Friday the Thirteenth Retrospective

Friday the 13th is one of the most beloved franchises among horror fans, myself included. An absolutely amazing peak of cinema filled with blood, boobs, gore, and, as the series grew, camp. From Bacon to Mensah, this massacre spans across 11 movies and a crossover.

In the first film, we explore themes of overbearing parenthood, something that becomes an overarching thread throughout the series, but is most prominently featured here. The overprotective mother tragically loses her sheltered child and blames it on teenage desires. We see her punish teens at her child’s death site by murdering them for growing up and engaging in adult behavior, giving in to lust, alcohol, or drugs. Later in the series, we see her son, who had secretly survived, attempt to recreate her actions and continue punishing these teens.

The movie was meant to be a simple rip-off of Halloween; the creators have admitted this countless times. A script was written simply because they came up with a cool name for a film, and it ended up becoming one of the most successful horror movies in history. With virtually no budget and little time, director Sean S. Cunningham, composer Harry Manfredini, effects artist Tom Savini, and other key cast and crew members pulled every string to make it memorable. However, many unethical practices and instances of corner-cutting helped make this masterpiece happen, including one particularly disturbing moment in which the crew lied to a snake handler about a scene and physically restrained him from stopping them as they killed his pet bullsnake live on camera.

The first film may not be the best in the series, but it certainly set the stage for an amazing franchise.

Friday the 13th Part II is in my personal top three of the series. It opens with Alice Hardy, one of the highlights of Part I, getting skewered with an ice pick in her own home. The film explores themes of child psychology and how children mimic their role models. Jason returns and attempts to emulate and avenge his mother. The final girl, Ginny, played by Amy Steel, uses this to her advantage in a clever attempt to survive and defeat him.

During their confrontation, we get a memorable scene where Ginny dresses as Jason’s mother and nearly beheads him with a machete. In the final version, Jason snaps out of it just in time and deflects the blow with his pickaxe. However, in the first take, Amy Steel missed her mark and accidentally sliced into stuntman Steve Dash’s hand, one of the greatest actors to portray Jason, sending him to the hospital for numerous stitches. Despite the injury, Steve has laughed about the moment ever since the film’s release.

It’s an amazing sequel and one of the strongest entries in the franchise, immediately followed, unfortunately, by one of the worst. A sequel so weak it wouldn’t be topped in sheer shit until we got all the way to Parts 8 and 9.

Part 3D is sleazy, poorly written, and sloppily shot. The film was made to capitalize on the then-new 3D technology, and it blatantly rips off the ending of Part I. That said, it does have some standout moments, most notably, Jason getting his iconic hockey mask for the first time after killing Shelly, a truly unbearable incel of a character. There’s also the infamous eye-pop kill, and of course, Harry Manfredini’s incredible theme, nicknamed “Disco the Thirteenth,” which has since been covered by fans around the world.

Friday the 13th Part 3D is fun in a trashy, novelty way, but overall, it remains one of the weakest entries in the entire franchise.

Contrary to Part 3D, The Final Chapter is widely regarded as the best film in the series, and while that’s my opinion, it also happens to be the general consensus among fans. The plot centers around the familiar bonds between siblings, features the legendary “dead-fuck” Jimmy and his iconic dance moves, some very creative uses for corkscrews, and, most importantly, the apparent end of Jason’s life, at least for a time.

Whether this was Jason’s first and only true death or just one of many is a subject of fan debate. Some argue, as partially implied in Part 9, that Jason was a deadite revived by his mother after drowning. Others believe he survived the drowning and doesn’t actually die until this film, returning later as a reanimated supernatural corpse.

Regardless, The Final Chapter is phenomenal. It also marks the debut of fan-favorite Tommy Jarvis, played here by Corey Feldman, and later portrayed by two other actors as his trilogy progresses. This entry feels like one of the most grounded and emotionally resonant in the series, and it features some of the best effects in the franchise, thanks to the return of Tom Savini, arguably the most talented effects artist in horror history. From Dawn of the Dead, The Burning, and Maniac, to Martin and even Terrifier 3, Savini’s legacy is undeniable, and he considered killing off Jason, his own creation, a true honor.

