In honor of spooky season being officially underway in my house and Friday the 13th this week I thought now would be the perfect time to break down and rank one of my favorite slasher villain’s series, Friday the 13th! There are some stinkers, some personal guilty pleasures, and some overall well done and entertaining slasher flicks in this collection so throughout the series’ 12 film run we have quite the mixed bag to dissect. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
#12: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan- Coming into at the bottom of the heap for myself is the 8th film in the series, when Jason visits the Big Apple. That in itself is a cheesy, schlocky concept and I’m all down for some cheese and schlock in my 80s slashers, but most the run time is spent on a boat ride to New York instead of in the big city itself, and I’m not as down for that. It limited the space Jason gets to operate in for most the movie and kind of chopped the character at his knees because of it, and we spend a lot of time with the hapless victims on a boat ride and they’re some of the weakest, cheesiest, least fleshed out, and most badly acted characters out of the bunch in the entire series. This one is kind of a slog to get through but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still some iconic Jason kills within the run time and when we actually get to New York there is certainly some fun to be had with the setting of dimly lit streets by neon signs, dingy and dirty alleyways, and smoke rising from the sewers really creating that slasher in 80s New York ambiance. If we spent a majority of our time in the city and playing with the urban setting then this could be a much better movie, but alas we are left with what we got.
#11: Jason X- Coming in at number 11 for me is another one of the funniest and most far-fetched concepts in the entire series, Jason goes to space! I will say I think this one overall had a lot more fun and utilized the setting to its advantage more than Jason Takes Manhattan did, but it’s still a bad movie all in all. Seeing Uber-Jason was awesome though and a great addition to the futuristic space theme of the movie and this film has a fan favorite kill in it as well with the cryogenically frozen head being smashed into 100 bits. This movie was meta-cheesiness to the max and felt the least like a Friday the 13th movie in a lot of ways which makes it harder for me to put it any higher on the list, but it is a goofy, entertaining little popcorn flick full of schlock to be enjoyed and not taken seriously. If you’re into cheesy, unbelievable, illogical, bad horror movies then you’d probably get a kick out of this one and it feels like it’s having some of the most fun with the character of any in the entire series.
#10: Friday the 13th (1980)- The OG of the series! It may be blasphemous for me to be putting this one so low on the list but it’s a personal ranking, so it is what it is, put it higher on your ranking if you’d like! I still think this movie is a classic in many ways in the horror genre and it obviously gets a tip of the hat for being an early pioneer in the slasher genre and sparking this entire Friday the 13th series that I’m here talking about today. But this feels a lot more like a who-dunnit than a slasher as we don’t see the killer committing the acts and are instead treating to POV shots of the kills taking place through most the runtime and I’m generally not as into that style as much as I am the classic slasher style anyways. This movie also is one of the very few that Jason isn’t the killer, and it is instead Jason’s mother avenging her son’s death. Probably one of the strongest stories in the entire series but one of the weakest and most far-fetched killers of the bunch as well. Not taking away from Betsy Palmer’s acting ability either because she killed this role when she was revealed as the killer, but you expect me to believe this little old woman carried out all these acts by herself and even had the time to stage and hang these bodies up around the camp for Alice to find (again, by herself?!) C’mon now!
#9: Friday the 13th V: A New Beginning- Yet another one in the series that Jason isn’t the killer and is instead traded out for another who-dunnit kind of mystery. This movie did the who-dunnit formula right though as we got to see the concealed killer committing the murders for the majority of the runtime and even have a red herring placed in there as we as an audience are meant to kind of suspect our main character Tommy Doyle may be the one behind the murders. This movie has a lot of fun and schlock throughout as well and feels exactly like a Friday the 13th film even though Jason isn’t actually in this one at all (the only movie in the series without actual Jason Voorhees at least making an appearance throughout the run time). Bonus points because Tommy is one of my favorite 2 survivors in the series and the most long running final character in the series as well, for the ridiculous hoosier neighbors who live by Crystal Lake, and for Reggie the Reckless and his brother who’s having a hard time passing those “damn enchiladas!” in a porta-john just because they were all funny and entertaining characters that added to the camp of the film. This one loses some big points though in the reveal of the killer because it’s a character that we didn’t really spend time with in the movie and gave more of a “who the hell is that?” reaction rather than an “oh shit!” reaction that you’d want and expect in a who-dunnit mystery killer story.
