The Friday the 13th movie franchise is one of the most recognizable slasher series of all time. Almost everyone is, to some degree, familiar with Jason Voorhees, the hockey mask-wearing, slightly special, yet insanely menacing killer from the series.
I’ve been a fan of the series for most of my life. Like many series that I love today (looking at you, Resident Evil), I started with the second entry in the franchise — Friday the 13th Part 2 —when I was just a kid. My passion for the Friday the 13th universe grew fast, which is why I’m writing this today!
I decided to revisit every single Friday the 13th movie in the series and give each film my honest review. Below, you’ll find my personal thoughts on each movie, as well as a quick breakdown of the plot. I’ll also include some fun facts — so even if you’ve watched these movies dozens of times, there’s still a chance you’ll learn something new!
With all of that in mind, there will be some spoilers for each of the movies; however, I’ve purposely omitted some key plot points, twists, and awesome kills, so you have a reason to sit down and watch them for yourself.
Let’s get into it!
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Friday the 13th (1980)
The original Friday the 13th kicked off this entire series and is recognized as a classic in the horror community for a reason. It’s not as over-the-top as some of the later movies, but it’s still suspenseful and fun to watch.
If you don’t know the plot of Friday the 13th, I’ll break it down for you: A poor, mentally challenged, little boy named Jason Voorhees drowned at Camp Crystal Lake in 1957. The pair of counselors on duty didn’t help him because they’d decided to get hot and heavy instead of watching the kids.
Here he is:
In 1958, deaths started occurring at the camp with the main targets seeming to be people who were participating in all of the naughty activities most teenagers find fun.
It appears that the “ghost” of Jason is hunting down people and punishing them for being bad counselors. (OR IS HE?!). Camp Crystal Lake gets shut down until further notice.
The bulk of Friday the 13th takes place in June 1979, when a new group of teenagers attempts to reopen the camp, and it goes about as well as you’d expect. But the big surprise reveal is (SPOIILERS) that the killer isn’t actually Jason. It’s actually his overbearing and full-on-insane mom, Ms. Voorhees. Betsy Palmer plays Jason’s mom and did an amazing job. Her creep factor is an 11 out of 10 from the first second she appears on the screen.
In total, there are 10 kills, which isn’t the lowest in the franchise, but it is the one with the most off-screen kills. About half of the kills are heard, and the results are shown afterward when the final girl, Alice (played by Adrienne King), discovers all of her new friends have been brutalized.
The payoff for this is worth it, though, mainly because the legendary Tom Savini worked on the practical effects. Both the discovered bodies and on-screen kills are very well done. It’s a fine entry in the series, but Jason is just getting warmed up!
Fun Fact: The filming location for the first movie took place at Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, a Boy Scouts’ camp. The Friday the 13th franchise boosted its popularity so much that today you can go there and experience a hands-on Crystal Lake Tour for yourself!
Where to Watch Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
I have fond memories of Friday the 13th Part 2 because it was one of the first horror movies I watched as a kid, along with Part 3. I was probably around eight or nine, and let’s just say it left a lasting impression on me.
As a side note, your 8- or 9-year-old probably shouldn’t be watching these movies. They may enjoy these kid-friendly movies, though!
The opening takes place a couple of months after the first film and consists of a series of flashbacks/nightmares from Alice, the final girl in the original Friday the 13th film. These reveal the story of Pamela Voorhees, her actions, and how she ultimately lost her head – both literally and figuratively. It’s a cool sequence that shows off some of the effects and lays a strong foundation for what’s to come.
Next, there’s a five-year jump, and you’re introduced to the first set of teens on their way to another camp for a training program that just so happens to share a shore with Crystal Lake. I was happy to see Crazy Ralph give his “You’re all doomed!” line when the kids stop to get directions.
Poor Crazy Ralph.
Despite all of my great memories, there’s a pretty big lull at this point. You’re introduced to all the counselors, get the chance to learn about them, and hear the urban legend of Jason told around the campfire for those unfamiliar with his story. It’s not bad, just a bit slower than I remembered.
Eventually, things start to pick up.
There are some pretty awesome kills, with one of my favorites being when a character gets his throat cut while hanging upside down. Most of the kills are done from Jason’s perspective, so you don’t get to actually see him until close to the end, but when you do, it sticks with you! There’s a reason I like Baghead Jason so much that I have an action figure of him.
