A Sicko’s Guide to Every Bloody Friday the 13th Movie

Our product picks are editor-tested, expert-approved. We may earn a commission through links on our site. Why Trust Us?Men's Health Illustration; Getty Images//20th Century Studios12 min readFOR A SERIES ostensibly about a hockey-mask-wearing, machete-wielding killer, the Friday the 13th series is weird. From the original film, which doesn't really star Jason Voorhees as the killer (a favorite kernel of hack trivia nights nationwide), to fighting a Carrie stand-in to going to space, the slasher franchise has gone through many an identity crisis. Not to mention the wild legal battle over the rights to the names “Jason” and “Friday the 13th.”For a series born from a cheap, down-and-dirty exploitation film meant to capitalize on Halloween’s success, it’s done quite well for itself. With ten main series entries, a crossover with Freddy Krueger, a remake, video games, and even a TV series, its longevity is nothing to sneeze at. The quality may ebb and flow, and the killer might not always be Jason, but the undead man himself has become a cultural institution. You don’t need to have seen the series to know what that hockey mask means and where it comes from.As the franchise finds new life in Crystal Lake, a new series now streaming on Peacock and starring Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees, we’ve given you a quick primer. Not all Fridays are created equal, but you’ll never leave an entry mad you saw it. Okay, you might be a little mad, but we’ll get to that.Friday the 13th (1980)ParamountThe film that started it all. Or, rather, copied it all. Yes, Friday the 13th won’t win any points for originality, nor would you call it a “great” film. It’s stuck, though, for a reason, and the lion's share of that goes to its fun hook: A group of campers is stalked by an unseen assailant as the legend of the death of a physically deformed child, the young Jason Voorhees, 20 years earlier looms over them. One might assume the killer hiding in the shadows is Jason, somehow alive and grown up, exacting revenge on a new batch of counselors (including a young Kevin Bacon!), after the carelessness of the previous ones, but it’s not that simple. It’s been 40 years, so forgive the spoiler, but that “Ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma” you hear throughout the film? That’s not a fun little stinger on Henry Manfredini’s great score. It’s little Jason’s voice echoing “Kill Kill Kill, Mama” in the deranged mind of his mother as she slaughters her prey. Yes, it’s Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) doing the killing in this one. It’s a reveal so iconic that it still surprises new viewers to this day, many assuming that Jason was the killer from the jump. In Crystal Lake, recent Emmy winner Linda Cardellini steps into Mrs. Voorhees’s probably-not-too-comfortable shoes, proving it isn’t just her son who will never die.Watch It HereFriday the 13th Pt. II (1981)ParamountSpeaking of her son, Jason takes over for his mother in Part II. Not quite the undead zombie he’d become, it’s revealed that the boy never died all those years ago, and now he’s out for vengeance after the death of his mother. It’s like a Russian doll of revenge. As a film, Part II is a touch better than the original, as Steve Miner (Halloween H20) is a better director than Sean S. Cunningham. However, it’s still learning how to become the series it would eventually be, so everything feels just a bit off. With the lowest body count of the series and a Jason who hasn't found his true mask yet, wearing a burlap sack instead, it still has a few tricks up its sleeve. A double impalement of a couple in bed is brutal, but it’s wheelchair-bound Mark who receives the most memorable death in the film. Before John Wick took a tumble down a massive flight of stairs, actor Tom McBride (or his obvious dummy) rolled backward through the rain with a machete sticking out of his head. It’s one hell of an image.Watch It HereFriday the 13th Pt. III (1982)ParamountIt took only three entries, but Pt. III, or 3-D, is where the franchise finally finds its identity. From the hulking Richard Brooker as Jason, giving him the burly frame he’d have going forward, to that iconic hockey mask, the pieces begin to fall into place. When you think of Friday the 13th, you’re likely thinking of the template set in Pt. III. This begs the question, though: Is it good? Well, that’s all a bit relative. Miner is back as director, giving the film a broader visual palette than the exploitation-heavy first film, but the 3D gimmick creates some unintentionally hilarious moments. The proceedings often stop dead so someone can hold an object, like a baseball bat, dead center in the frame for far too long, just so you really notice it. It’s not all bad, though: Jason lunging at the screen in all his three-dimensional glory is a sight to behold, and his kills leave a lasting impact. In fact, the first time we ever see Jason in his hockey mask on camera is in a very fun harpoon death that makes perfect use of the 3D. Oh, the theme bangs, too.Watch It HereFriday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)ParamountOh yeah, now we’re cooking. Widely regarded as the series’s peak (for this writer’s opinion, you’ll have to wait a few entries), The Final Chapter is where Jason fully solidifies into the killer we know today. Kicking off the “Tommy Jarvis” trilogy (played here by Corey Feldman), The Final Chapter introduces the wrinkle that Jason is immortal. While the series always played around with death and what it actually means, here, it’s explicit. Jason, having been “killed” in Pt. III, sits up in the