“Legend has it these old camp grounds are haunted! You see, ever since that young Voorhees boy – poor thing drowned in the lake – things just haven’t been the same! If you listen closely, you can hear the snappin’ of twigs, rustlin’ of trees and distant voice of someone or somethin’ livin’ out there. Poor boy drowned, ya hear, right over there. Screamed fah help, but not anybody came a runnin’! Counselors were in the service of Venus, neglecting their responsibilities. But they got what was acomin’ to them. Camp Crystal Lake was never the same. A death curse was placed. You see, they never did find the boy’s body.”
On 13 June 1979 (a Wednesday, for anyone wondering), Crystal Lake found itself home to the murder of eight counsellors on the verge of exhuming the dilapidated camp grounds. Over the course of one long night, Pamela Voorhees – camp cook and mother to Jason – stalked the grounds, avenging the misconduct that got her boy killed. It’s a night that also saw Jason witness the death of his mother at the hands of Alice, Friday the 13th’s final girl. Years would pass before anyone even attempted to revive the Crystal Lake name, but like clockwork, counsellors soon began disappearing one-by-one.
Friday the 13th is a series that sees our beloved Jason Voorhees go from deformed backwoods legend to machete wielding, hockey mask wearing juggernaut; preying on unsuspecting and often promiscuous camp counsellors. The franchise quickly became one of the most widely popular and influential of the early slasher heyday; one that expanded well past the confines of camp through the course of a dozen films, hundreds of action figures, a Nintendo game, a 2009 remake and an even less than reputable television series of the same name.
With October offering horror fans that rare Friday the 13th, I decided to leave my fanny pack on the dock, strap on finis and wade through twelve films that sees our favourite momma’s boy go from camp casualty and city tourist, all the way to a cryogenic counsellor killer. Summer might be over, but camps in session. Buddy up.
12. Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Jason isn’t exactly a world traveller. He was born and raised in the town of Crystal Lake; he died there, and for the past nine years has rinse and repeated. But this time, he has his eyes set on the city that never sleeps. Jason Takes Manhattan acts as both the final film for Paramount – shifting over to New Line with Jason Goes to Hell – and the longest entry in the series. Clocking in at 100 minutes, our decrepit killer spends a heft of that time actually getting to the Big Apple.
When he does finally drop anchor, we almost wish he went with it. There’s a memorable boxing match on a city rooftop that proves Jason knows his Fatalities, and witnessing Jason toss a man across a Greasy spoon is something to behold, but it all feels superfluous. Then again, like much of the city, maybe that’s the point.
11. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Jason Voorhees is dead; defeated after the terrifying events of The Final Chapter. Tommy, now a teenager residing at a halfway house, can’t seem to escape recurring nightmares about Jason. Then the bodies begin to pile up. A New Beginning is the culmination of the series new starting point; the beginning of a new killer, new arc. It’s a moody, excessive, bloated, surprisingly gratuitous entry, but one that effectively captures anxiety and atmosphere in surprising ways.
Many fans disregard Beginning for its prime flaw, yet despite only following the Voorhees design, it’s an entry that’s psychological and for the most part, exactly what we’re looking for in a slasher.
10. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
The ninth entry in one of the most expansive horror series is an interesting beast. It’s the first produced by New Line Cinemas – the studio that introduced A Nightmare on Elm Street – signifying a crossover that would take almost 10 years to come into fruition. It’s also directed by an incredibly young Adam Marcus, who was 23 when he was hired by New Line to helm Jason Goes to Hell. That’s younger than both Steven Spielberg and Don Coscarelli when they directed two of horror’s most critically applauded films.
And while Jason Goes to Hell is no Jaws or Phantasm, it’s a film that is unnecessarily maligned by critics and fans alike. Yes, it features a body swapping Jason Voorhees – blown to smithereens by a platoon of trigger happy troopers – that gives the film a fresh Freaky Friday vibe. Sure, it acts more as a set-up for New Line to take the franchise in new and nightmarish directions. But it’s also a film that doesn’t shy away from standing out. It’s an unhinged and exhausting entry that dabbles in the supernatural while upping the body count to 23; a number only matched by Jason X.
9. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
After the frightfully low box-office draw of Jason Takes Manhattan, Sean S. Cunningham once again acquired the rights to Jason in an attempt to spin an Elm Street crossover. The result, Jason Goes to Hell, saw Jason’s hockey mask pulled down into the soil by a certain menacing glove.