The last 20 minutes of Friday the 13th Part 2 are by far the best part. It’s fast, suspenseful, and the way the final girl, Ginny, handles Jason is probably one of the most memorable and well-known scenes throughout the franchise.
Fun Fact: Warrington Gillette, who plays Jason in Friday the 13th Part 2, originally auditioned to be a counselor, but he didn’t get the role. They liked him so much that they asked him to play Jason instead!
Where to Watch Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)
Friday the 13th Part 3 starts with a great recap, much like the beginning of Part 2. I really like having these at the start of each movie, but it made me realize that this is probably why the first three movies blended together in my mind during my teen years.
However, I will say that of the original trilogy, this one has the best character introduction and setup. It’s also the first movie where Jason gets his iconic hockey mask!
The movie begins the next day after the conclusion of Friday the 13th Part 2 with a super suspenseful scene at a farmhouse, where an unsuspecting couple meets Jason.
We’re then introduced to all of the film’s fodder in the form of (you guessed it) a group of teenagers going to stay at a summer house on Crystal Lake. They’re all distinct and interesting.
A group of bikers who look like they would have fit in with the punk kids from Return of the Living Dead also end up roped into the movie because they can’t help but be jerks and decide to follow a couple of the teens back to the cabin to harass them some more. Oops.
It isn’t too much longer before Jason starts laying the smackdown on everyone. The kills in Friday the 13th Part 3 are by far the best of the series so far, with many of them playing on the fact that the theatrical release was in 3D.
The conclusion to this Friday the 13th film is great. There’s a bit of weirdness when it comes to one of the characters who was seemingly killed way earlier in the movie coming back to help. However, the suspenseful finale, along with getting to see Jason’s ugly mug, makes this an essential watch for people who want to get the full story on Jason Voorhees.
Fun Fact: Friday the 13th Part 3 was the first 3D movie to receive a wide domestic release, debuting on 1,079 screens on August 13, 1982.
Where to Watch Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter starts right after Part 3, with Jason’s body being taken to the morgue. Yep, you guessed it; he isn’t dead and is still just as annoyed by premarital sex and other teenage antics.
This film in the Friday the 13th franchise marks the beginning of what fans refer to as the Tommy Jarvis trilogy. Tommy essentially becomes Jason’s nemesis throughout the next three movies, with them facing off against each other multiple times.
In The Final Chapter, Tommy (played by Corey Feldman) is a small, nerdy 12-year-old who likes playing video games and designing monster masks. I mean, just look at him in action:
He lives with his family next to Crystal Lake, and also happens to live next to a house rented to a group of teenagers looking for some summer fun.
You can see where this is headed!
I wish I could say the teens in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter were as unique as they were in Friday the 13th Part 3, but that’s not the case. They range from boring to downright cringey. There are multiple scenes where they are, I guess, trying to develop the characters. But instead of wanting to get to know them (or just feeling indifferent), I found myself saying “UGHHH” out loud.
Luckily, things start picking up around the halfway point. In fact, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter has the most kills in any of the films so far. Most of Jason’s attacks are brutal with decent practical effects.
There was one kill scene, though, that made me laugh out loud at how silly it was. Toward the end of the movie, one of the characters is being relentlessly attacked by Jason in a corner, and he looks over at the other character in the room and screams, “OH GOD HE’S KILLING MEEEE! RUNNNN RUNNNN!” It went on for much longer than you’d expect, and it was just very funny to me.
The last act of the movie is suspenseful and fun to watch. Little Tommy kind of summons Ginny’s energy from Friday the 13th Part 2 to trick Jason, though he does so in a way that is undeniably more unhinged and entertaining.
While I didn’t like much of the main cast, this is still a great Friday the 13th movie because, let’s face it, very few people watch slashers for the acting or character backstories. They want to see Jason cause havoc, and he certainly does that in this entry.
Fun Fact: Tommy Jarvis is so well-known that he was even a Legendary character with maxed-out stats in the now shut-down Friday the 13th: The Game.
Where to Watch Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is aptly named because it does a few things differently from the first four movies. For one thing, it’s the first Friday the 13th sequel that doesn’t open with a montage recap of the previous movie.
Instead, A New Beginning starts off with young Tommy Jarvis again visiting the gravesite of Jason Voorhees during a storm. Two grave robbers also happen to be there and they decide they’re going to dig up Jason’s body. While doing so, Jason wakes up and starts slashing.
This leads me to another unique aspect of A New Beginning; instead of gradually building up to showing Jason per the previous films, they show him front and center — hockey mask and all — in under five minutes.
