Roger Ebert was one of the most respected and beloved critics in history, but there was one franchise that the legendary reviewer absolutely hated. Beginning in 1967, Ebert wrote film reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times and completely revolutionized the art of popular film criticism. He took things to new heights when he co-hosted At the Movies with Gene Siskel.
Ebert’s review style was instantly recognizable, and he approached film with an eye for the human details. Nevertheless, his accessible and witty blurbs made him the go-to for the definitive answer on a movie’s quality. However, Ebert was subject to biases like any other critic, and he couldn’t keep his derision hidden when it came to a certain movie franchise.
Roger Ebert Hated The Friday The 13th Movies
Jason Voorhees looms in a darkened doorway in Friday the 13th: The New Blood
Helping to kick the ’80s slasher craze into high gear, 1980’s Friday the 13th was one of the highest-grossing films of the year and an instant cultural phenomenon. The mystery slasher flick was never bound for the Academy Awards, but it got decent reviews in a genre that has historically been overlooked by critics.
Though most reviews were tepid at best, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel absolutely lambasted Friday the 13th on their TV show and spent an entire episode trash-talking the film and its genre. Siskel even went so far as to spoil the film’s twist ending in an effort to get people not to watch (via Chicago Tribune).
Ebert never stooped to ruining the film, but he agreed with his co-host about the slasher classic and would maintain that position in the subsequent films. When reviewing Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, Ebert called the film an “immoral and reprehensible piece of trash.” Unlike other films which he simply didn’t like, Ebert took a moral stance.
If Ebert bothered to talk about a film in the Friday the 13th franchise, he not only gave it a poor rating, but took time to explain the fundamental flaws of society that it exploited. While history has certainly proven Roger Ebert correct about some of Jason Voorhees’ less-than-stellar outings, he was way off about slashers in general.
Ebert Was Not A Fan Of Horror In General
Pinhead looking angry in Hellraiser
Though there were horror films that Roger Ebert liked, he was generally pessimistic about the genre as a whole. Many of the movies he hated were low-hanging fruit, while others are generally accepted as all-time classics. Ebert notoriously gave a half-star review to Hellraiser, calling it a “dreary series of scenes that repeat each other” (via Roger Ebert).
He often struggled to see the point of gory and pessimistic films, largely because they presented a worldview that didn’t align with his own. Hopefulness may be an admirable trait, but it makes for a boring horror film. Friday the 13th just happened to take the brunt of Roger Ebert‘s ire, but it wasn’t the only horror movie he hated.
Headshot Of Roger Ebert
- Birthdate
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June 18, 1942
- Birthplace
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Urbana, Illinois, USA
- Notable Projects
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Life Itself, At the Movies
- Professions
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Film Critic, Screenwriter, Journalist, Author
- Height
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5 feet 8 inches