After a casting controversy saw Hodder replaced with a taller yet tamer Ken Kirzinger (the guy Jason tossed across the diner in Manhattan) and languishing in developmental hell for years – Jason X only being released to keep the series fresh and relevant – Freddy and Jason finally stepped into the ring. What came of it was one of the goofiest, unapologetic and downright manic entries in both the franchises.
Mixing equal parts boiler room sweat with Crystal Lake’s raging hormones, Freddy vs. Jason acts as that bong-rip of a slasher flick; a crossover that feels like a boxing match between two vastly different weight classes. At times it feels weak in the knees more than it would like, as the dreamlike qualities of the Nightmare series clash with the methodical reality of Friday the 13th.
Still, Freddy vs. Jason continually picks itself up and deftly dusts its flaws off, working as that bare-knuckle brawl that puts the Elm in street fight.
8. Friday the 13th (2009)
Lately every successful and paramount horror film needs a 21st century polish; even if that means stripping it of that veneer that made it unique in the first place. Directed by remake king Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Conan the Barbarian), Friday the 13th takes a formula moulded by the likes of Danny Boyle and Zack Snyder – the faster the better – and sends it to camp. The result is a remake that is unbridled in its ferocity, as Jason rampages at break-neck speeds towards a group of collegiate weekenders.
When Jason is on screen – a much more nimble Derek Mears – there’s an intensity that feels as if it’s grabbing the camera. Combining elements from the first four films, Friday the 13th works at aligning its audience rather than alienating them, making sure there’s a familiarity for those who grew up Voorhees. Beating at the core is a genuinely heartfelt search for a missing sister that layers as much sympathy as Jason’s extended backstory does, allowing us to examine a one-dimensional character in new ways.
While it looks and sounds like another cash grab, Friday the 13th carries with it an exhilarating pulse that reverberates through years of reckless recurrence.
7. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
In what was supposed to be the concluding entry, The Final Chapter introduced Tommy Jarvis; a mask making horror fan that in some ways reached in and reminded us all what it was like to be young and just a little different. Played by an adolescent Corey Feldman, Tommy would become triumphant in thwarting Jason, establishing its finale as one for the ages. While The Final Chapter guts character development over characters, it still manages to feature some of Tom Savini’s more inspired work; most notably when Jason finds himself sliding face first down the blade of his own machete.
In between a narrative that works at tidying all the pieces, we are given one of the most manic dance numbers by an always captivating Crispin Glover, adding charm to one of the series darker entries.
6. Friday the 13th: Jason Lives (1986)
After the likes of A New Beginning – bringing a new killer into the mix – fans were outraged! They wanted Jason Voorhees back, which meant that Paramount needed to act swift. Bringing on Don Behrn’s – the production manager of Halloween and The Fog – and recruiting writer and director Tom McLoughlin, Friday the 13th was in for an overhaul. Resurrecting Jason ala Frankenstein’s monster and endowing him with the superhuman capacity he would ultimately become known for, Jason Lives turned the stalk and slash motif of the series into a tongue in cheek meta-action adventure, featuring the foolish charm of Thom Mathews.
From parodying the 007 intro to acknowledging the camera and horror films, we’re treated to a charisma and butchering buoyancy that feels alive, even if the death toll is the third highest in the franchise; an achievement only held until Jason took an untimely trip to hell and space.
5. Friday the 13th (1980)
Sean S. Cunningham first worked as producer on Wes Craven’s exploitation rape revenge film The Last House on the Left before creating the character of Jason Voorhees and directing the first Friday the 13th. It’s a film that established an iconic setting and slasher, shot Kevin Bacon to stardom, and gave Tom Savini another chance to give us nightmares. While its reliance on POV is nothing new within the confines of the horror genre (Peeping Tom would champion this), it effectively drew a line between suspense and horror. It did for summer camps what Jaws did for water, or Black Christmas did for sororities.
Friday the 13th was such a colossal success for Paramount and the budding slasher genre, that it delivered an onslaught of imitators (Sleepaway Camp, The Burning etc), and created a sound effect “Kill Kill Kill Ma Ma Ma” as memorable as John Carpenter’s Halloween score. While it’s tame – even by its predecessor’s standards – Friday the 13th remains a tense viewing experience with more game changers than body counts.
4. Friday the 13th: Part III (1982)
Jumping back behind the camera after Part 2’s moderate success (it made less than half as much as its original), Steve Miner decided to re-invigorate a style made joyously gimmicky by the likes of William Castle and Vincent Price. I’m talking about 3D film, which Price became type-cast in with films like House of Wax and The Mad Magician. This meant that eyeballs, harpoons, poles and machetes through a groin (one of the most masterful kills of the entire series) would be popping, adding a glorious level of camp to Crystal Lake. If it wasn’t for experiencing the innovative kills 3D can offer, Part 3 might feel like an entry bogged down by too many characters with too little development.