But it turns out, all that was a sort of vision, since we’re then shown Tommy waking up as a teenager in a van on his way to a halfway house (after being put in an institution due to his trauma from the events of the fourth movie). And, wouldn’t you know it, the halfway house just so happens to be very close to Crystal Lake!
The characters in and around the halfway house are all memorable and fun, with my personal favorites being young Reggie the Reckless and his brother, Demon. The fact that it feels bad to see some of your favorite characters get wiped shows that they did a really good job of building up the cast in this one.
After one of the halfway house residents is murdered by another resident, things start getting weird. Jason shows up and starts teaching the teens a lesson. (OR DOES HE?!).
There are some pretty cool and unique kills in A New Beginning. The lit flare to the mouth comes to mind, in particular. Overall, the scenes where people are getting slashed are on par, if not slightly better, than some of the previous entries.
However, they kind of dropped the ball in the final act. It’s clear that something is noticeably different about this version of Jason, with the most obvious difference being his hockey mask, which features blue lines instead of red.
I’m not going to go all-out and spoil it, but I will say this: the original Friday the 13th and this one have something in common. The big difference is that, in the first movie, it’s done tactfully and makes sense. I’m not buying the story they ultimately try to sell at the end of A New Beginning.
Does this make it a bad movie? Well, that depends. If you’re here for the over-the-top kills and potentially the spiciest Jason movie in the franchise, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning does the job!
Fun Fact: Corey Feldman was supposed to reprise his role as Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, but he was working on The Goonies at the time, so they asked John Shepard to step in instead.
Where to Watch Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
The sixth movie in the Friday the 13th franchise, Jason Lives, starts off very strong. While Jason appeared to have superhuman strength in all of the previous films, in this one, he becomes full-on supernatural.
I also loved the first kill and thought the over-the-top nature really set the tone for the rest of the movie and all the other kills that would follow.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is the final movie in the Tommy Jarvis trilogy, so it’s fitting that the plot kicks off with Tommy, who is played by Thom Mathews (Or as you might know him, Freddy from Return of the Living Dead), warning the police that Jason Voorhees is on the loose again. They, of course, think he’s insane and want him to leave so he doesn’t reignite the rumors.
Crystal Lake has been renamed to Forest Green in an attempt to shake the connection to the murders that occurred there throughout the years. If you can believe it, the new name doesn’t do much to help them, because Jason is patiently waiting for his chance to strike.
You’re then introduced to all of the fodder, which includes a new group of counselors (obviously), people paintballing in the woods as a sort of office party, and many other kooky characters.
It isn’t long before Jason mows through most of the characters you meet and – oh man – the kills in Jason Lives are all next level! They’re brutal, surprising, and the practical effects are spot on from beginning to end. I also appreciate that the kills are more evenly paced throughout the movie, rather than being backloaded.
The thing I love the most about Jason Lives is that it’s all VERY self-aware. It’s almost enough to make this a horror comedy in some ways. For example, at one point, an eccentric character looks deadpan at the camera and says, “Some folks have a strange idea of entertainment,” and just lets that stare linger. It’s intentionally funny, and every time they did these little fourth wall breaks, I would laugh out loud.
Jason Lives wraps up nicely with a big final showdown between Tommy and Jason. It’s one of the best movies in the franchise, and I highly recommend you give this one a watch.
Fun Fact: Director Tom McLoughlin decided to take home some of the props from Jason Lives, including his tombstone. When last heard, it was set up in his backyard garden.
Where to Watch Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Ever wonder what would happen if a girl’s psychic powers accidentally brought back Jason Voorhees? If so, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood was made just for you.
The New Blood starts with the girl, Tina Shepard, accidentally killing her abusive dad when she was a kid on Crystal Lake. As you can imagine, this was an especially traumatizing experience since this is also when/how she found out she’s telekinetic. And that’s certainly an interesting start to the movie, as nothing like it had been seen in the Friday the 13th franchise before.
But all of that is just the setup so Tina can come back to Crystal Lake as a teen and deal with her trauma. The thing is, her psychologist is a whack job who wants to exploit her for her powers, so he tries pushing her buttons so her abilities become more and more pronounced.
You’re also introduced to more fodder in the form of a group of teens hoping to throw a surprise birthday party for their friend. Needless to say, the party goes poorly for them.
