Victor Miller, the screenwriter of the original Friday the 13th film, has died at the age of 86. Variety reported the news, which Miller's son confirmed. Miller died in Alameda, California, on Monday, Aug. 31. A cause of death has yet to be reported.
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"Friday the 13th" Set the Standard for the Slasher Film
Miller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1940. He got his start writing for soap operas, including All My Children, One Life to Live, Another World, Guiding Light, and General Hospital. His work on All My Children helped the series win three Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding writing.
Inspired by Halloween, Miller began writing Friday the 13th. Although the John Carpenter film launched the slasher genre in 1978, Miller wanted to take things a step further.
The 1980 film's summer camp setting would eventually become a trope in countless imitations. Its attitudes toward underage sex and drinking would also become a trope of the genre. It would also be satirized in films like Scream.
Miller Wanted to "Emulate 'Halloween'"
Miller explained what inspired him to write the first entry in the long-running horror film franchise in a recent interview with a Friday the 13th fan site.
"First came the concept that we emulate Halloween. The title didn't come until the screenplay had already gone through at least one draft," he said. "The idea for the summer camp came from my instinct that we needed a location where young adults would be cut off from all adult help, the basic idea in Halloween."
He added, "The idea that Jason had died before the film began also came from the concept in Halloween — that there is a prior evil — Michael Myers's murdering the babysitter, if I recall correctly. The rest of the story came as a result of the location and the idea that, one by one, the campers would be eliminated by the world's most protective mother."
Miller didn't have much to do with the numerous sequels to the original Friday the 13th. He is survived by his wife, Tina, and his sons, Ian and Josh.