However, what gives Part 3 its edge is the ability to tackle trauma in a series that relishes the slice and dice of its killer, playing off the assault of a young woman, Chris (Dana Kimmell). It’s a momentary release from the constant carnage and barrage of projectiles that reminds you that these are still victims, not scapegoats.
3. Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981)
At the beginning of Scream – Wes Craven’s mid-90’s slasher reviver – our victim is asked who the killer is in Friday the 13th. Without thinking, she blurts “Jason, Jason Voorhees,” an answer that’s both wrong while subsequently deciding her fate. It’s an honor that belongs to its sequel, which was planned almost immediately upon Friday the 13th’s release in May of 1980. This is the film that introduces Jason Voorhees into the slasher lexicon, and he enters it with one of my favorite looks; blue plaid, overalls, and a sack over one mean mug. It’s a look that nods to The Town That Dreaded Sundown, while also giving us our backwoods hillbilly wrapped in a bow.
Where Friday the 13th gave us resilient final girl Alice, Part 2 gives us Ginny, who’s as cunning as she is resourceful. In one of the series most memorable finales, Ginny dons Pamela’s now iconic blue sweater, persuading Jason that she’s his mother. It’s an intelligent take on the battle of good versus evil that culminates in one of the series most invigorating and effective jump scares to date, proving that not all sequels are created equal.
2. Jason X (2001)
The year is 2455. Jason is discovered cryogenically frozen after being captured in 2008 by the United States government; a shift in narrative that makes little to no sense given the finale of Jason Goes to Hell. But this is a film that cares little about sense, and for an entry in the vein of Critters 4 and Leprechaun 4: In Space, it doesn’t expect you to. Kane Hodder makes his fourth appearance as Jason turned Uber Jason (actual name), and similarly to his prior embodiments, elevates the level of sheer physical terror.
This is a film that takes a 6’4” behemoth and crams him into the claustrophobic confines of a futuristic vessel. Not only is Jason uber, but the sex is kinkier, the dialogue galactically moronic, and the deaths more inventive. After all, David Cronenberg’s own special effects regular James Isaac stepped behind the director’s chair, placing an emphasis on not only Jason’s kill count, but the methods in which they are disposed. A woman gets her face frozen from liquid nitrogen before it’s slammed to pieces. Jason recreates the sleeping bag kill from New Blood in a glorious use of holographic manipulation. Decapitations, electrocutions, and a Jason Goes to Hell bear hug are all used as means of dispatching 25th century nubile co-eds. Did I mention there’s a femme-cyborg who fisticuffs our primordial cyber-slasher?
It’s corny, cheesy, and it works as that go-for-broke entry that knows exactly how ludicrous its posturing is. Despite drawing in the lowest numbers at the box office of the entire series, Jason X is that flimsy, artificially polished entry that feels like a SyFy channel movie that’s been destroying the counsellor job pool for over two decades; and it’s exactly what we need.
1. Friday the 13th: New Blood (1988)
Before Manhattan and Hell, Jason arrived at the dock of Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln), a clairvoyant girl with immense powers. Grieving over the death of her abusive alcoholic father – the result of her unhinged telekinetic powers as a child – Tina is brought to a psychiatrist who secretly exploits her gift. These powers that placed her father in a watery grave are the exact ones that subsequently bring forth Jason from his, who has remained chained away at the bottom of Crystal Lake.
If this all sounds like a heady and heavy narrative for a Friday the 13th film, then you’re probably right. However, it’s a story that weaves together two distinct horror sub-genres – the supernatural playing against the slasher – in bold and exciting ways. Tina’s as troubled by her past as Chris (our heroine from Part 3) is from hers, adding a crucial element of understanding to the trauma inflicted on the human psyche. And what better of a film to tackle that than one that pushes the boundary of limitations? Tina must grapple with the expanse of her own power, giving fans a striking showdown between two supernatural beings.
New Blood acts as the dark child of the series – pulling elements from Brian De Palma’s The Fury and pitting one of the most unlikely final girls against the introduction of Kane Hodder – the definitive Jason for many fans. What makes New Blood so invigorating is the heft and bulk of Jason, who comes decayed and wrapped in a chain around his neck. It’s a physicality the series hadn’t seen, and when it came face to rotten face against the unwavering psychology of a woman in distress, it managed to create one of the more daring entries in the series.
Friday the 13th is re-released this Friday in the UK. What would your ranking of the franchise be?