Though Halloween is often known as the horror film that kicked off the era of the lone, stalking masked killer, Friday the 13th definitely ran with the formula. We’ve seen Jason Voorhees slash his way through across decades, from a picturesque New Jersey camp to hell to the depths of space. If you’re working your way through every horror icon and or are maybe just too excited about the release of A24’s prequel series, we’re breaking down the best Friday the 13th watch order.
What’s the best order to watch the Friday the 13th movies?
As you can probably guess, the best order to watch the Friday the 13th movies is in release order. But let’s break things down a little more than that. The series definitely takes a few turns for the bizarre as it goes on, and plenty of fans debate which entries to skip.
But if you’re in it for the whole experience, you’ll want to watch all twelve films. For clarity, the franchise can be grouped into a few loose “eras,” or mini-trilogies. Let’s get into it.
Prologue
Friday the 13th (1980)
The original film that started it all, Friday the 13th introduces the legend of Camp Crystal Lake, when a group of teenage camp counselors are picked off one by one while attempting to reopen a camp with a terrible history. And if you’re new to the series, you’ll quickly learn that Jason himself hasn’t really appeared yet. Even if poor Drew Barrymore’s character in Scream had known the answer to that infamous trick question, it probably wouldn’t have saved her anyway.
Classic Jason Trilogy
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
After the first film, we take off with the actual Jason-focused films. Set five years after the massacre at Camp Crystal Lake, Friday the 13th Part 2 follows a new group of camp counselors preparing to reopen a nearby training center. Alice’s final words of the original film, “Then he’s still there,” could have rang as a warning bell, but then we’d never get the sequel. Unfortunately for this new group of counselors, Jason is back with a vengeance and some serious mommy issues.
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Part III picks up immediately after Part 2, following Jason as he continues his killing spree near Crystal Lake. This time, Jason immediately targets a husband and wife while trying to find some new clothes, then goes for a group of friends renting a remote cabin. By this point, the movies are becoming a stab-and-repeat wash cycle, though this one does give us Jason in the iconic hockey mask for the first time.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Closing out this era of Jason, The Final Chapter has Jason escaping the morgue and heading back to Camp Crystal Lake, where yet another group of teenagers is engaging in classic horror-style debauchery. And to no one’s surprise (except for the group of very unaware characters), Jason starts to take them out one by one.
The Horror Segue
We’re calling this one a transitional chapter featuring a new killer and the psychological fallout of Jason’s legacy. The Final Chapter was supposed to close out the series, but there’s no stopping this franchise.
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
Tommy Jarvis is now living in a halfway house, as he struggles to move past the horrors of his childhood encounters with Jason. When a new series of brutal murders begins near Crystal Lake, it seems Jason has returned. While this film was initially intended to bring back Jason himself, the studio decided to introduce a copycat killer instead. There’s plenty of hallucinatory, and PTSD induced visions of Jason here to make us wonder who the killer actually is. So in that regard, A New Beginning verges on psychological horror as much as slasher.
Zombie Jason Era
Here’s where Jason officially returns from the dead, launching the supernatural phase of the series.
Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)
Poor Tommy is slightly more stable in this one and goes to Jason’s grave to make sure he’s really dead. But in digging up the corpse and trying to stake him with a metal post, things turn very Frankenstein-esque, and lightning accidentally triggers Jason’s awakening. And now, he’s even worse than before. So Tommy now spends the rest of the film trying to survive and take down Jason again. But how do you kill someone who’s already dead?
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
In this one, Jason has been chained at the bottom of Crystal Lake for years. But he’s not the only one with freaky powers, and teenager Tina Shepard accidentally uses telekinesis. Now, all bets are off with an unleashed Jason. This restarts his usual rampage, targeting anyone who crosses his path while Tina struggles to control her abilities. The New Blood is a showdown of brute force versus supernatural power, as Tina tries to survive and finally put an end to the undead menace once and for all.
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan follows Jason as he boards a cruise ship full of high school graduates traveling to New York City, only to unleash his usual brand of carnage along the way. We’re already off to a very odd start, and now Jason has left the sleepy country and rural cityscape for the concrete jungle. The movie absolutely missed out on a montage of Jason hitting the streets set to George Benson’s On Broadway, though we completely understand why. But being in New York means there are plenty more people to terrorize and a very different playground for his freakish games. Still, this guy may not be the most terrifying thing in NYC in the late 1980s. Clearly, Jason never made it to East Brooklyn, or he might have been the one on the run.
New Line Trilogy
After New Line Cinema acquired the rights, Jason’s story took on wilder turns.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
We’re taking the supernatural elements and running full force with them. The FBI finally destroys Jason, but his evil essence survives and begins possessing others to continue his killing spree. As bodies pile up, it becomes clear that Jason can’t be stopped by conventional means.
Jason X (2002)
If you’re beginning to question why these films were still being made (or maybe you asked that four movies ago), we don’t blame you. And in Jason X, our machete menace has entered the 25th century, and this time he’s aboard a research spaceship and has been cryogenically frozen. But as far as inciting incidents go, this one is questionable. He’s been accidentally thawed, and his unstoppable killing spree resumes.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
This is a crossover no one (other than studio execs) could have expected. Freddy Krueger resurrects Jason Voorhees to terrorize Springwood, intending to use him to reignite fear among the town’s residents. But there’s simply too much killer ego for a team-up, and then the two are at each other’s throats. As the horror icons clash, teens caught in the middle must fight to survive while witnessing one of the deadliest showdowns in slasher history. And if you’re wondering, yes, it’s absolutely ridiculous.
The Reboot
Friday the 13th (2009)
It took some time for the original-inspired reboot, but we made it to 2009 and finally got one. This could have been inspired by the reboot era of the early 00s; Friday the 13th is a modern relaunch that takes us back to the early years of the Crystal Lake murders. When a group of friends travels to Camp Crystal Lake for a weekend getaway, they quickly discover that the camp’s dark history is very much alive. Guess who’s back, back again?