morgue and returns to Crystal Lake to continue his slaughter. Directed by action legend Joe Zito and featuring legendary VFX artist Tom Savini’s return to the series, The Final Chapter is the best the series’s gore has looked to this point, and Jason himself, played by stuntman Ted White, is a terrifying behemoth. It’s Feldman’s performance as Tommy, however, that drives it into all-time great territory. As a frightened child forced to confront the unimaginable, Feldman brings a real pathos to a franchise that had been missing up until that point. His descent into traumatized madness introduces interesting stakes for where the series could go if given the chance. Where it went, however? Well…Watch It HereFriday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)ParamountViewed by many as the franchise's red-headed stepchild, A New Beginning is the platonic ideal of a slasher movie, if you can let go of the “Jason” of it all. That’s right, this is the Roy of the series. “Who’s Roy?” you’re asking yourself, and well, (spoilers abound), Roy is the copycat killer unmasked at the end of the film. See, after Jason’s “death” at the hands of Tommy Jarvis and his mother, someone had to pick up the mantle, right? Why not a vengeful father, furious at the death of his son? Derided at the time and still a point of contention for purists, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Directed by exploitation stalwart Danny Steinmann, A New Beginning brings back an older Tommy (this time played by Jed Shepherd) after a stint in the psych ward. Back at the camp, he and a new batch of deadmeats are stalked by a hockey-masked killer all over again. The trashiest of the series (the nudity is out of control); if you can ignore the Roy of it all, it’s one of the more fun entries in the canon. Garish red blood splatters the screen, teens run for their lives, and the whodunnit is paced perfectly. Think of it as “the best episode of Scooby-Doo, ever.”Watch It HereFriday the 13th: Jason Lives (1986)ParamountIn this writer's eyes, the end of the Tommy Jarvis saga is also the best of the bunch. A course correction after Roy didn’t light fans’ hearts on fire, Jason Lives brings our favorite brute back via supernatural lightning. Tommy Jarvis, here played by Thom Matthews, just can’t get over his PTSD and desecrates Jason’s grave in a fit of rage. One metal post and a lightning strike later, Jason is back, better than ever. Proving that some guys would rather bring their arch-nemesis back from the dead instead of going to therapy, Tommy’s gaffe is our gain. Director Tom McLoughlin brings gorgeous atmosphere to the series, calling to mind the great Universal Monsters of the ’30s and ’40s. Jason, here played by C.J. Graham, is an absolute beast. As a superpowered zombie, his size and strength make him nigh unbeatable. The paintball slaughter is a ton of fun as heads roll, but Jason bending the sheriff in half is sickening, both in practical effects and sound design. You’ll immediately want to see about getting that spine of yours straightened out.Watch It HereFriday the 13th: The New Blood (1988)ParamountHow’s this for a logline: “Jason vs. Carrie”? That’s the basic gist of The New Blood, and while it doesn’t quite deliver on that tantalizing premise, the seventh Friday is an underrated gem. Tina Shepherd (Lar Park Lincoln) is our telekinetic Carrie stand-in, a superpowered teen suffering from the guilt of having accidentally drowned her father as a child. The climax between them is a fun bit of telekinesis-vs.-brute-force shenanigans, but if there’s one thing The New Blood will be remembered for forever, it’s the series’s most iconic kill. Ripping a camper out of her tent, sleeping bag and all, Jason slams her repeatedly against a tree until she stops screaming. Fully embracing the cartoon sensibilities of slasher-in-arms Freddy Krueger, The New Blood is the series stretching for something new but definitely running out of gas. The wheels would soon fall off, but before they did, The New Blood also gave us our most iconic Jason, and the man most closely associated with the killer: Kane Hodder.Watch It HereFriday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)ParamountOr, Jason Takes a Cruise Ship. Here we are, the series’s nadir. With an iconic poster and premise, plucking Jason out of the campground and dropping him into New York City, how could they get it so wrong? Well, to start, most of the action takes place on a cruise ship, where a group of NYC high schoolers is celebrating graduation. Then, when the big man finally gets into the city... the film is largely shot in Vancouver. A real whiff on a great idea, Jason Takes Manhattan also marks the last film in the series produced by Paramount. The killer would soon be shipped over to New Line, losing the Friday the 13th titling in the process. It’s not all bad, though—Hodder’s Jason is a thing of beauty: a massive, dripping-wet horror, and perhaps his best look yet. We’re also given a wonderful shot-on-location moment in Times Square, briefly delivering on the promise of Jason stalking those gritty streets.Watch It HereJason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)New Line CinemaThe second “finale” in the series, The Final Friday is Jason at his most bizarre. Part of the reason for that is that Jason isn’t really in it. Sure, Kane Hodder shows up for his third straight outing in a few brief scenes as the killer, but in this entry, “Jason” becomes an entity passed from one person to the next. “How?”, you may be wondering. Well, a giant parasitic worm, known as the Hellbaby, of course. Another divisive film in the canon, there’s a lot to like in this one. You