its own right!  Today, Rose Red remains a gem among horror films, especially when it comes to haunted houses.  Without further ado, let’s go over a little Rose Red trivia and get our spook on!

Behind the Scenes Trivia & Fun Facts

  • Although they are divorced today, actors Jimmi Simpson and Melanie Lynskey fell in love and married after meeting on the set of Rose Red.
  • Rose Red is based on Sarah Winchester’s “Winchester Mystery House.”
  • Stephen King was strongly influenced by Shirley Jackson’s book “The Haunting” (also turned into a movie, and remade a few years before Rose Red in 1999.
  • Rose Red was a breakout role for actress Emily Deschanel, who played a psychic-type, Pam Asbury, in the movie.
  • Actress Nancy Travis, who played Professor Joyce Reardon, was actually pregnant during the filming of Rose Red, and can be seen in different weights throughout the film.
  • Rose Red was filmed in only 4 months!
  • Rose Red was made for TV as a miniseries and thus was not permitted to allow curse words in the script. Still, Kevin Bolinger is seen recording the words “BULL SH*T” on his notepad during his ease dropping on Professor Reardon’s slideshow about Rose Red.
  • Stephen King had super high aspirations for Rose Red being the best haunted house horror movie of all time, and ever. He planned it to be as unforgettable as it is, specifically citing the advantages of a miniseries format allowing for a larger audience and more story-telling time.
  • Actor Matt Ross, who played psychic Emery Waterman, is a very strong believer in the supernatural in real life, explaining that his mother has sworn to have seen a ghost (his real life mother, that is!).
  • Due to dance scenes, the cast needed dance lessons and attended Blue Skies Studios in Seattle to learn how to properly accommodate Glenn Miller.
  • A reference to Stephen King’s first novel Carrie is found in Annie, a girl with telekinetic powers and the ability to rain stones.
  • Rose Red was a breakout role for actor Jimmi Simpson.
  • Actor David Dukes, who played Professor Carl Miller (antagonist), died of a heart attack while playing tennis the night before returning to shoot the remainder of his scenes. He was already such a large part of the movie it were impossible to replace him (and would have been in terrible etiquette to do so). Instead, Craig Baxley Jr (a stunt coordinator) completed the scenes involving the zombie version of Professor Miller.
Guests arriving at Rose Red House from Stephen King's Horror Mini Series
  • The film had a promotional and marketing budget of $200,000.
  • The Rose Red script was delayed from finish after Stephen King suffered a car accident and required a little down time to recover.
  • Although Rose Red was released in 2002, the DVD would not be released until 2007.
  • Originally, Stephen King and Steven Spielberg were going to make Rose Red together, however, after a variety of creative differences…King decided to buy the rights to the movie from Spielberg…who wished it would have had more action-based scares.
  • Parallels can be made between Rose Red and an earlier Stephen King’s “The Shining.”
  • Although the original budget for Rose Red was a modest $3 million, which is a somewhat normal amount for such a project at that time…it ended up absorbing an astounding $35 million by the end of it’s shoot!
  • The sounds of hammers and construction throughout the house is based upon the sounds visitors report hearing within the real-life Winchester mansion.
  • There is a prequel to Rose Red, in book format only, entitled “The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red” (2001). This book provides a lot of backstory about Ellen Rimbauer and Rose Red itself which coincides with the movie. Ellen Rimbauer was Steve Rimbauer’s grandmother.
  • Despite being based upon the Winchester Mystery House, Rose Red was shot using the Thornewood Castle in Tacoma, Washington.
Young Girl Holding a Doll From Rose Red Horror Movie

Logical Errors and Goof Ups (Bloopers)