Soon after, Tina is agitated and standing at Crystal Lake when she wishes she could bring her dad back. Not to spoil too much, but there just so happens to be someone else at the bottom of the lake who would be more than happy to come back from the dead.
And come back he does.
Jason is just as brutal in The New Blood as he was in the last Friday the 13th. The first few kills caught and held my attention, with one involving a sleeping bag that was both laugh-out-loud funny while still being super intense.
I also love the look of Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part VII. Since he was at the bottom of the lake after being buried for years, he’s finally starting to decay a bit. My favorite parts of his look in this one are his exposed spine and ribs, as well as his unmasked face. It looks really good, even if the movie itself is 35+ years old.
The vast majority of The New Blood follows the same formula as the others — the group of teens separates and get picked off one by one. Don’t get me wrong, the subplot around Tina’s telekinetic powers still plays a very important part in the movie (especially during the awesome ending) but, overall, it’s a case of “If you loved the way the previous movies played out, you’ll love this one.”
Fun Fact: Walt Gorney, AKA Crazy Ralph from the first two movies, voices the narrator at the start of The New Blood.
Where to Watch Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
If the name didn’t tip you off, Friday the 13th VII: Jason Takes Manhattan is a very different movie from everything I’ve talked about on the list up until this point. The biggest difference is that we say bye-bye to Crystal Lake 15 minutes into the movie.
In this Jason Takes Manhattan, a group of high school graduates from the Crystal Lake area takes a cruise to New York. Obviously, everyone is super excited, but they don’t know that Jason was disturbed from his sleep and decided to catch a ride on the side of their boat.
When it comes to the main cast of this movie, I don’t really have much to say. They’re not very likable or memorable. I would go as far as to say they’re the group that screams “Jason fodder” the most.
The standout is Mark Richman, who plays Mr. McCulloch, the teacher overseeing the trip. He sold his character the best, while some of the other characters seemed to forget they were supposed to be acting at some points.
I also really liked the boat version of “Crazy Ralph” from the first and second movies. He actually plays a much bigger role than Ralph ever did, so that was pretty cool to see.
But all that doesn’t mean Jason Takes Manhattan isn’t one of my favorite Friday the 13th movies! It has a lot of other things going for it.
Jason is incredible in this one. He looks great, and his kills are some of the most intense so far in the series. Seriously, there were at least four kills that had me clenching my jaw in anticipation, which hadn’t happened at all up until this point.
The setting is also top-notch. Instead of being confined to a few cabins and a lake, Jason Takes Manhattan features boats, big cities, and other unexpected settings within these broader locations.
I also love the late ‘80s/early ‘90s vibe. The music, the dress, the scenery, even the darker/grittier themes; it’s all here.
Ultimately, I doubt you’re watching Friday the 13th for character development; but, if you are, you won’t find that here. Instead, you’ll find one of the most unique and intense movies in the Friday the 13th series.
Fun Fact: When Jason rampages at the diner, he throws actor/stuntman Ken Kirzinger into a mirror. Interestingly, Ken would eventually get a chance to play Jason himself in Freddy vs. Jason.
Where to Watch Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
The ninth Friday the 13th movie in the series, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, is also quite unique. The movie starts with an already beat-up Jason getting destroyed by a firing squad and explosives. Even though Jason’s in pieces, you can still see his heart beating, which, let’s be honest, is basically expected at this point.
Jason Voorhee’s pieces are brought to Youngstown, Ohio, so they can do an autopsy (side note: this is very close to my hometown, Steubenville, Ohio!). Through a series of circumstances — namely heart eating — it isn’t long before “Jason” is back at it again.
I really love how Jason Goes to Hell is very self-aware and downright silly at times. That becomes clear when you’re introduced to bounty hunter Creighton Duke. When asked what he thinks about Jason Voorhees, his response is “Well, that makes me think of a little girl in a pink dress, sticking a hot dog through a doughnut.” This line made me laugh a little harder than I’d like to admit, and is a part of why he’s my favorite character in this movie.
Duke then says he can truly kill Jason for $50,000, and his offer is quickly accepted. It isn’t long before he learns that in order to kill Jason, someone in his bloodline needs to be the one to do it. Luckily, Jason’s half-sister, Diana; her daughter, Jessica; and Jessica’s baby are still around.
But here’s the thing: If Jason manages to possess any of these same people, he’ll get to come back in his full form — stronger than ever!