#8: Freddy vs Jason- The showdown! This was an overall entertaining enough flick and a versus movie that horror fans were clamoring for for like 10-15 years before it was actually made. That’s why I think it ranks on the lower side of the list for me personally, I don’t think it lived up necessarily to the hype behind it. Obviously in a movie titled Freddy vs Jason you expect quite a bit of cheesiness and I am completely cool with that and welcome it, but it just felt like something more could have been done here. I’m not sure what though, like I said I think the story and concept was solid here and it was awesome as a horror fan to see Freddy and Jason together in a film, but I feel like I get a little less enjoyment in this movie every time I watch it and it holds up a little less and less as the years pass. I think this movie also threw some logic that was established earlier in each of these characters and these franchises out the window in favor of the showdown concept and as a nerd for each of these series and the genre in general that kind of bothered me at times. Still though some great kills, some fun sequences, and a cool enough final showdown make this movie a fun watch to throw in and have some fun with, especially after watching some Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street movies beforehand. Just don’t take it or its logic too seriously and you’ll have a fun time.
#7: Friday the 13th: Part III- This was one of the first Friday the 13th movies that I really clung to and was the one I watched the most for years. It wasn’t until I got older, saw all the rest of the series, and kind of reassessed that I realized this one isn’t all that great. It’s still a solid classic slasher and will always be given the nod as the movie that introduced the infamous hockey mask and the look and aura that we come to know as Jason for the rest of the series. BUT Shelly is one of the most insufferably annoying whine bags in all of horror history (next to Franklin from TCM) and really brings this down a little bit as I always just get pissed at him when he’s on the screen. A couple other notches get knocked away from this one as well for the dumb and poorly aged 3-D sequences that can kind of pull you out of it at times, and Jason once again being stuck in a confined space (this time the inside of a barn) for basically the entire movie even though there’s vast land and woods around them for him to operate in. Still this movie has some fun moments and entertaining kills (notably the crossbow arrow shot through the eye the first time we see Jason in the hockey mask) and is an easy watch…minus Shelly.
#6: Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday- This is another one that a lot of Friday fans would see as a hot take as many people rank this one near the bottom of their lists in rankings I’ve seen in the past. This is yet another one that Jason makes brief appearances in throughout the film rather than being the big bad you see throughout the entire movie, well kind of, he’s there but he’s not THERE ya feel me? I give this movie props for being probably the most original Friday the 13th in the entire series and introduces a lot of interesting concepts and creative ideas. Even if it doesn’t all feel canon, I take this movie as its own thing and own kind of play with the Jason Voorhees character. Basically, Jason’s body dies but his soul is supernatural and lives on so he possesses others with his entity throughout the movie to continue to live but he can only stay alive permanently in the body of someone in his bloodline (a Voorhees) and the only person that can kill him permanently is also someone in his bloodline (a Voorhees). Pretty damn original if nothing else and I personally give major kudos for that. Extra points for the repulsive, killer, practical effects from Greg Nicotero and his crew in this film as well.
#5: Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter– Getting into the big dogs now. I’d say all the rest of the list from here on up I really enjoyed through and through. Part 4 was titled “The Final Chapter” as the studio and producers had initially planned this would be the final time we’d see hockey mask wearing, machete wielding Jason Voorhees. That obviously isn’t the way that panned out AT ALL as there is 12 movies on this list so in reality, they were only a 3rd of the way done at this point in the series. Not to say they didn’t try here as Part V left Mr. Voorhees out of the script but fans generally rejected that one as they were just clamoring for more of everyone’s favorite mama’s boy. Part IV is the introduction to Tommy Doyle played by a young Corey Feldman and can be credited as having one of the most complete and fleshed out cast of characters in the entire series, good and bad. Crispin Glover and his little buddy Teddy are insufferable and annoying, but they get what’s coming to them so it’s fine. The look of Jason is great in this movie and the first one where he looks complete and fully figured out so that’s a big plus as well. Part IV is a lot of people’s favorite in the series and I can understand why, in a lot of ways it feels like the most complete Friday the 13th film.
