Great Cripples In Horror: Mark | FRIDAY THE 13TH PART II (1981)

I've been a fan of horror movies ever since I was a little kid. While there are many things that make the genre special to me – the practical effects, the shitty acting, the goofy logic, the gory kills – one thing that will always put a smile on my face is whenever a cripple shows up. Great Cripples in Horror is my humble attempt to pay tribute to the many cripples that have done battle with the various forms of evil throughout the history of cinema.

***

The Broken Remnants of Camp Blood

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART II just so happens to be my favorite entry in my favorite horror series. While other horror series deliver a lot more scares, FRIDAY THE 13TH is really built around its ensemble casts and the kills of its antagonist, Jason Voorhees. This first sequel is my favorite, because it's unique for several reasons and is the only movie to really establish Jason as a character. It's also the only entry in the entire series not to feature Jason's iconic hockey mask. The man simply runs around with a bag over his head. And it's the simple utility of a bag over his head that's indicative of another reason why this entry is unique: Jason is still just a guy. Later sequels turn him into this supernatural force that's completely impervious to damage – he literally turns into a zombie starting with the sixth movie – but Jason is still a guy in this movie, living in a shitty little shanty out in the woods.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't talk about the fact that not only this movie but the entire franchise shouldn't even exist. In the original movie, Jason Voorhees is dead. He drowned when he was a little boy, and it was his death that caused his mother – the killer in the original movie – to murder the counselors at Camp Crystal Lake. While Jason does indeed show up at the end of the original movie, it's only during a dream sequence/hallucination. By Jason appearing in the sequel, it completely retcons the whole narrative established just one movie prior. It was also this lapse in logic that caused the director of the original movie not to return. He simply couldn't wrap his head around how Jason could still be alive when his movie so clearly establishes him as dead. And even as a huge fan of this series, I don't know how to really explain away this gaping plot hole. I suggest you just focus on the boobs and the kills.

It's Not Safe Back At Camp… It's Not Safe Anywhere

But another major reason why I personally enjoy this entry so much is the crippled dude on wheels that foolishly shows up at camp. While the fifth installment in this series features a man that's developmentally delayed, Mark is the only cripple brave enough to wheel his ass into the massive killing grounds of Jason Voorhees. He ultimately dies in absolutely spectacular fashion – like a dude in a wheelchair ever stood a fucking chance – but his addition to the cast is one of those small details that goes a long ways to making the ensemble of every movie a little distinct. It immediately makes this movie, "The one with the guy in the wheelchair," and that's super helpful when the majority of these movies are content to simply rehash the same plot over and over again.

And that plot, despite serving as the basis for multiple sequels, is actually a very simple one: people keep trying to do shit on or around Crystal Lake. In this movie, Paul Holt is attempting to open a new summer camp on the other side of the lake five years after the events of the first movie. Mark is someone with whom he's worked with in the past, and he's using the final weekend before the camp open to train the new counselors. Even though the filmmakers somehow manage to stretch that little bit of plot into a 90 minute feature, they still don't bother to pursue traditional narrative devices like character development. Each of the characters in the movie are rough sketches of people that you're able to quickly identify after only a few lines of dialogue.

Mark Getting Some Sweet Over-The-Clothes Action

Mark is slightly different, however. While he's initially portrayed as the stereotypical sadsack in a wheelchair – he doesn't want to join the others in town because a "drunk in a wheelchair" will just ruin things – he stays back at camp and eventually looks to hook up with Vicky, one of the other counselors. I'll admit that none of those things demonstrate that Mark has his shit together and should be working with kids, but his turn from mopey cripple to panty dropper represents arguably the biggest character arc in the movie. He even explains that he has worked with Paul in the past and that he was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, and that right there is genuine backstory – a rare occurrence in cheap slasher movies like this. As I said, most characters are defined by either a blatant stereotype or a few lines of dialogue.

But I'd argue that his death is actually the best thing that the filmmakers could've done with his character. They didn't exploit his disability. They could've easily had a scene where Jason has somehow knocked him out of his wheelchair and he then struggles to crawl away before being ruthlessly murdered. Because Jason don't give a fuck like that. And a kill like that would've certainly emphasized the fact that the character was a cripple. But the filmmakers decided to kill him like they kill every other horny counselor to ever pledge a summer up at camp. He simply wheels out looking for his would-be lover only to end up tasting the sweet kiss of Jason's machete.

Mark Catching A Machete With His Face

Let us not mourn for Mark, however. Oh, no. He need not our sympathies. Like Icarus, he simply flew too close to the sun. He was about to seal the deal with Vicky and slip inside her sweet chocolate panties when death caught up with him like it will with all of us one day. And everyone knows that in a slasher movie if you get laid, you get dead. But Mark is a man that deserves to be championed. He is a man that should be held up high and celebrated for the courage he displayed while in the face of incredible danger. While he ultimately did not survive his summer at Crystal Lake, many men more capable than him have lost their lives to the specter of Camp Blood. So the next time you light a candle or have a drink, may you think of Mark. For he is truly one of the great cripples in horror.

– King Cripple