For those who haven’t seen the Friday The 13th films, this article contains spoilers.
Jason Voorhees is one of the most enduring figures in horror. Regardless if you love or hate the franchise, there’s no denying its impact on popular culture. Often overlooked is what went into making the 12-film series. Through extensive research and interviews, I invite you to take a closer look at the Friday The 13th universe. This is Crystal Lake Confessional.
Repetition has always been a key element of the Friday The 13th franchise. Nearly all of the films follow the same formula. A group of young adults gets killed one-by-one while spending the weekend at Camp Crystal Lake. While murder, machetes, and promiscuous teens are crucial to the series, the soundtrack just might be the most important. This is where soundtrack composer, Harry Manfredini comes in.
With over 140 films to his credit including Swamp Thing, Deep Star Six, and the House franchise, the scores of Manfredini are as diverse as recognizable. However, it’s the 8 of 12 installments of the Friday franchise he will always be known for. Be it hair-raising jump scares, ominous tension, or the irreplaceable Ki Ki Ki, Ma Ma Ma, the works of Manfredini are equally as recognizable as Jason’s hockey mask!
I had the opportunity to speak with Manfredini and we discuss how he came up with the Jason Sound and how music is more essential to horror than blood-curdling visuals.
Coop: How did you approach the score for Friday The 13th? Did you have a melody or a line in mind the first time you watched it?
Harry Manfredini: The first time I saw it I was not sure of what to do. As I watched it over and over, it became clear that the music had more of a dramatic and character part to play in the film. We don’t see the killer until reel 9. So it was my first concern to let the audience know when they were seeing what the killer saw, and what was just a camera shot. So I had to bring the killer into reel 1.
Coop: Right, and by the end, the entire thing has gone off the rails so you could stretch out.
Manfredini: After watching the ending, I saw a close-up of Betsy, Mrs. Voorhees’s mouth and she was hearing her son Jason saying Kill her, Mommy! Kill her! then she would say it. I realized she was hearing voices in her head.
Coop: From a psychological perspective, did that change what you were scoring?
Manfredini: I was listening to Kristof Penderecki at the time. A very avant-garde 20th-century composer with this dramatic choral music. So on my meager budget, I went to a microphone and just spoke the letters. Ki for KILL and Ma For Mommy. Then processed them and the result is the ki ki ki, ma ma ma sound you hear throughout the film. Since then, of course, it became the Jason sound.
Coop: That’s really the only leitmotif for the killer in this series, be it Mrs.Voorhees or Jason.
Manfredini: I decided that would only be music for the killer. Thereby even making the presence of the killer more of a personal theme. There really isn’t a theme, as much as color and sonority the score has in its sound. These things made the music and that sound almost become a character in the film, just as much as any actor!
Coop: Aside from what was on-screen what changed for you with each film? Was there anything planned on your part?
Manfredini: The elements of the score, sonority, and colors pretty much permeated each film. The major thing that really changed over the course of time between each film, was equipment. I acquired a new piece of gear a synth, or some new samples, and incorporated it into the overall sound. Each new piece of gear added something to the original colors and sonorities. It was very much a conscious choice.
Coop: Friday 7 was the first big departure in the series, score-wise. Almost a Fred Myrow, Phantasm vibe? What went into the score for that one?
Manfredini: Tha was Fred Mullin who did that one actually! It was done in Canada, and they had a tax incentive to use a Canadian composer. I was also working on another film at the time. But I think they did use some of my old scores in some spots though.
Coop: What makes a score scary? How do you use theory to heighten the tension with music?
Manfredini: This is a very short answer to what could be a three-hour lecture. There are numerous ways to get this to happen. The film itself almost always determines what would be scary or not. What I mean is that the story, the plot, the characters, can be determinants of what might be scary. Something musically pleasant can be scary or causing tension with its sound. A good example could be a music box, that plays a lovely theme. There is nothing at all scary or ominous in that music per se, but if the plot, the character, the killer, or something in the plot is related to that music box in a tense or dramatic fashion, then the innocuous little theme has plenty of weight dramatically.
