Kendar
Scooby
- Joined
- May 6, 2021
- Messages
- 982
In honor of this coming Friday, let’s talk Friday the 13th. One of the most prolific series out there, with 12 current films. For the record I have seen every movie in this series in the theater on original release. I'm using spoilers for space reasons.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Friday the 13th part 3 3D (1982)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th part 5: A New Beginning
Friday the 13th part 6: Jason lives! (1986)
Friday the 13th part 7: The New Blood (1988) or “Jason vs. Carrie”
Friday the 13th part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Jason films: OK, buckle up. Because as weird as you thought anything was before, you ain’t seen nothing yet. (I think I now owe Bachman-Turner Overdrive a nickel). It’s also important to note that the Jason films generally ignore continuity other than Jason becoming unkillable in part 6. They also don’t officially share continuity with themselves.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Jason X (2001) or “Jason in Space Space Ace Ace…”
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Friday the 13th (2009)
Thoughts?
Friday the 13th (1980)
The original, and the one that got Drew Barrymore killed in Scream. While Jason is the face of the franchise, he’s not responsible for any kills in this one and is barely on screen at all. Instead, we get Pamela Vorhees, AKA mom. Her son Jason drowned because everyone was fornicating around, and she’s determined that EVERYONE must suffer. Queue the mayhem.
Body Count: 10 and one snake. This includes 2 counselors in 1958, 7 current counselors, and Pamela herself. The snake was a live snake.
This film was bloodier than the original Halloween and had more kills as well. Pamela’s kills are inventive (arrow up through the bed and into the throat). However, because of this some of the special effects don’t hold up too well (if Kevin Bacon’s throat was that gray color in real life I’d assume he’s a zombie). While we don’t see Pamela until the very end, they do foreshadow that she looks very harmless (no one seems nervous or scared of her until she shows a weapon).
This film gives us Crazy Ralph, who became the subject of many memes (once memes became a thing. “It’s got a death curse”!
This isn’t the best of the movies in the franchise, but it’s a solid contender. The movie ending with Jason (still a child) coming out of the water causes some problems once it became a series of movies. I rank it 3rd in the series.
Body Count: 10 and one snake. This includes 2 counselors in 1958, 7 current counselors, and Pamela herself. The snake was a live snake.
This film was bloodier than the original Halloween and had more kills as well. Pamela’s kills are inventive (arrow up through the bed and into the throat). However, because of this some of the special effects don’t hold up too well (if Kevin Bacon’s throat was that gray color in real life I’d assume he’s a zombie). While we don’t see Pamela until the very end, they do foreshadow that she looks very harmless (no one seems nervous or scared of her until she shows a weapon).
This film gives us Crazy Ralph, who became the subject of many memes (once memes became a thing. “It’s got a death curse”!
This isn’t the best of the movies in the franchise, but it’s a solid contender. The movie ending with Jason (still a child) coming out of the water causes some problems once it became a series of movies. I rank it 3rd in the series.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Ladies and Gentlemen, Ogres and Orcs. May I present to you…. Jason! Yes, we’ll finally see the face of the franchise this movie, beginning a career that will span 11 films. While the film came out a year later, it takes place in 1984 (so 5 years after the original).
Body Count: 9 or 10, plus one dog and possibly one cat. Clouding the kill count is Paul, who is seen wrestling with Jason at the end of the movie. It’s unclear whether he survives or not, although he is not mentioned in later series. This count also includes Alice (survivor of the first movie) who is killed by Jason at the beginning, and Crazy Ralph (may he rest in peace). Note that if you don’t count Paul this movie has a lower body count than the original.
This movie creates the problem I noted previously. At the end of the first movie, child Jason jumps out of the water and pulls Alice in. Was this a dream? It must be, since otherwise Jason grew a TON in 5 years. However, note that Alice dies in her house in A town, but we are unclear on what town she is in. So, we know that Jason will travel away from the woods at Crystal Lake, but it is unclear how far he travels.
Like the first movie, this continues the trend of the camp not yet being open for campers. It’s apparently also the first attempt in reopening since the original movie. The kills are more brutal, but they still do a good job of hiding the killer for most of the movie.
