DOLO FLICKS: Ranking The Friday The 13th Franchise From Worst to Best (#12–9)
Freddy Kruger. Michael Myers. Pennywise. Leatherface.
Jason Voorhees.
It has been over ten years since the last time fans were able to go to a movie theater to watch a new Friday the 13th film.
In the 1980s, the Friday the 13th franchise and its star Jason Voorhees were embedded in the pop culture zeitgeist releasing eight films in the decade.
In this series, we look back at the franchise and rank all 12 films from worst to best based purely on this writer’s opinion. Friday The 13th wasn’t a franchise that I grew up watching, so the level of nostalgia for the films is minimal.
In this ranking, we will not be including Womp Stomp Films' fantastic Friday The 13th fan films, Never Hike Alone and Never Hike In The Snow. If they were included, they would be ranked near the top as their quality is top-notch.
Let’s get started!
12. JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY
RELEASED: AUGUST 13, 1993
DIRECTOR: ADAM MARCUS
APPROXIMATELY 24 KILLS
New Line Cinema’s first foray with the Friday The 13th franchise turned out to be a bit of a mess. New Line Cinema was able to acquire the distribution rights to the series; however, Paramount was able to keep the score used throughout the films and the usage of the name “Friday The 13th”.
Jason Goes To Hell used first-time director Adam Marcus to lead the franchise into a new direction utilizing the bloodline of Jason Voorhees.
This film has the least amount of Jason than any other movie in the franchise (with the exception of Friday The 13th Part V) as he is killed within the first half-hour. His essence or spirit is then transferred from one person to another.
The score and the way the film is shot are its lowest points. The film resembles one made strictly for late-night television on channels like HBO or Cinemax.
The Unrated version of the film is the preferred version of the movie allowing for some of the most gruesome kills in the franchise, including impalement via a signpost.
Also, the character of Creighton Duke, played by Steven Williams, is one of the most memorable characters in the entire franchise with his over-the-top dialogue.
The gore and some of the characters don’t make up for most of the film having subpar acting and a convoluted and confusing plot.
Jason Goes To Hell is likely to remain the movie best known for having a Freddy Kruger cameo in its ending. The film is hard to love even for the franchise’s most dedicated fan base.
11. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN
RELEASED: JULY 28, 1989
DIRECTOR: ROB HEDDEN
APPROXIMATELY 20 KILLS
The eighth installment in the Friday The 13th franchise suffered from a severe amount of series fatigue. The film incorporated a plethora of new elements to the Jason Voorhees character with varying results.
Many fans know the movie as the “Jason on a boat” film as most of the film takes place on a cruise ship with numerous recently graduated High School students for Jason to take out.
Jason Takes Manhattan is the most extended entry in the franchise at a one-hour and 40-minute runtime. The film’s pacing drags throughout the film, making the audience feel every minute.
While many slasher films give the impression of the main antagonist teleporting as they always seem to be right behind, their victim, Jason Takes Manhattan has Jason teleporting in numerous scenes. Also, one of the main characters has visions of Jason as a child.
Friday The 13th isn’t known for its continuity, and the child version of Jason is shown to be a relatively normal child without any physical deformities.
The film has two things going for it. The first being an iconic shot of Jason Voorhees in the middle of Times Square in New York, although most of the film’s New York scenes were filmed in Vancouver, Canada.
And the second being, the rooftop boxing kill where Jason punches the head off of Julius, played by V.C. Dupree, who attempted to fight Jason one on one with no weapons.
While Jason Takes Manhattan has its fair share of memorable moments, its overlong runtime and often time’s ridiculous plot make it one of the worst entries in the franchise. It’s one of the few Friday The 13th films that can be described as boring.
10. JASON X
RELEASED: APRIL 26, 2002
DIRECTOR: JAMES ISAAC
APPROXIMATELY 25 KILLS
Most of the time, when a horror franchise ventures outside of the planet Earth, it tends to be one of the worst entries.
Jason-X has the look and feel of a film produced by Syfy, similar to movies like Sharknado filled with soap opera style lighting and cringe-worthy dialogue.
Set in the future in the year 2455, Jason X takes place in a spaceship traveling to Earth 2 after an excavation mission from a group of students on the original Earth who find Jason frozen in a facility.
While most of the dialogue is cringe-inducing, the characters in the film play up the comedic tone of the film making for a fun viewing experience.
The highlight of Jason X comes when he is first awakened on the spaceship and delivers one of if not the best kill in the entire franchise. He puts his would-be victim’s head into a sink full of liquid nitrogen, freezing the victim’s head, which he then proceeds to smash to pieces.
Jason X is the lowest-grossing film of the series, coming out at a time when Jason’s standing as a horror icon was diminished.
The film is a fun viewing experience if you are looking to kill a few hours, but even with there being an uber-version of Jason, Jason X feels like a film with no real identity and doesn’t know what it wants to be.
9. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD
RELEASED: MAY 13, 1988
DIRECTOR: JOHN CARL BUECHLER
APPROXIMATELY 16 KILLS
The seventh installment in the franchise is one that could go up in my rankings as the years pass. This is the first Friday The 13th that features fan-favorite Kane Hodder playing the role of Jason.
Hodder would be the only actor to play Jason more than once throughout the franchise. He was also Jason in Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes to Hell, and Jason X.
The film is known for being a pseudo-Jason vs. Carrie film as the final girl Tina played by Lar Park-Lincoln, has telekinetic powers. Some of the film’s best highlights feature Tina and Jason's battle utilizing Hodder’s background as a stuntman to its full advantage.
The Motion Picture of Association (MPAA) almost completely ruins the film as many of the kill’s feature cut-away shots taking out a majority of the gore. However, this installment does feature the infamous sleeping bag kill, which has become a fan favorite duplicated in later films in the franchise.
The film’s low ranking is primarily due to the movie having the worst ending in the entire franchise. Tina conjures the body of her dead father out of Crystal Lake to take Jason down below in the film’s climax.
With a mostly forgettable set of characters, a majority of the kills being compromised, and a wretched ending, The New Blood is one of the most inconsistent entries in the series.
Originally Published at www.frontproofmedia.com on October 31, 2020