Like Police Academy, Friday the 13th is the definition of a franchise that just wouldn’t die in the 1980s, much to the dismay of the many critics that despised it. Unlike Police Academy, the Friday the 13th movies were flat-out underrated (and haven’t aged like cheese on a countertop). There are several reasons why this franchise has stood the test of time, to the point it is even in the midst of a reboot courtesy of the now-established Jason Universe. From the music by Harry Manfredini to the iconic nature of Jason’s mask, there are plenty of things about this franchise that are top-tier horror.
But which one is truly the best? Despite what Roger Ebert thought, Friday the 13th was not the low point of cinematic history. In fact, there are several that are actually genuinely excellent, and those were all heavy contenders for the first place spot.
12) Jason X
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Some view Jason X as the franchise’s “so bad it’s good” installment, and it does have one of those, but this space-set snoozefest is more just flat-out bad. There are really only three upsides: the liquid nitrogen face smash, Lexa Doig’s performance, and the joke from Peter Mensah’s Sergeant Brodski where one impalement won’t be enough to “put this old dog down.”
That latter point helps emphasize that Jason X isn’t without a sense of humor, which helps it, but it’s still one visually hideous film laced with more examples of atrocious acting than competent acting. These are all traits that had given the Friday the 13th franchise charm in the past, but they fall flat here.
11) Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
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Jason X tried to take things back to basics, just in space. The film that preceded it, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, was the polar opposite.
Jason Goes to Hell plays like a studio movie that originated from the mind of a 23-year-old, who was then given the reigns of its production. And that’s fitting because that’s exactly what it was. There is definitely a strange sort of merit to that, and one can’t fault Marcus for ambition, but it’s too incoherent to give anything other than the second-to-last spot. All that said, it does have the Freddy vs. Jason tease, which is one of the most exciting scenes of the entire saga. Not to mention, Steven Williams’ performance as Creighton Duke is one of the most contagiously fun in horror history.
10) Freddy vs. Jason
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On one hand, Freddy vs. Jason does deliver the one thing this movie should have: the climactic monster mash. However, it sure does take a long time getting there.
The storyline used to bring Freddy and Jason together checks in slasher logic, and Freddy vs. Jason is on the whole better than it could have been, but it’s overall a little too glossy and not particularly scary. But the positives outweigh the negatives, especially when it comes to the third act fight and the performances by Monica Keena and Jason Ritter.
Stream Freddy vs. Jason on HBO Max.
9) Friday the 13th (2009)
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Its opening weekend may have been the biggest success the franchise had had in quite some time, but as a whole Marcus Nispel’s Friday the 13th isn’t one of the better entries. Like with its box office performance, it starts great but swiftly goes downhill.
If any group of Friday the 13th characters is insufferable, it’s this one. There really isn’t a likable individual in the bunch outside the two leads and it consistently threatens to derail the entire movie. The movie looks great and the notion of having Jason travel through tunnels was novel, but on the whole it’s an average aughts horror movie and slightly above average Jason film.
Stream Friday the 13th (2009) on HBO Max.
8) Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
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One must give Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood this: its Jason design is flat-out great. You really feel every ounce of his hulking strength in this movie, even if what he actually does was mostly excised by the MPA (then the MPAA). It’s also the one featuring the iconic sleeping bag kill, though that too was trimmed so much by the MPA it’s a wonder it managed to make an impression.
Even still, for a movie that basically has Stephen King’s Carrie going up against Jason, it takes itself too seriously. But that’s not the fatal flaw here, it’s really the MPA’s massive cuts, easily the biggest of the franchise. They don’t allow the movie to deliver the one thing the seventh installment of a major slasher franchise should. If there is any way to reassemble this film to include the cut footage, that should be done. The effort would make money from the fanbase.
Stream Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood on Paramount+.
7) Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
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There’s an argument to be made that Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is the worst film of the franchise. Like the original movie’s Sean S. Cunningham, A New Beginning‘s helmer, Danny Steinmann, came from the adult film industry and, in this particular case, that really shows.
A New Beginning is the grimiest, dingiest installment of the franchise, perhaps even in the larger history of slasher franchises. Furthermore, the copycat killer twist doesn’t work at all, especially when the killer, Roy Burns, sinisterly looks right into camera during the first act. Then there are the logic leaps, which are massive for even this franchise. Most notably, the movie primarily takes place at a halfway house, which violent and unstable teens are currently calling home. Yet, given how they’ve been diagnosed as such, they’re fully left to their own devices. No therapist has ever found that to be a great idea. Some autonomy is great, but entire freedom is not the path to rehabilitation. And you definitely don’t allow someone with a history of a violent temper (in this case, Vic) access to an axe. But all of these faults are what make A New Beginning such a baffling delight and like with Part III a dingy look is not a negative for this particular franchise.
Stream Friday the 13th: A New Beginning on Paramount+.
6) Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
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Jason X isn’t the “so bad it’s good” Jason movie, it’s Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Let’s just look at the opening scene (outside the gloriously cheesy opening montage, which shows every “Manhattan” location Jason will stomp through all the way in the third act). Jim and Suzi are on a little houseboat out on Camp Crystal Lake. How they got it on a lake is impossible to say, unless Crystal Lake has a river on the end that has never been shown before. Jim plays a prank on Suzi by wearing Jason’s mask, which absolutely appears to be the one he wore ever since Chris Higgins slammed an axe into his head in Friday the 13th Part III. Why? It has the axe mark. Jason comes aboard and kills them, and the next time we see the houseboat it’s ominously floating towards the SS Lazarus, where we spend most of the movie’s runtime. How did the houseboat get out of the lake? Has Jason made himself its captain? This is the level of logic we’re dealing with here, and it’s glorious.
The movie never gets any smarter (though it does have a pair of great winking scenes once we get to Vancou– Manhattan). But it does have a lava rock—in one of those classic boat saunas we’ve all been to—shoved into a man’s chest and the best boxing match outside a Rocky movie. Either those behind this movie had absolutely no idea what they were doing, or they knew precisely what they were doing. Either way, it was the lovable send-off the Paramount years deserved.
Stream Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan on Paramount+.
5) Friday the 13th Part III
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It may be the least effective of the iconic first four Friday the 13th films, but Friday the 13th Part III is nonetheless the best ’80s 3D horror film by a country mile. It also just so happens to be the most important entry of the entire Jason saga.
Friday the 13th Part III actually benefits from having the cheapest look of the franchise, even though its budget was higher than the first two films combined. The darker, hazy visuals that were typical of ’80s 3D tech work very well for this particular franchise. The result is the scariest Friday the 13th movie, a trait that is infinitely amplified by Richard Brooker’s take on Jason (and by how he is frequently shown lingering just behind whichever ill-fated character we’re currently following). The way he absently lumbers up the pier after spear-gunning Vera, the way he angrily throws farming equipment aside in the barn during the third act…his is the ultimate Jason, no offense intended to Hodder. Not to mention, this is where Jason got his mask, and the look never worked better than it did the first time out the gate.
Stream Friday the 13th Part III on Peacock.
4) Friday the 13th Part 2
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Some of it may be nonsensical but technically Friday the 13th Part 2 is a better film than the original. Many have pointed out that Steve Miner is a better director than Sean S. Cunningham and that’s not wrong.
But the edge still goes to the first movie for it feeling so organic, as if a camera were just placed in the middle of a camp that was about to re-open only to be struck by manmade tragedy. But, as it stands, Part 2 still comes the closest to replicating its predecessor’s very particular magic. This is most notably seen in how it goes out of its way to rip-off Bay of Blood and The Town That Dreaded Sundown, yet still working on its own, almost as if by accident. For instance, while it’s straight out of Sundown, “Sackhead Jason” is just flat-out frightening.
Stream Friday the 13th Part 2 on Peacock.
3) Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
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It took six movies, but one of the Friday the 13th movies finally won over (some) critics. Tom McLoughlin introduced slasher movies to the meta-approach long before Scream, or even Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, for that matter, making Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives a movie that was very impressively ahead of its time.
It may not be remotely scary, but this entry’s comedic tone really helps it in terms of rewatchability, as do the charming performances from just about every cast member. After the unpleasant A New Beginning, this was the continuation of the franchise post-The Final Chapter that Friday the 13th deserved.
Stream Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives on Paramount+.
2) Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
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Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is considered by many fans to be the best of the franchise, and it definitely comes close. The group of teens are a little more diverse in terms of personality, the inclusion of the Jarvis family was a nice way to shake things up, and the bouncing between just two houses (outside the opening at Higgins Haven and then the hospital) gives the audience a perpetual sense of space.
This installment also features better acting than the series was used to, especially after the acting caliber low point of Friday the 13th Part III. Corey Feldman and Kimberly Beck have great sibling chemistry, and Crispin Glover and Lawrence Monoson play well off one another, as do Barbara Howard and Peter Barton. It’s also nice to have Tom Savini back as the makeup artist, delivering such great kills as Axel’s hacksaw neck twist, Jimmy’s (Glover) corkscrew to the hand followed by a hatchet to the face, and, of course, Jason’s death. Speaking of the latter, this being the “final” Jason movie gives it an added level of importance that plays through even now, after eight more movies have been made in the wake of The Final Chapter‘s success.
Stream Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter on Paramount+.
1) Friday the 13th
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Bolstered by wonderfully jarring practical effects by Tom Savini, perfect pacing, a great villain, and a non-Hollywood visual aura that makes you feel as though you’re a Camp Crystal Lake counselor right alongside Mrs. Voorhees’ intended victims, there’s good reason why Friday the 13th is considered one of the 1980s’ very best horror films.
It may have started as a blatant attempt to replicate the success of Halloween, but Friday the 13th nearly manages right alongside John Carpenter’s classic. It builds tension wonderfully when it needs to, e.g. when Brenda hears Mrs. Voorhees mimicking her own deceased son’s panicked cries of “Help me!” and the ingenious pan up to Ned’s corpse on the top bunk above an intimate Jack and Marcy. Toss in the serendipitous nature of the franchise’s biggest future star getting the franchise’s best kill of all time and the original Friday the 13th is cinema magic.
Stream Friday the 13th on Peacock.