can see how Jason fans would be up in arms over their favorite slasher largely missing from the film, but how can you not love the introduction of a demon bounty hunter in the form of Creighton Duke? It isn’t for everyone, but Jason Goes to Hell is the series at its most surreal, silly, and expansive. Fan theories suggest the film is in the same universe as Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, and director Adam Marcus has confirmed it. That’s not the only franchise Jason crosses paths with in his “final” outing: As the sun sets on the series, Jason having been defeated once and for all, pleasant music plays over Jason’s mask disappearing in the sand. Suddenly, a famous bladed glove rips through the ground and pulls Jason’s mask into hell. A familiar cackle bellows as the screen goes dark. An exciting tease, but one we’d have to wait a decade to see realized.Watch It HereJason X (2002)ParamountCan you really call yourself a long-running franchise unless you’ve gone to space? The Leprechaun did it. A few of Dom Toretto’s “family” members made a brief visit in Fast 9. In Jason’s tenth go-around, after many deaths and finales, where else could he go but to space? Beginning in the “far-off” future of 2010, Camp Crystal Lake is now home to a research facility. To understand the creature that is Jason (again played by Kane Hodder in his fourth and final appearance), the facility holds him under surveillance. As these things are wont to go, Jason breaks free, killing everyone (including the facility’s leader, David Cronenberg) before falling into a chamber that freezes him for almost five hundred years. Thawing out in space, Jason goes on a killing spree around the space station, trading in camp counselors for Sci-Fi Channel rejects. Look, nobody is calling Jason X a “good” movie. Its overwhelming charm, however, is hard to deny. Where else will you find Jason vs. Sexy Android or Jason being upgraded to “Uber Jason”? Sadly, the latter’s leather-clad, silver-masked appearance is all too brief, but don’t let the poor reputation fool you: Jason X is an utter delight.Watch It HereFreddy vs. Jason (2003)ParamountAs promised by Jason Goes to Hell, the Friday series proper finally ends with the main man battling Freddy. Directed by Hong Kong action legend Ronny Yu, Freddy vs. Jason surprisingly blends the two series’ canons into something tangible. Like a perverse Santa Claus, Freddy (now in Hell) has lost his powers because the children no longer believe in him. Invading Jason’s (now played by Ken Kirzinger) dreams, he manipulates the brute into heading over to Springwood, Freddy’s killing grounds, to ramp up the killing again. If Jason can spread fear around town, maybe people will mistake him for Freddy and believe in him again. It’s a foolproof plan. Once resurrected in the real world, all hell breaks loose, and we get less a horror film and more a WWE-style beatdown between the two legends. After two decades in development hell (one version even included Bruce Campbell’s Ash from the Evil Dead series), the hype was nuclear for these two to finally meet. They even had a classic weigh-in in Las Vegas to promote the film. Thanks to its pure, unadulterated fight scenes, FvJ exceeded its lofty expectations. To date, it’s the final entry into the bizarre, nonsensical Jason timeline—but don’t worry, we’re not quite done just yet.Watch It HereFriday the 13th (2009)Warner Bros./ParamountThe films—for now—end where we began: Friday the 13th. In the 2000s, Michael Bay had an idea: remake horror classics. This being Bay, they were all filtered through a grimy yet glossy, Maxim Magazine patina. His production shingle, Platinum Dunes, remade everything from Texas Chainsaw to The Amityville Horror and, in 2009, it was Jason’s turn for a makeover. Directed by Marcus Nispel, who made the somewhat successful Texas Chainsaw reboot, Friday the 13th essentially combines the first three films in the series and, in doing so, makes a killer addition to the mythos. It’s a controversial opinion to say you enjoy this one, but if you find the first few entries to be a bit of a slog, it’s not the worst thing in the world to breeze through them with some good-looking kills. Stuntman Derek Mears plays Jason, who looks bigger than ever, and the cast includes CW regulars like Jared Padalecki and Danielle Panabaker along with Party Down legend Ryan Hansen. We run through the hits, sure, with Jason wearing both the burlap sack and the hockey mask, but it does add a fun wrinkle or two—after four decades of machete slashing, it’s at least nice to see him pick up a bow and arrow for a change.Watch It HereCrystal Lake (2026) PeacockAnd so we arrive at Crystal Lake, the first official entry in the Friday the 13th franchise in 17 years (a short film, titled Sweet Revenge, was also released in 2025).Remember when we talked about the original Friday the 13th film, and how Mrs. Voorhees was fueled by revenge due to the carelessness of the Camp Crystal Lake counselors a summer prior—leading to her sweet baby Jason’s presumed demise? Crystal Lake’s story picks up there, with the talented Linda Cardellini putting on Pamela’s signature sweater. The story is kind of fan-fiction adjacent, but what in the Friday the 13th story isn’t? It’s filled with some major gore for all the Slasher-heads out there, and if you’ve made it this far on this list, you’ll probably be pulled in from the very start. Happy streaming, campers!Watch It HereBrandon Streussnig is a freelance film journalist in New York City with bylines in Vulture, GQ, Inverse, Fangoria and more. He is the creator of the annual Vulture Stunt Awards celebrating the best in cinematic stunt work.