Honestly, aside from everyone I mentioned (plus Steven, Jessica’s estranged boyfriend) and the owners/employees of a small-town diner, that’s the entire main cast. Everyone else who shows up is only there for a few minutes before they fall victim to Jason, or they simply aren’t on screen enough to be relevant to the plot.
There are some great effects in the second half of Jason Goes to Hell, too.
The reason Jason needs to return through a family member is that the bodies he takes over never last for long. One of those non-familial possessed bodies breaking down is one of the best practical effects in the entire series! There’s also other neat stuff, like a temporary embodiment of Jason that resembles a combination of a Tremors graboid and an alien from Alien.
I’d say the kills in Jason Goes to Hell are some of the weakest in the franchise, with only a couple really standing out. The rest are basically either punching someone in the face or slamming them against a wall until they splatter.
You may be thinking, “This plot sounds kind of unnecessarily complex and weird for a Friday the 13th movie!” And you’re right; it’s unnecessarily tangled while bending and breaking existing rules. In spite of that, there are some good parts, and it’s an overall entertaining movie that’s worth watching!
I don’t want to spoil TOO much, but let’s just say Jason Goes to Hell also teases a battle between Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, which wasn’t fully realized until a decade later.
Fun Fact: In the basement of the Voorhees home, they used the same crate from the story “The Crate” in George Romero’s Creepshow (1982).
Where to Watch Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Jason X (2001)
At this point, Jason Voorhees has gone to quite a few places on Earth where he got to do what he does best, so the next logical step was space. Jason X marks the first Friday the 13th movie in the 2000s and the last time Kane Hodder suited up to play the role of Jason.
The movie begins in 2010 at the Crystal Lake Research Facility, where Jason is captured by the government. Sure, he went to Hell in the last movie and seemed to actually be gone, but let’s not talk about that.
One scientist wants to freeze Jason since all of their attempts to kill him haven’t exactly worked out. However, another group wants to keep him around so they can exploit his ability to heal from lethal wounds – for “the greater good,” of course.
Things don’t work out. Jason breaks free and gets to work. His initial attack is aggressive and satisfying. It isn’t long before he finds himself in a cryo tube that’s turning him into a killer popsicle.
Fast forward (by a lot), and now we’re in the year 2455. A group of explorers who are all sort of dressed like Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy find Jason and someone else from 2010 who was frozen before they died.
They do the smartest thing they can think of and take both bodies to their spaceship with the intention of thawing the second person out, while Jason is presumed to be dead. But due to his thawing, and a couple having premarital sex, Jason wakes up very, very angry. His first kill in the future is one of my favorites in the series. He dunks their head in liquid nitrogen and smashes it against a counter; it’s really cool (literally and figuratively) to see!
The cast in Jason X are fine, and I love that they have all of the teenage tropes shown in virtually every other movie — even if there are four centuries and a new planet between them. A few folks stick out from the crowd, but most are your average Friday the 13th fodder characters.
Jason X features a mix of practical and digital effects. All of the practical effects look great, while the digital effects are hit or miss, which is understandable considering this film was released in 2001.
All in all, I would say that Jason X is in my top 3 favorite Friday the 13th movies. It has everything you’d expect from a science-fiction movie, including an awesome spaceship setting, a badass android, and some interesting uses of virtual reality; all while keeping the brutality and intensity that you expect to see from a Jason slasher.
Fun Fact: Jason X did not do well at all in theaters. However, it ended up earning three times its production cost after it was released on DVD.
Where to Watch Jason X (2001)
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
I was 13 years old when Freddy vs. Jason came out, and I remember being extremely excited to see these two characters face off, even though I wasn’t too familiar with Freddy Krueger at the time. I’d only seen the first Nightmare on Elm Street and maybe one of the sequels, but that didn’t stop the hype train for me!
I’ve rewatched Freddy vs. Jason several times over the years, but my most recent watch made me appreciate it even more. My wife, Lauren Spear, and I watched the entire Nightmare On Elm Street franchise back-to-back, and that gave me so much more context and intrigue that it was like watching Freddy vs. Jason for the first time.
All of this is fitting considering the context of how this movie starts, which is a quick recap of Freddy’s story, with an excellent explanation. There’s a great highlight reel here from the previous NOES entries, and we quickly learn that Freddy can’t come back because the kids no longer fear him. However, he has a plan to strike fear into the hearts of people.
Freddy’s going to bring Jason back from Hell and set him loose in his old Elm Street stomping grounds. Risky move, but I like it.