Coop: Oh I totally agree! I’m a firm believer in sound design being one of the most important elements in horror.
Manfredini: Music in horror is often unsettling due to intervals being dissonant and unnerving minor 2nds, major 7ths, tritones, even minor 9ths. But again, the film is the determinant of the tension or scare of these. For example, the show Gilligan’s Island is loaded with comical minor seconds! They’re found in many comical moments in a ton of films. Orchestration is another element. Often in horror films, strange instruments, and colors lend an uneasy feeling to the listener. Even samples of everyday things processed in various ways. All of these add to the composer’s ability to create tension where it’s required.
C: It’s interesting how you bring up how close comedy is to horror, even from a sound design standpoint.
Manfredini: It’s very important to understand the relationship between horror and comedy. How many times have you seen a film where a character is getting scared and says something like “Hey, this isn’t funny anymore”? There comes a point in horror, where it can be so over-the-top, it’s funny. It’s the same in comedy where it becomes scary. You have to be careful in writing too far in either direction. Some musical clichés have become the opposite of their original use. Look at the JAWS motif, it’s often used as a comical statement. Even the Ki ki ki ma ma ma comes up when some character is goofing on another.
Coop: Do you think the correlation relationship between horror and comedy is subjective?
Manfredini: I think it has more to do with the expectation of the viewer. Let’s say I get up from my desk and walk to a door maybe 20 feet away. There is a physical expectation by the viewer as to how long that takes. Maybe 8 seconds or around that. So, if it takes me 45 seconds that’s going to be pretty funny. A good example is Tim Conway as the butler on The Carol Burnett Show. However, if it takes maybe a split second, well that would be scary. It’s way too fast! So that’s yet another element of scare versus tension. Each film and each scene has to be understood and conceived in the director’s vision and intent.
Coop: I’m a big fan of scores from John Barry (even if I haven’t seen the film!). Aside from maybe Bear McCreary, why do you feel the grandeur scores are becoming extinct?
Manfredini: It’s true! They have gone away in a traditional sense but they are still around to another extent. One of the big reasons is the rise of sound effects. The digital world has made every possible sound available to filmmakers and they use them! In other films, the music would cover these empty areas. There seems to be this desire to utilize sound effects in a way to increase the realism of the film. With that, the music becomes more atmospheric in nature and even sound effect in of itself. Those percussive thumping scores, or the sonic atmospheres, not really commenting, or underlining any drama, feeling, or character. They just kind of lay over the film.
Coop: Do you ever look back on some of your Friday scores and think of what you could have done differently?
Manfredini: Not really. Well, sometimes I wish I had more time or budget but that’s not really a musical factor.
Coop: Was working on Friday The 13th: The Game any more or less challenging than working on a film?
Manfredini: First of all the game is multiplayer, so each player in a way creates his or her own score as they play. The music was written in many, many modules of material, each devised to accompany any choice made by the player. Also, most of the music was written without seeing anything. The only elements of the game that are actually scored were the kills, where Kane Hodder was motion captured and I got to see those and write directly to them. As far as the music was concerned, the materials of all the Friday films were still in play and therefore the score sounds like an actual Friday film!
Coop: What are you currently working on?
Manfredini: Well, with the virus in full force, I am not working on anything film-wise! I have three films that will start production soon. I hope anyway. I’ve also been working on concert orchestrations of some of my scores for live performance if live concerts ever begin to come back as well. And of course, getting new sounds for future material.
Coop: Would you be down to work on another Friday film?
Manfredini: Sure!
To hear more of Harry Manfredini’s compositions, please visit Bandcamp.
Catch up with previous installments of Crystal Lake Confessional here.
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – –Part 6 – Part 7
Part TS – Part 8 – Part 9 – Part HM – Part 10 – Part FvJ – Part 2009