Every 'Friday the 13th' Movie, Ranked
Every Friday the 13th Movie, Ranked
Like Jason Voorhees himself, the "Friday the 13th" franchise can't die. We still can't decide whether that's a good or bad thing. But that's not going to stop us from ranking all ten movies in the main series and the 2009 reboot, just in time for the 15th anniversary of "Freddy vs. Jason."
11. 'Jason X' (2001)
"Jason X" is undoubtedly the dumbest entry in this long-running franchise, but there's something to be said for a slasher movie that isn't afraid to be silly. At least the shift to a futuristic, outer space setting injected some much-needed novelty into a stale formula. "Jason X" also gave fans one of the series' most memorable deaths thanks to that infamous liquid nitrogen scene. Still, this low-budget eye roll is as bad as narrative filmmaking gets.
'Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan' (1989)
When your R-rated horror franchise winds up sharing a subtitle with a Muppets movie, you know things have gone off the rails. Worse, said subtitle is basically false advertising, given that the setting doesn't actually shift to Manhattan until the end of the movie. The concept had potential, but the film needed a bigger budget and a far better script to actually live up to that potential.
9. 'Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday' (1993)
"Jason Goes to Hell" marks the franchise's first entry at new distributor New Line Cinema. Needless to say, it didn't exactly revive Mr. Voorhees' cinematic prospects. Its attempts to bring a heavier dose of supernatural mythology to the table landed with a dull thud. Other than the copious amounts of gore, about the only thing that makes this sequel stand out is the final shot teasing a showdown between Jason and rival slasher villain Freddy Krueger.
8. 'Friday the 13th' (2009)
After taking an extended break following 2003's underwhelming "Jason vs. Freddy," the franchise finally returned in reboot form in 2009. Unfortunately, the remake was content to rehash and compress the plots of the first few movies without ever adding anything new or interesting to the formula. On a technical level, it's probably the best-looking "Friday the 13th" movie, but there's a reason it didn't inspire a whole new franchise. It did have a few inspired kills, especially the ones belonging to the film's elongated pre-titles sequence, which is basically this slasher pic's version of Bond's pre-titles antics. Just with more boobs, blood, and murder.
7. 'Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning' (1985)
It's hard not to dismiss "A New Beginning" as a cash grab when it arrived less than a year after the sequel subtitled "The Final Chapter." We appreciate this film's efforts to rethink the formula and push the series in a different direction (including using a copycat villain rather than the original Jason), but for the most part it still manages to be a textbook "Friday the 13th" sequel.
6. 'Friday the 13th Part 3' (1984)
If your '80s movie sequel had the words "Part 3" in the title, it was pretty much an unwritten rule that you had to throw in a 3D gimmick. The result was one of the goriest movies in the series, even if a lot of that gore involved gimmicky camera angles. This sequel is most notable for introducing Jason's now-iconic hockey mask.
5. 'Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood' (1988)
This sequel is often affectionately referred to as "Jason vs. Carrie," as it pits the immortal slasher against a psychic-powered heroine. You can sense the series drifting fartehr into the campy territory that would ultimately be its undoing in the '90s, but at least there's still fun to be had here. And with makeup artist John Carl Buechler sitting in the director's chair, Jason has rarely looked this satisfyingly ugly.
4. 'Friday the 13th Part 2' (1981)
The series' formula still hadn't fully coalesced in the first sequel. Frankly, Jason's proto-costume here isn't exactly the stuff nightmares are made of. But "Part 2" expands on the original in clever ways. It also features one of the most satisfying climaxes in the series, for once justifying why an ordinary teen girl can gain the upper hand on an undead killer.
3. 'Friday the 13th' (1980)
First-time viewers are often surprised by what they find in the very first "Friday the 13th" movie. For one thing, Jason himself barely appears, with the iconic twist revealing that his vengeful mother is the one brutally slaughtering horny camp counselors. It's an understated horror movie by the standards of this franchise. As such, it has a unique, enjoyable vibe even as it struggles to escape the shadow of 1978's "Halloween."
2. 'Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives' (1986)
Look, no one is ever going to accuse this franchise of being high art. "Friday the 13th" is all about gore and sex and more gore. It helps when sequels have a self-aware quality. That's what help[s "Jason Lives" rise above the crowd. The sixth entry in the series brings Jason back into the spotlight and acts as almost a parody of past movies, setting the stage for movies like "Scream" and "Wes Craven's New Nightmare."
1. 'Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter' (1984)
It's ironic that the series perfected its voice just as it was ostensibly ending. The fourth movie in the series distills all the ingredients into a winning formula, with Jason rising from the grave to kill in gory, spectacular fashion. One element that helps set this sequel apart is that it features not a nubile teen girl as the lead, but a young Cory Feldman. Feldman's Tommy Jarvis remains one of the best protagonists in a series where few even survive long enough to be remembered.