So, that’s exactly what happens. We’re introduced to the main characters, who are all staying at a friend’s house on Elm Street. The main cast in Freddy vs. Jason all fine, with Lori, Kia, and Will standing out above the rest.
It isn’t long at all before Jason shows up and starts slashing. Some of the survivors of the attack hear the police talking about someone named Freddy, which is all Mr. Kreuger needs to start poking his head into their dreams and sparking fear.
But things start to get complicated when Freddy realizes he can’t get Jason to stop killing, which means he’s cutting into (both literally and figuratively) Freddy’s supply of victims. You can’t invade someone’s dreams when they are chopped up!
This sets up the conflict between Freddy and Jason. Meanwhile, the surviving main characters come together to determine what they need to do to fix this whole deadly situation, including which threat to target first.
I would say this is the goriest Friday the 13th/Jason Voorhees movie so far, which isn’t a bad thing! You really notice how it ramps up when you watch all of these movies back-to-back.
I don’t want to spoil too much here, but let me just say this: The final confrontation between Freddy and Jason is top-notch. Robert Englund’s performance is, as expected, amazing. Ken Kirzinger, the Jason for this movie, does a great job nailing his intense and intimidating presence.
I highly recommend checking Freddy vs. Jason out. I would argue that it’s one of the best Freddy AND Jason movies! You’ll have to watch this one for yourself to see who wins!
Fun Fact: They originally planned to make a sequel to Freddy vs Jason but that, sadly, never happened. However, they did release a 6-issue comic book follow-up that included Ash from The Evil Dead.
Where to Watch Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Friday the 13th (2009)
Friday the 13th (2009) brings Jason Voorhees back to his roots at Camp Crystal Lake. This reboot is essentially a sequel to the 1980 movie that takes place in modern times, 35 years after Pamela Voorhees was beheaded by the sole survivor of the first movie.
I saw this one in theaters and liked it a ton. I’m glad to say that’s still how I feel watching it 16 years later.
It all starts with a group of teens who head off to Crystal Lake for a camping trip and to find a known marijuana crop, with the goal of making some serious cash. Yep, that’s right, things do not go according to plan.
I love that for the film’s opening, they decided to go with Baghead Jason. Getting to see my favorite version of Jason reimagined and more brutal than ever was a real treat.
Speaking of which, Friday the 13th is very brutal, gory, and generally over-the-top. When you consider that it was released in 2009 and was competing with franchises that had already nailed this — like Saw, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), and Hostel — it makes sense that it would be designed this way.
Anyway, after the opening sequence, we’re introduced to the real main characters in the movie: another group of teens staying at a nearby summer home, and a guy named Clay Miller who’s there looking for his missing sister.
One thing that’s somewhat amusing to me is that Clay is played by Jared Padalecki. At the time of Friday the 13th’s release, I hadn’t watched any of the show Supernatural, so I didn’t think much of this one way or the other. But now, after having watched (most of) the series, I can’t help but feel like Sam Winchester has wandered into a Friday the 13th movie and is trying to help the gang survive.
It isn’t long before Jason Voorhees is on the prowl and taking people out one by one. Derek Mears does a great job as Jason. He’s menacing, and I really hope to see him reprise this role again.
I’m ever hopeful, especially considering an official redesign of Jason was recently shown off, which included the interesting sentence, “This design will be used across future movies, gaming, merchandise, and more.” Fingers crossed!
The bottom line is that Friday the 13th (2009) is an interesting, modern reboot of the series. If you’re a fan of the others and are fine with a little more gore, you’ll like the most recent (for now!) entry in the Friday the 13th Franchise!
Fun Fact: Including Friday the 13th (2009), Jason Voorhees has killed about 200 people across all of the different movies.
Where to Watch Friday the 13th (2009)
Which Friday the 13th Movie is YOUR Favorite?
There you have it! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you’ve seen them all, which Friday the 13th film is your favorite in the franchise?
Personally, my favorites are Jason Lives, Freddy vs. Jason, and Jason Takes Manhattan, but I love every single movie in the Friday the 13th series for one reason or another.
If you haven’t seen these movies, or have only seen a few of them, give them a watch and let me know which version of Jason you like best!
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This article was written by Frank Spear.
Images for these reviews were purchased via MovieStillsDB and CineMaterial. I blurred some of the fake special FX gore for the Jason Goes to Hell pics for our more sensitive readers, and I layered the posters over blurry backgrounds to make them horizontal instead of vertical, but otherwise no changes were made.
