It’s almost Halloween folks! Time to start knocking out some lists!
I was going to do the A Nightmare on Elm Street series today but then I realized that I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t get the next two franchises done BEFORE the holiday is over. Also this is my favorite horror franchise and the one I’ve seen the most times so it’s probably the easiest for me. Hooray.
Let’s see if you agree… from worst to first!
12: Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Yes I know some of the other movies on this list barely contain Jason (or Jason at all in some cases) but this movie has his name in the title and only gives him like 5 minutes of screen time. Plus they filled in the rest of the movie with some body snatching shit that made no sense. Why did the coroner eat that heart? This movie was just bad. Except for Creighton Duke he was a bad ass that should get his own solo movie.
11: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
This was a big swing and a miss. “Hey let’s get Jason out of Crystal Lake” seems like a good idea right? Then they set the thing in New York and then don’t film there other than like one scene. Hell, most of this isn’t even in A city it’s on a boat. Does Jason On a Boat sound like a good movie to you? It wasn’t. The dude boxing Jason and getting his head knocked into a garbage can nearly saved it though.
10: Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
Gee I wonder why they show a closeup of that ambulance driver for a really long time? Probably means nothing right? This was the second movie in the series where Jason wasn’t the killer and the first that kinda sucked. It had some violence and Tommy Jarvis but that was about it. Reggie the Reckless was a kid I wanted knocked off and those hillbilly neighbors were the worst. I…just didn’t like it.
9: Friday the 13th (2009)
They tried. They really did. They put blood, boobs and kills through this entire thing to make it into a Friday movie. It just felt…off. I think my biggest issue is the fact that it looked, style wise, exactly like Marcus Nispel’s other remake of Texas Chainsaw. That and they eliminated all the other movies and made a giant mishmash of all of them into one movie. I’ve seen worse obviously but this just didn’t click.
8: Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
I’m probably going to take some crap for this but I thought this was just OK. Obviously Kane Hodder did a good job with Jason and the special effects were good but something was missing. The story with Jason taking on the chick with psychic powers was interesting but I think the acting killed it for me. Bernie was not super great as a bad guy and I didn’t like Tina’s mom. There you go, come at me.
7: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Ah yes, baghead Jason. This wasn’t a bad movie but it was juuuust before they figured out the formula for the future of the franchise. The counselors and everyone else actually did good jobs but it seemed more like generic slasher flick #62 than a future Friday film. It did it’s job and kept the franchise moving so you can’t complain too much.
6: Friday the 13th (1980)
OK, I know. It’s the one that started it all. This was the movie that really let the blood and gore go in the genre. That being said, it’s poorly shot and some of the dialogue is ridiculous as hell. If this wasn’t the icon that it was and I hadn’t seen it a 100 times when I was a kid I probably wouldn’t even like the damn thing. As it stands I had to put it in the top half out of guilt and respect, but that’s as far as I need to go.
5: Jason X (2001)
Yeah, I know. I don’t care. I love this movie. It is so ridiculous and over the top that it comes all the way around from sucking to being awesome. It didn’t make any money and the critics shit on it but I don’t care. I like the damn thing. Also the girl getting her face frozen and smashed into a million pieces was amazing. Plus Uber Jason vs Robot chick was something you never thought you would see in a Friday movie.
4: Freddy vs Jason (2003)
This made a 100 Million dollars. That’s a lot of money for a movie that had a ridiculous premise. I love this one because it was literally one of those things I was hoping for since I was 5. Was it what I hoped it would it would be? God no. It was still cool seeing these two horror icons going at in a battle over who got to kill the most moron kids. This was a dream come true for me and I love the thing no matter what.
3: Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Another one I have a huge soft spot for. I probably saw this a million times when I was a little kid. It’s the one where Jason gets his mask! It’s in 3D! What’s not to like? Other than it was clearly filmed in California and this was technically Saturday the 14th… I guess those are two big ones but still. This is the one where the Friday “Formula” was really established and the Jason character took off. An iconic monster was really born here.
2: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
This is the favorite Friday of a lot of fans and I can’t argue very hard against it. It may be the best put together overall of all the movies. It was the beginning of the Tommy Jarvis saga that lasts 3 movies and the return of Tom Savini to the franchise. Jason was great, the kids were likable but not likable enough where you didn’t want them dead and they really tried (if you listen to Joe Zito the director) to kill this franchise. This is the Cadillac of the Friday films and is top 2 because of that.
1: Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
This was the return of Jason as a Zombie after being killed off in the Final Chapter. This was also the Friday movie I have seen more times than the others combined. This is my favorite for a dozen reasons, the comedy, Jason was awesome (both of them) Tommy Jarvis was a bad ass. The Sheriffs daughter was both a bad ass and made young me feel feelings that I didn’t know should happen yet. This was the movie that my cousins and I would watch at my grandparents house in the summers and then play Friday out in the yard. I was Jason a lot. I love this movie and this is my number 1.
There we go kids. All 12 films in this franchise just got RANKED. Was I right? Wrong? A little of both? Let me know. I appreciate you reading.
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