With Jason’s death in the previous film, A New Beginning features a copycat Jason and is easily one of the horniest films in the franchise. Directed by a former porn director, the movie cuts back on blood to make room for more boobs, yet it still delivers some of the most memorable side characters in the entire series. From Reggie the Reckless and his brother Demon, to the gay bikers, to Junior, Tina, and of course, the infamous “Dirty Lady” herself, Ethel, this film’s cast is chaotic in all the best ways.

Roy Burns, the mostly forgettable paramedic, dons the hockey mask this time. While the character himself doesn’t leave much of an impression, his kills absolutely do. Actor Tom Morga holds the rare honor of being the only person to portray Jason, Michael Myers, and Leatherface. And if you think his Jason credit doesn’t count because Roy’s a copycat, Morga also appears as hallucinations and dream versions of the original Jason throughout the film.

The story focuses on a now-older Tommy Jarvis, played by John Shepherd in his only major film role before he left acting to become a minister. Tommy, traumatized by Jason’s murders and his own act of killing Jason in The Final Chapter, struggles to recover while living in a halfway house. Outside of that and a whole lot of nudity, there’s not much of a plot, but A New Beginning still manages to be a wonderfully trashy, spectacular entry in the franchise. Yet fans screamed for Jason’s true return.

Jason Lives rivals The Final Chapter in sheer kick-assery, opening with Tommy, now played by Thom Mathews, accidentally Frankenstein-ing Jason back to life. What follows is a supernatural killing spree, complete with a new theme song by Alice Cooper. This entry also marks a first (and last) for the series: a Friday the 13th movie with no nudity.

It features one of the coolest Jason defeats in the franchise. Tommy lures Jason back to the lake, anchors him to the bottom with a chain around his neck, and Jason takes a boat motor to the face before being pinned underwater for years.

The people who made this film truly loved it. Thom Mathews and Vincent Guastaferro even reprise their roles from this film in the Never Hike Alone series, an unofficial Friday the 13th continuation run by die-hard fans.

Jason Lives also brings a lot more camp and comedy into the mix, something many fans adore here but grow to appreciate less in later entries. Personally, I think it only goes too far once in the franchise. You’d have to be a maggot head to dislike this film.

A New Blood marks the debut of everyone’s second-favorite telekinetic teenager, Tina Shepard (with Carrie, of course, holding the top spot). Tina accidentally revives Jason, now played by fan-favorite Kane Hodder, who would go on to portray Jason in the remaining films of the original series, excluding the Nightmare on Elm Street crossover.

This entry is often affectionately nicknamed FriGAY the 13th due to its notably queer cast, including several out actors at the time, such as Jeff Bennett, Susan Blu, William Butler, Craig Thomas, and Kevin Spirtas.

The film explores themes of predatory authority figures, most notably through Tina’s manipulative psychologist “Bad News” Cruz, who exploits her trauma and psychic abilities for personal gain. There’s also an abusive father subplot early on, though it’s handled a bit poorly.

Despite a few rough patches, A New Blood is still one of the stronger entries in the franchise. It features one of the best Jason costume designs, one of the coolest kills with the infamous sleeping bag scene, and a genuinely well-written protagonist in Tina, even if some of the side characters fall a little flat.

Jason Takes Manhattan is the last Friday movie made by Paramount, and it does more than fall a little flat; it became what would be the worst film in the series if New Line didn’t immediately drop the ball in their first attempt. To give it the benefit of the doubt, its theme song, the Darkest Side of the Night by Metropolis kicks ass, Julius’s beheading is great, and JJ is a great character, although she is killed way too early on. Now that the only good points of the film are out of the way, let's get on with what's wrong with it.