  • Rose Red, as polished as it may be (with a budget of $35 million for a miniseries, it should be), had a number of goof ups and bloopers, as well as logical contradictions. Some of the harder bloopers to spot include:
  • Kevin Bolinger’s graduation date is seemingly weeks away (insinuated by Professor Miller), though the year is supposedly 2001. During his public interrogation of Professor Joyce Reardon he states he is a part of the Class of 2003.
  • Ellen Rimbauer supposedly disappeared at age 70 in 1950, though based upon earlier information, she would have been 64.
  • Annie’s blood stained bandage becomes clean and then soiled again multiple times during perspective changes.
  • The color of the rose on the stained glass window of the tower changes color throughout the film.
  • During Kevin Bollinger’s public interrogation of Professor Reardon, Professor Miller is seen leaving the sound booth above the classroom and then reappears in the booth within the same scene.
  • The phone call from Steve Rimbauer to Professor Miller made from Rose Red is received by Miller’s cell phone within his car…though the movie receives the voicemail on his answering machine in his office.
  • Joyce must have smeared blood on the face of Professor Miller across a number of shots, as Professor Miller’s collar is seen with blood, clean from the blood and with the blood again in a continuity error.
  • Although the “spook hunt” planned for Rose Red is for Memorial Day weekend in late May, college football is seen playing twice in the movie as though it is live. College football season runs from September to January.
  • Although Steve Rimbauer states he will be tearing Rose Red down on the first of July, the end of the movie fast forwards six months and low and behold, Rose Red survived much longer!
  • Emery Waterman’s mother received a credit card bill that references an 11 digit customer service number, (800) 455 – 87653.
  • No one can enter Rose Red’s premises without a gate opener, however, a pizza delivery man seems to be able to get to the front door!
  • The roses placed at the front of Rose Red at the end of the movie change arrangement.
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Hagazussa (2017) – Experimental Witch Horror

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Featured Horror Movie Reviews Scary Movies and Series

Lukas Fiegelfeld’s debut chiller, Hagazussa (2017) (Hagazussa being a German term for Witch) is commonly mentioned alongside Robert Eggers’ debut flick The Witch (2015). This is not only for obvious titular reasons, but also for their moody, slow-burn atmospheres and psychologically bleak plots depicting young girls taken in by the darkness. Although there’s comparisons to be made, the two witch films do differ in many key ways. While The Witch has, for all its oddities, a rather straightforward plot, Hagazussa plays with ambiguity in a way reminiscent of such experimental films as David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1997) and Denis Villeneuve’s wholly interpretive Enemy (2013). From the opening shot of Fiegfeld’s snowy chiller an effect takes place on it’s audience. Some may shuffle uncomfortably at the slow motion frames of snow, accented by MMMD’s permeating stringed-drone soundtrack, though those familiar with hypnotic and slow burn cinema will already be settling in with a smile on their faces. 

Like the works of Andrei Tarkovsky, Hagazussa relies on an atmosphere of gradually-building dread to drag it along. While this could have been achieved with the tight, focused shots of snowy mountains and moody forests alone, MMMD’s cerebral drones help accent every frame to its full artistic potential. Atmospheric horror and drone music have always gone hand in hand on some level, though recent years have seen the two forming a dreadful bond. MMMD’s is a relaxing dread, more akin to the sounds of Bernard Hermann in his work for Hitchcock’s Vertigo, though retaining the world-ending vibrations boasted by many doom/drone groups. 

Hagazussa witch horror film poster featuring a witch with antlers

Hagazussa is a cerebrally-focused feast for the eyes, aiming to bring you down to its speed and keep you there until the final head-scratching scene climaxes. That’s not to say that you’ll be enjoying only mountain scenery and expressionist artistry. Hagazussa unflinchingly plays with themes of madness through isolation, child molestation, implied bestiality and multiple instances of rape in a bold way. It’s essentially that quiet kid you befriended in school, only to later find their collection of black metal CDs and skinned rodents; an analogy I’m sure we can all relate to. 