#4: Friday the 13th: Part II- The first film in the series that actually featured our main big bad, Jason himself. Jason looked much more like just a massive backwoods hick in this movie than what we came to know him as. Living in a shack in the woods and dressed in a flannel tee shirt, overalls, and a pillowcase like bag over his head with 1 eyehole cut out; he even traded in his signature machete this movie and donned a pickaxe as his primary weapon of choice. I love the classic look of Jason and the hockey mask and machete combo is a classic and a staple in horror, but I think he’s the most genuinely scary in this movie as he appears and even acts more human than supernatural and that’s off putting and terrifying in itself. This movie also has a couple of the best kills in the series, notably when Mark is hacked through the head and pushed down the stairs in his wheelchair as rain and blood poured down over him, beautifully mean spirited. Bonus points for the eerie shrine for his mother’s head in Jason’s shack. Part II is a classic slasher film and one of the best additions to the series.
#3: Friday the 13th (2009)- Another hot take for Friday fans from ya boy! Honestly though, every ranking list I have and will share will likely have some hot takes, so it is what it is. I think this movie gets way more hate than it deserves. It’s a perfect mashup of the first 4 movies of the series and adds enough originality to feel exactly like its own movie that can stand on its own 2 legs (unlike the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Yikes!) I really dug the look of Jason in this one and I think adding the underground tunnel system where he lived and kept up with the whereabouts of Crystal Lake was a nice touch, a lot of people gave that hate but I thought it was a cool and original idea that added to the series. Jared Padalecki played a good hero and opposition to Jason as well and served as one of his most formidable opponents throughout the series in my opinion. There were some hilarious 1 liners in this one as well and a ridiculously cliched group of teens. The character of Trent was probably the biggest douchebag of the entire series, next to maybe Teddy, but I think Trent takes the cake here. God, I hated that guy but almost respect how hateable of a character he was. I really dig Marcus Nispel’s direction with remakes as I heavily enjoyed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 2003 and this one as well. It’s a shame that this is the last movie we got in the series but at least we’ve ended on a high note for now.
#2: Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood- I thought this movie was and still is super overlooked when it comes to the Friday the 13th series. This movie has some of the most fleshed out cast of kids as well, they nail the Camp Crystal Lake setting in this movie as well as 1, 2, and 6 did, and we have my favorite final girl in the series and the most formidable opponent for Jason to date in this movie as well. I’ve heard this movie referred to as Friday the 13th’s ‘Jason vs Carrie’ and I’d say that’s an acceptable comparison. Some people try to use that tagline as an insult to this movie, but I think that sounds awesome and guess what, it was awesome. Plus, at this point in the series we are past the point of Jason just chasing camping teens around and your typical final girl archetype taking him down in the end, we’ve established he’s an indestructible zombie who finds ways to revive time and time again to wreak more havoc, so he needs a formidable and believable opponent after the exit of Tommy Doyle in the series. Enter the powerful, introverted, traumatized Tina who has psychic powers and can move things and throw things around using her mind and now we’re in business! This was also the first performance and the best performance in my mind by most everyone’s favorite Jason, Kane Hodder, so there’s some bonus points for that as well.
#1: Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives- We’ve made our way to number one and rounding out the top of my list is none other than Part VI: Jason Lives! After the lackluster return for Part V and fans clamoring for the return of Jason, we arrived at the best run in the series in my opinion and it started here! This movie nailed the camp setting that this series was established upon as well, was the best performance by the longest running final boy in the series Tommy Doyle, and mixed campiness and horror the best in this film of any in the entire series. Starting with Jason being revived from his grave accidentally by Tommy and a lightning strike and the mocky James Bond intro, this movie was off to a campy and electric start from the jump both literally and figuratively. I loved the look of Jason in this film as well, my top 3 films in this list are my favorite looking Jasons in the series. This was the first film where Jason truly felt more like a supernatural zombie than a hulking human in the series as well. This movie’s ability to mash in gruesome deaths, badass shots of Jason, a fuller scope of characters and the world of Crystal Lake and the surrounding areas around camp, and silly dumb humor is truly something to behold. This is credited as one of the first true horror comedies and although I’d say it still leans more into the horror than the comedy (thank goodness) I’d have to agree with that statement. Coming out the same month and year as another one of my favorite blends of horror and comedy, Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, both those movies were bold takes in their series and trailblazers of the genre that likely inspired decades of film after them and showed when done right, horror and comedy do belong in the same movie together.
Everyone have a safe and spooky Friday the 13th and lock your doors, turn out the lights, crack a beer, and throw in a Friday the 13th movie in celebration this week.