The film should really be called ‘Jason Gets on a Boat for an Hour Then Takes a Short Walk Through Manhattan.’ The film ignores all continuity; there has never been a river connected to any of the countless versions of Crystal Lake, let alone one that connects directly to the ocean. Why does a random boater have a replica of Jason’s mask complete with the Higgins Haven ax mark in it? How did Jason change into a brand-new outfit underwater? Why are there creepy ghost child Jasons all over the place, and most of them aren’t even bald?

It’s a bad and confusing movie, and worst of all, the first ¾ of it are extremely boring. It would be the worst film in the series if it wasn’t for the one that came out right after it.

Jason Goes to Hell is unarguably the worst film in the entire Friday the 13th franchise.

Yes, the opening scene is surprisingly cool. Yes, the director's cut of the tent kill is one of the gnarliest in horror history. And yes, Freddy’s glove at the end is a fun little teaser. But beyond that? There is no defending this movie.

The film needlessly rewrites Jason’s lore, dragging in Evil Dead's bizarre supernatural mythology, a magic dagger, secret bloodlines, and random body-swapping that barely makes sense. By the ninth film, no one was asking for a poor rewriting of Jason’s origin. We just wanted Friday the Thirteenth, we wanted Jason.

Instead, he spends most of the movie not even being Jason, jumping from one random townsperson to another, while the audience waits for a glimpse of the real thing.

Even the highlights are frustratingly brief. His actual on-screen design is fantastic, second only to Part 7, but you barely see it. And worst of all, the first-time director who was given the role of milking the franchise remains smug about the film to this day, brushing off criticism and calling fans stupid for not "getting it."

It’s not misunderstood. It’s just garbage, and it’s the only film to take camp too far in the series.

Jason X, on the other hand, is camp done right.

Yes, it's Jason in space. And yes, it's just as ridiculous as it sounds. But that's the point, and it works. The film fully embraces the absurdity, leaning into over-the-top kills, sci-fi horror tropes, and tongue-in-cheek humor. The result? A movie that’s not just better than Parts 8, 9, and 3, it’s actually fun.

From the liquid nitrogen head smash to the reimagined sleeping bag kill, to the 19,727 people killed on the space station when Jason crashes the Grendel into it, this movie goes all in. And Uber Jason? Absolutely incredible. His design, the absurd power-up moment, and his rampage all hit that perfect mix of cool and hilarious.

The cast is likable, the kills are creative, and the tone never takes itself too seriously. Jason X knows exactly what it is, and that self-awareness makes all the difference.

To wrap up the franchise, we have Freddy vs. Jason.

It works way better as a Nightmare on Elm Street movie than a Friday the 13th, but it actually fits more cleanly into the Friday timeline. It takes place between Jason Goes to Hell and Jason X, and even explains how Jason got his new outfit between films, making Part 8 the only entry without some kind of costume continuity.

The bed-crush kill early on is fantastic. The CGI blood? Not so much. Most of the CGI is dated, and the lighting choices scream early 2000s in a way that hasn’t aged well. The characters aren’t particularly likable, either.

But the fight scenes? Incredible.

Robert Englund gives one of the best performances of his career, the fire stunts are jaw-droppingly impressive, and when the movie lets the icons battle, it delivers. It’s loud, brutal, and satisfying in a way that few horror crossovers ever manage to be.

There were countless drafts of this film’s script, and while we definitely didn’t get the best possible version, what we got was still great. The WWE-style marketing stunts and promotional face-offs were a fan’s dream.

Freddy vs. Jason is a messy, loud, slightly dumb, but undeniably fun highlight in the franchise.

To summarize, this series means a lot to so many people, including myself. It was one of the first horror franchises I ever watched in full, and it helped transform my childhood curiosity about the horror genre into a full-blown obsession.

Sure, it's not as artsy or profound as some of my other favorites like A Page of Madness or Martin, but that’s not the point. Friday the 13th is an unapologetically campy slasher-fest. It’s loud, bloody, sometimes stupid, sometimes brilliant, and I love it dearly.

And no, I didn’t forget the remake.

We just don’t talk about the remake.