Trivia fact 1: You must really be paying attention, but parts 2, 3, and 4 take place over about 8 days.
Trivia fact 2: The sex scene between Jeff and Sandra is extremely PG (and not stronger) because Marta Kober (Sandra) was 17 at the time.
There’s an argument to be made that this is one of the best in the series. I tend to agree with that argument and rate this one first.
Body Count: 9 or 10, plus one dog and possibly one cat. Clouding the kill count is Paul, who is seen wrestling with Jason at the end of the movie. It’s unclear whether he survives or not, although he is not mentioned in later series. This count also includes Alice (survivor of the first movie) who is killed by Jason at the beginning, and Crazy Ralph (may he rest in peace). Note that if you don’t count Paul this movie has a lower body count than the original.
This movie creates the problem I noted previously. At the end of the first movie, child Jason jumps out of the water and pulls Alice in. Was this a dream? It must be, since otherwise Jason grew a TON in 5 years. However, note that Alice dies in her house in A town, but we are unclear on what town she is in. So, we know that Jason will travel away from the woods at Crystal Lake, but it is unclear how far he travels.
Like the first movie, this continues the trend of the camp not yet being open for campers. It’s apparently also the first attempt in reopening since the original movie. The kills are more brutal, but they still do a good job of hiding the killer for most of the movie.
Trivia fact 1: You must really be paying attention, but parts 2, 3, and 4 take place over about 8 days.
Trivia fact 2: The sex scene between Jeff and Sandra is extremely PG (and not stronger) because Marta Kober (Sandra) was 17 at the time.
There’s an argument to be made that this is one of the best in the series. I tend to agree with that argument and rate this one first.
Friday the 13th part 3 3D (1982)
And here we are back in the 3D craze of the early 80s. The effects for this movie hold up much worse, in part because a lot of the kills were set for 3D (spear gun anyone?). However, it does give Jason his iconic mask that will be his trademark from now on. It takes place the day after the end of part 2.
Body Count: 12, unless you choose to count Debbie’s unborn baby.
This is our first group of victims who aren’t counselors. We have two groups. Our main group is a group of friends coming to the lake to hang out and get high. The second group is made of 3 bikers who get pissed when Shelly knocks over their bikes and follows the group to their place to get revenge. Speaking of moving, Jason apparently enters town to get fresh clothes, killing the store owners.
While the effects don’t hold up very well, the kills are even more brutal (par for the course). This includes someone split in half lengthwise with a machete, a spear gun to the eye, someone impaled with a red-hot poker, and someone shoved into a fuse box. (Question: Were old fuse boxes really that dangerous? In horror movies they seem to fry anyone who even looks at them).
We also have our first movie where Jason is arguably dead. He’s hung and hit in the head with an axe. We’ll talk more about that in the next film.
This isn’t a bad movie in the franchise, but it does lack a little compared to the first two. I rate it 5th in the series.
Body Count: 12, unless you choose to count Debbie’s unborn baby.
This is our first group of victims who aren’t counselors. We have two groups. Our main group is a group of friends coming to the lake to hang out and get high. The second group is made of 3 bikers who get pissed when Shelly knocks over their bikes and follows the group to their place to get revenge. Speaking of moving, Jason apparently enters town to get fresh clothes, killing the store owners.
While the effects don’t hold up very well, the kills are even more brutal (par for the course). This includes someone split in half lengthwise with a machete, a spear gun to the eye, someone impaled with a red-hot poker, and someone shoved into a fuse box. (Question: Were old fuse boxes really that dangerous? In horror movies they seem to fry anyone who even looks at them).
We also have our first movie where Jason is arguably dead. He’s hung and hit in the head with an axe. We’ll talk more about that in the next film.
This isn’t a bad movie in the franchise, but it does lack a little compared to the first two. I rate it 5th in the series.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Well, here we are. The final chapter in the franchise. After all, no one would ever lie and say this was the end when it wasn’t, right? We start on the day after the events on part 3.
Body Count: 14. That includes Jason, so this is the first movie with 13 victim kills.
