DOLO FLICKS: Ranking The Friday The 13th Franchise From Worst To Best (#4–1)
In this final installment of my ranking of the Friday The 13th franchise, we take a look at what I consider to be the top movies in the series.
Two of the films on the list below do hold a level of nostalgia as they are the only movies I was able to see in theatres. The films that are in the top two don’t stray far from common opinions.
Watching all 12 films in the franchise has given me a new appreciation for Friday The 13th and certainly solidified for me Jason’s standing as a horror icon.
4. FREDDY VS. JASON
RELEASED: AUGUST 15, 2003
DIRECTOR: RONNY YU
APPROXIMATELY 22 KILLS
The long-awaited battle between Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees spent a decade in development hell before finally being released in 2003.
Freddy vs. Jason was one of the most anticipated films in horror history. It had a fantastic marketing campaign that led to the film becoming the highest-grossing film in both the Friday The 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises.
Admittedly, Freddy vs. Jason is a personal preference of mine since it was the first Friday The 13th/A Nightmare on Elm Street film I was able to see in theaters.
The movie premiere that I attended was filled with horror fanatics dawning all of their favorite Jason and Freddy memorabilia and clothes, leading to a fun movie-going experience where the audience loudly celebrated certain parts of the film.
The plot of the movie finds the people of Springwood, Ohio, unfamiliar with Freddy Krueger due to a pill that suppresses people’s dreams. Krueger manipulates Jason to kill people in Springwood to spread fear back in the community to regain his powers.
Jason, who is played by Ken Kerzinger, does the majority of the killing in the film. One of the kills at the beginning of the movie to a character named Trent sticks out as Jason folds him in half using a mattress.
Krueger isn’t the over-the-top, almost cartoonish character he portrayed in the latter A Nightmare on Elm Street films, specifically in the fifth and sixth entries in the franchise.
Robert Englund plays Krueger, similar to the franchise’s third installment Dream Warriors, a blend of comedic one-liners infused in terrifying nightmare scenarios.
The weakest portions of the film come when the movie focuses on its protagonist characters. Some of these characters are the worst in the franchise, such as Kelly Rowland’s Kia and Jason Ritter’s Will. There is even one character that is a blatant rip-off of Jay from the Jay and Silent Bob movies.
There are some plot developments that make little sense, such as Jason being afraid of water as throughout the series Jason is shown going in and out of bodies of water.
The film’s ranking rests primarily with its third act, where Jason and Freddy battle at Crystal Lake. The action scene’s between the two delivers in big fashion, with both characters having their moments.
Surprisingly, there has not been a sequel with the amount of money the movie made. Despite the film’s lower-tier characters, Freddy vs. Jason is a fun time for fans of both franchises and delivered in its most crucial act.
3. FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009)
RELEASED: FEBRUARY 13, 2009
DIRECTOR: MARCUS NISPEL
APPROXIMATELY 14 KILLS
The 2009 reboot of Friday The 13th may be the most divisive film in the franchise. Like Freddy vs. Jason, the film suffers from a subpar cast and, for many, one of the worst characters in horror movie history in Trent, played by Travis Van Winkle.
The film followed a reboot renaissance from studio Platinum Dunes that included The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that brought a more modern touch to the horror classics.
The film’s best asset falls on its portrayal of Jason, played by Derek Mears. Jason is a hybrid of the zombie Jason that was introduced in Friday The 13th VI: Jason Lives and a survivalist that sets traps and can kill in a variety of ways.
Arguably, Jason is at his most frightening in the 2009 reboot.
The highlight of the film is in the first 25 minutes as it shows a group of friends camping as they look for a field of marijuana. Jason takes out each one brutally, including a sleeping bag kill leaving a victim hung in the bag over a fire for a brutal slow death.
Also, the fan-favorite bag head version of Jason makes an appearance in the film before finding his infamous hockey mask.
The plot of the film is somewhat by the numbers as Jason kidnaps one of the campers from the beginning of the movie, who resembles his mother. The girl’s brother comes looking for his sister and runs into a group of friends staying at a friends’ family cabin.
They run into Jason, and the killing commences.
While for many the characters in Friday The 13th (2009) may make the film hard to digest, Jason and the kills in the movie make it the most accessible Friday The 13th film. This film is the Friday The 13th that you would show to someone who has never seen any of the movies and is unfamiliar with the franchise.