History of Hagazussa

Germanic folklore image from the Bohemian region

Hagazussa relates to the German folklore tale of Perchta, a ‘Christmas witch’ who was said to punish those with untidy houses or those too lazy to have all of their flax spun by a certain night with fire and disembowelment. While traditional ideas run rampant in Hagazussa, rather than tell a tale of Perchta herself the film focuses more on how these tales of darkness can affect superstitious groups, leading to prejudice towards its character of focus, Albrun (Aleksandra Cwen) from surrounding villagers. A sense of self-loathing pervades every scene, making the viewer feel like one of the villagers themselves, observing each increasingly degenerate act as all human decency falters. The idea of loneliness in a populated land, being surrounded by people with no intent to help does wonders for the hostile foreboding the film is trying to invoke. 

Hagazussa (2017) Trailer

Without delving into spoilers, the third act of Hagazussa indeed involves a payoff of sorts, introducing a revenge aspect to the plot as well as some very dark psychedelic hijinxs. It’s very much worth wading through the admitted snails-pace of much of its proceedings, and features an ending that warps the viewers recollection of the whole film, meaning that if you weren’t already questioning everything you had just seen, you will by the time the credits roll. The heavy themes in Hagazussa will be polarising for some, though rather than just random shock factor inclusions they felt more by-products of an already bleak alternate universe, and rather fitting. 


Those with patience, and perhaps a little energy (I fell asleep during my first watch) will find artistry and atmosphere by the bucketload in Hagazussa, as well as a disturbing depiction of one woman’s struggle against dark urges and darker neighbors. While not for those with delicate sensibilities, it offers challenging source material that arguably goes further in terms of experimentation than Robert Egger’s comparative witchy outing of two years previous, from it’s opening to it’s beautiful final shot that will be burned into my mind for years to come.

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HAIL TO THE DEADITES

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Featured Scary Movies and Series

One thing we love at Puzzle Box Horror is The Evil Dead franchise. From cosmic horror icons such as the Necronomicon to evil spirits and possessions it just butters our biscuits. It’s no mystery why this movie has created a cult-like following. We’re excited to share the news about this new documentary “Hail To The Deadites” and remember “Shop smart, shop s-mart.”

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After 7 years of hard work, HAIL TO THE DEADITES will have its world premiere next month at the Fantasia International Film Festival.  

“Inspired by the 1981 classic’s cult following, HAIL TO THE DEADITES is a documentary about the fans of the EVIL DEAD franchise. Through interviews with the cast, crew, collectors, fans, freaks and geeks, HAIL TO THE DEADITES seeks to illuminate the darkest reaches of the EVIL DEAD franchise’s undying and still-growing popularity, a popularity that has spawned four films, a TV series, comic books, figurines and surpassed even its creator’s wildest dreams.

HAIL TO THE DEADITES puts the spotlight on the fans that cultivated and spread this groovy pop-culture infection! It celebrates those who’ve celebrated the films! ”Some people might find it weird to not see any footage of the franchise in the documentary but this is what I’ve been aiming for since day one. I’m really proud to say that everything you will see or hear in this documentary was created by the fans. So, rev your chainsaws and load your boomsticks, it’s time to give the DEADITES some sugar, baby!” – Steve Villeneuve

Bruce Campbell aka Ash Williams from the Evil Dead

Beside meeting with fans around the world, the 80 minutes documentary feature interviews with Evil Dead franchise cast members such as Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Tom Sullivan ,Dan Hicks ,Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Sarah Berry, Rick Domeier & Bill Moseley.

Given the continuing uncertainty related to physical cinema spaces and large gatherings which will likely continue through the remainder of the calendar year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Fantasia International Film Festival decided to mount their 2020 edition as a cutting-edge virtual festival in August. From what we heard so far, the movie should be available on the Fantasia online platform from August 20 to September 2nd. All film screenings will be geo-blocked to Canadian audiences and only accessible from within the country, vastly expanding the number of viewers we can engage with outside of Quebec.

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