This film introduces us to Tommy Jarvis (played by Corey Feldman in this film), the first character who will appear in three films other than Jason. He’s a horror fanatic, making his own scary masks which are quite good. He clearly has a potential job future… assuming he doesn’t get locked up in a mental institution. Tommy and family have traveled here to spend some time at the lake and will conveniently be in a cabin next to the group of partying college kids. And yes, were I Tommy’s age in that situation I would have peeked also.
Meanwhile Jason is apparently still alive. This certainly gives him the basis for a lawsuit since paramedics on the scene and his initial admission at the hospital clearly missed that he was still alive. It’s not like zombies are a thing in this franchise. Still, he’s killed the coroner and girlfriend and is headed back to HIS lake.
Practical effects are much better in this film (except for Jason’s actual death). Overall, they aren’t as wild as those in part 3 but are extremely well rendered (esp. given the year). There’s some good casting here, as Corey really sells the role of young Tommy.
A slight problem. Tuesday morning Jason escapes from the mortuary. However, we make it to Wednesday night with no police presence at all. Given the bloodbath of the last few days (23 counting the coroner and girlfriend) and the fact that your killer’s body has vanished, you think someone might go around the lake warning people, if not actually evacuating the area (and 23 deaths in a handful of days sounds like a good reason to get people the hell out of there).
I rank this one 2nd in the franchise. Still, Tommy and his sister live, Jason is dead, and this is the last movie in the franchise….
Body Count: 14. That includes Jason, so this is the first movie with 13 victim kills.
This film introduces us to Tommy Jarvis (played by Corey Feldman in this film), the first character who will appear in three films other than Jason. He’s a horror fanatic, making his own scary masks which are quite good. He clearly has a potential job future… assuming he doesn’t get locked up in a mental institution. Tommy and family have traveled here to spend some time at the lake and will conveniently be in a cabin next to the group of partying college kids. And yes, were I Tommy’s age in that situation I would have peeked also.
Meanwhile Jason is apparently still alive. This certainly gives him the basis for a lawsuit since paramedics on the scene and his initial admission at the hospital clearly missed that he was still alive. It’s not like zombies are a thing in this franchise. Still, he’s killed the coroner and girlfriend and is headed back to HIS lake.
Practical effects are much better in this film (except for Jason’s actual death). Overall, they aren’t as wild as those in part 3 but are extremely well rendered (esp. given the year). There’s some good casting here, as Corey really sells the role of young Tommy.
A slight problem. Tuesday morning Jason escapes from the mortuary. However, we make it to Wednesday night with no police presence at all. Given the bloodbath of the last few days (23 counting the coroner and girlfriend) and the fact that your killer’s body has vanished, you think someone might go around the lake warning people, if not actually evacuating the area (and 23 deaths in a handful of days sounds like a good reason to get people the hell out of there).
I rank this one 2nd in the franchise. Still, Tommy and his sister live, Jason is dead, and this is the last movie in the franchise….
Friday the 13th part 5: A New Beginning
I spoke too soon. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll get to see Jason make some spectacular kills in this one.
Body Count: 19 (plus 3 killed in hallucinations or dream sequences). For a movie without Jason it has the highest body count of any of the Friday the 13th movies (we’ll get to the Jason movies in a bit).
This movie has some of the most unlikable characters we’ve seen in the franchise. Whether it is Junior on his dirt bike and his mother, Vic and Joey, or the facility staff, there’s very few characters worth rooting for.
For a psychiatric halfway house with some violent offenders, they certainly don’t believe in supervision. The whole thing is a mess. This is supposed to be a half-way house for juveniles, but they are apparently allowed to run all over the place with no real restrictions (they get restricted to the home AFTER complaints about residents having sex on neighbors’ property.
We are on our second Tommy Jarvis, although Corey makes a return playing young Tommy in a flashback dream. It doesn’t help the film that 17yo Tommy (yes, he’s supposed to be 17) is played by a 25yo who looks at least 25.
We have to wonder what sort of mental break Roy had that made him decide to don the Jason persona. I get that seeing his kid (Joey) dead flipped him over the edge, but why copy Jason? For that matter who thought it was a good idea to send Tommy to a half-way house right next door to Crystal Lake? Tommy may have mental health issues, but they are related to a very real traumatic event. I’m not sure how Tommy benefits from being there.