2. FRIDAY THE 13TH IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER
RELEASED: APRIL 13, 1984
DIRECTOR: JOSEPH ZITO
APPROXIMATELY 13 KILLS
The fourth installment in the Friday The 13th franchise is an amalgamation of the previous three films that combines a majority of their best elements.
The Final Chapter is the quintessential Friday The 13th movie.
With the return of Tom Savini as a special makeup effects artist, the kills throughout the film are stellar.
Similar to the Friday The 13th Part 3, The Final Chapter begins immediately after the previous film’s events.
Jason is taken to a hospital where he is presumed to be dead. He then awakens and brutally kills his way out of the hospital to head back to his stomping grounds at Crystal Lake.
The Final Chapter follows two groups of people.
The first is a group of friends staying at a friend’s home for the weekend. The second group that is being followed is the Jarvis family, who live next door.
There is also a slight storyline that follows the character Rob played by Erich Anderson, who is seeking revenge for his sister, who died in Friday The 13th Part 2.
The movie is best known for introducing Tommy Jarvis to the franchise who is played by Corey Feldman. Jarvis is a unique character that could be based on Tom Savini, as he is shown to have made horror movie quality masks.
In the age of social media, the standout star in the movie is Crispin Glover, who plays Jimmy. Glover has a scene in the film that would make Elaine from Seinfeld cringe as he shows off his dance moves in one of the most memorable and mocked scenes in the entire franchise.
Ted White, who chose not to be credited, portrays one of the best Jason’s in the franchise. One of the best kills in the film includes a twin character that is thrown out a window in dramatic fashion.
The movie’s final act features Trish Jarvis, played by Kimberly Beck, who runs the final girl circuit of discovering dead bodies one after the other. Trish does put up a fight against Jason, but it is ultimately Tommy Jarvis who puts Jason down for good.
Tommy shaves a majority of his head bald to resemble what Jason looked like as a kid, which puts the killer on hold, allowing for him to be whacked in the head by Trish with a machete.
Tommy follows up with a hit of his own with a machete that kills Jason dramatically.
Jason’s death is arguably the best kill in the film, with his head slowly going down the machete after getting hit.
The Final Chapter, for many, is the best Friday The 13th film. It features a serviceable yet memorable cast, fantastic kills, and one of the most satisfying endings in the franchise.
This film could have easily been at the top of my list, and over the years, it could end up at the number one spot.
1. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES
RELEASED: AUGUST 1, 1986
DIRECTOR: TOM McLOUGHLIN
APPROXIMATELY 18 KILLS
Written and Directed by Tom McLoughlin, Friday The 13th: Jason Lives is one of the most unique and fun horror movies of the 1980s. The film brings forth the zombie version of Jason that is most well known in pop culture.
The film brings back Tommy Jarvis, who wants to make sure that Jason is dead. He heads to the deceased killer’s grave and digs up the body only to impale it with a metal rod. The metal rod is struck by lightning, and Jason is reborn.
The movie brilliantly inputs Meta elements throughout the film blending a mix of comedy and action that make it stand out to this day.
Jason Lives is the only Friday The 13th film with no nudity and even shows kids at the camp setting. Don’t worry; Jason does not kill any children in the movie.
The kills throughout the movie are well made despite the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) editing them down to reduce the gore amount. Even the kills that are done off-screen are well made as the film does a brilliant job of showing the aftermath of the kill.
The chemistry between the Sheriff’s daughter Megan played by Jennifer Cook and Tommy Jarvis, allows the audience to care more about the antagonists instead of viewing them as mere fodder for Jason.
The Friday The 13th franchise is a series that doesn’t have an absolute classic film that transcends the horror genre such as 1978’s Halloween or 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Jason Lives and even The Final Chapter are the closest the series comes to having a transcendent horror film. At the very least, these films are about as good as any of the sequels in the Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises.
Jason Lives is the film that I think of when I think of Friday The 13th. Undoubtedly, it is the movie in the franchise that has the most replay value and the film that I would choose to show to anyone who hasn’t seen Friday The 13th.
Let me know what you think of my rankings and put your rankings down below.
Originally Published at www.frontproofmedia.com on November 05, 2020