The New Horror Movie From Kevin Bacon Parallels Friday the 13th

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Kevin Bacon acknowledges how They/Them is similar to the horror classic Friday the 13th. Director John Logan, known for writing Gladiator and Skyfall, wrote and directed They/Them. Exclusively on Peacock, the film is produced by horror movie powerhouse Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions.

Bacon has starred in many horror films over the course of his career, including Tremors, Flatliners, and Friday the 13th. Currently, Bacon is playing Owen Whistler in They/Them, where he owns and operates a gay conversion camp.

A group of LGBTQ+ teenagers is sent to Whistler Camp while the camp counselors subject them to heinous acts of conversion therapy. Besides the torment from the counselors, it becomes obvious that someone is picking off the teens one by one. Bacon’s inclusion in the cast further cements the influence of Friday the 13th on They/Them.

Screen Rant spoke with Bacon exclusively about his role in They/Them and its similarities to Friday the 13th. When asked if he had any flashbacks to Camp Crystal Lake, Bacon describes how comfortable he felt slipping back into old territory on set.

In the actor’s description, the setting is similar to Friday the 13th, with a campground, woods, a lake, and of course, teenage victims. According to Bacon, Logan and Bacon discussed it on set as the film leaned into those influences.

Despite being heavily influenced by Friday the 13th and the slasher genre, They/Them manages to stand out. This slasher horror film focuses on LGBTQ+ characters, which is unusual for a film of this genre.

A conversion camp setting allows audiences to empathize with the characters as they witness a real-life horror experienced by some within the LGBTQ+ community. Empathy is not often given to characters within the slasher genre.

Jason Voorhees’ camp counselors are merely obstacles in his path, who are untimely killed without much mourning from the viewers. Using social commentary and satire, They/Them turns tired slasher tropes on their heads.

Robert Poirrer

Robert Poirrer is a contributing author who covers Hollywood latest movie releases and web series for the MovieThop website. He has a decade of experience in writing movies based articles for numerous renowned media outlets. He is excellent at creating unique content based on emerging trends in a variety of categories especially entertainment, movies and lifestyle. When not writing articles you could find Robert enjoying mountain biking trips with his friends. He graduated in English Literature from North Carolina State University.