Interesting tidbit: We all know about reskinned films. These are films that someone will alter to make them fit with an existing property. Case in point: Starship Troopers was originally going to be called “Bug Hunt at Outpost 7” until someone realized they had the rights to Starship Troopers. This film feels like that. Someone had an idea for a film where an EMS person kills people after his son is killed, then realized they had F13 rights.
Except the opposite is true in this case. The plan was always for this to be a Friday the 13th film, but they wanted to keep it hidden. In fact, they kept it so hidden that the cast didn’t learn what they had been hired for. They thought they were making a film called Repetition and didn’t learn the truth until filming started (which angered a lot of the cast). It also pushed the R rating for nudity at the time and cast members have said that an uncut version of the film would be a porn movie.
There’s not much good to say abut this one, other than that a lot of annoying people die horrible deaths. This film never feels like a Friday the 13th film despite what the producers wanted. I personally put it 12th (last) in the series.
Body Count: 19 (plus 3 killed in hallucinations or dream sequences). For a movie without Jason it has the highest body count of any of the Friday the 13th movies (we’ll get to the Jason movies in a bit).
This movie has some of the most unlikable characters we’ve seen in the franchise. Whether it is Junior on his dirt bike and his mother, Vic and Joey, or the facility staff, there’s very few characters worth rooting for.
For a psychiatric halfway house with some violent offenders, they certainly don’t believe in supervision. The whole thing is a mess. This is supposed to be a half-way house for juveniles, but they are apparently allowed to run all over the place with no real restrictions (they get restricted to the home AFTER complaints about residents having sex on neighbors’ property.
We are on our second Tommy Jarvis, although Corey makes a return playing young Tommy in a flashback dream. It doesn’t help the film that 17yo Tommy (yes, he’s supposed to be 17) is played by a 25yo who looks at least 25.
We have to wonder what sort of mental break Roy had that made him decide to don the Jason persona. I get that seeing his kid (Joey) dead flipped him over the edge, but why copy Jason? For that matter who thought it was a good idea to send Tommy to a half-way house right next door to Crystal Lake? Tommy may have mental health issues, but they are related to a very real traumatic event. I’m not sure how Tommy benefits from being there.
Interesting tidbit: We all know about reskinned films. These are films that someone will alter to make them fit with an existing property. Case in point: Starship Troopers was originally going to be called “Bug Hunt at Outpost 7” until someone realized they had the rights to Starship Troopers. This film feels like that. Someone had an idea for a film where an EMS person kills people after his son is killed, then realized they had F13 rights.
Except the opposite is true in this case. The plan was always for this to be a Friday the 13th film, but they wanted to keep it hidden. In fact, they kept it so hidden that the cast didn’t learn what they had been hired for. They thought they were making a film called Repetition and didn’t learn the truth until filming started (which angered a lot of the cast). It also pushed the R rating for nudity at the time and cast members have said that an uncut version of the film would be a porn movie.
There’s not much good to say abut this one, other than that a lot of annoying people die horrible deaths. This film never feels like a Friday the 13th film despite what the producers wanted. I personally put it 12th (last) in the series.
Friday the 13th part 6: Jason lives! (1986)
Now with zombies (one at least). Crystal Lake is now called Forest Green. Tommy Jarvis (on his third actor) decides to cremate Jason’s body and stop his hallucinations once and for all. This seems reasonable. Nothing bad ever happens from messing with a dead body….
Body Count: 18. This includes such spectacular kills as Sheriff Garris being folded in half and someone literally having their heart punched out.
As noted, the kills are more graphic. The special effects hold up well.
It’s hard to blame Sheriff Garris in this one. Jason is dead, the grounds keeper covered up the excavation of Jason’s grave, and Tommy has a history of some serious mental health issues. In fact, the sheriff gives him a break at first, noting that he knows Tommy suffered a traumatic event. But Tommy keeps crossing boundaries.
