Contemporary scholars in film criticism, such as Tony Williams, have credited "Friday the 13th" for initiating the subgenre of the "stalker" or slasher film. Cultural critic Graham Thompson also considers the film as a template, along with John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978), that "instigated a rush" of films of its type, in which young people away from supervision are systematically stalked and murdered by a masked villain. While critical reception of the film has been varied in the years since its release, it has attained a significant cult following. In 2017, "Complex" ranked the film ninth in a list of the best slasher films of all time.