One boundary that doesn’t get crossed is with the sheriff’s daughter, Megan. You must wonder about her common sense, since she apparently decides early that she wants to get busy with Tommy even though any reasonable person would assume he’s a nutjob. But despite her intentions she and Tommy never close the deal. In fact, this is the only Friday the 13th movie w/o nudity (and only one Pg-13 sex scene). The R rating is strictly for violence and language. It’s also the only Friday the 13th where summer camp is in session so lots of actual children are present (the film chooses to not kill any of them).
The defeat of Jason is a little disappointing. It’s a chain looped around his neck to hold him underwater. He doesn’t need to breath, so why does he not simply unloop the chain? Presumably because the movie was already running long.
This is a solid entry in the franchise. Good kills, and we are present for the birth of something unstoppable. I rank this one 4th in the franchise.
Body Count: 18. This includes such spectacular kills as Sheriff Garris being folded in half and someone literally having their heart punched out.
As noted, the kills are more graphic. The special effects hold up well.
It’s hard to blame Sheriff Garris in this one. Jason is dead, the grounds keeper covered up the excavation of Jason’s grave, and Tommy has a history of some serious mental health issues. In fact, the sheriff gives him a break at first, noting that he knows Tommy suffered a traumatic event. But Tommy keeps crossing boundaries.
One boundary that doesn’t get crossed is with the sheriff’s daughter, Megan. You must wonder about her common sense, since she apparently decides early that she wants to get busy with Tommy even though any reasonable person would assume he’s a nutjob. But despite her intentions she and Tommy never close the deal. In fact, this is the only Friday the 13th movie w/o nudity (and only one Pg-13 sex scene). The R rating is strictly for violence and language. It’s also the only Friday the 13th where summer camp is in session so lots of actual children are present (the film chooses to not kill any of them).
The defeat of Jason is a little disappointing. It’s a chain looped around his neck to hold him underwater. He doesn’t need to breath, so why does he not simply unloop the chain? Presumably because the movie was already running long.
This is a solid entry in the franchise. Good kills, and we are present for the birth of something unstoppable. I rank this one 4th in the franchise.
Friday the 13th part 7: The New Blood (1988) or “Jason vs. Carrie”
The truly supernatural was introduced to the series last movie with zombie Jason. So, let’s up the ante by having his opponent be telekinetic. This should be fun…
Body Count: 16. This includes Tina’s father who was killed by Tina herself. There’s also a general rule in horror movies: The bigger a jerk someone is, the worse their death. This is true for Dr. Crews who gets a weedwhacker to the stomach (well deserved).
The movie starts with Tina killing her father. This takes place 3 months after part 6. We will then jump 7 years, where Dr. Crews and Tina’s mom have taken Tina back to evaluate her powers (although it turns out to be exploit in Dr. Crew’s case).
Dr. Crews is completely unethical, and we are almost force-fed reasons to hate him. He gaslights Tina when evidence that she might be telling the truth appears. He threatens her with a return to a mental institution if she doesn’t use her powers on demand. And given the way she reacts when he gets close to her there is a strong feeling among the fanbase that he took other liberties as well.
The obligatory group of partying youth really serves little purpose other than to give us a body count. Even the possible love interest Nick has little development. And that’s ok. We don’t watch these movies for deep intricate plots. We watch them to see people die.
I like that Tina’s telekinesis isn’t overwhelming. While she obviously has great power (she basically reawakened Jason) she has no real skill. Her attempts at stopping Jason are exactly what you’d expect from someone in over her head. Trying to crush Jason’s mask, using nails in a ranged attack, strangling him with a cord, it’s all what you’d expect from someone who isn’t skilled with their powers.
However, at the end she can bring her dad back. This allows Dad redemption for his past behavior, and he can stop Jason by dragging him down. Unfortunately, this raises some questions. Why is Dad not rotted/been eaten to bones by fish? It’s been 7 years, so you think the body would be bone only. For that matter, why is the body still there? The lake isn’t that deep by the pier and dragging for bodies was a thing well before the 80s. it should have been easy to find, especially since it hasn’t moved/drifted away.
It’s a fun Friday the 13th movie if you don’t think about it too much. Unfortunately, that seems to be a general trend from this point on. I rank it 9th in the series.
Body Count: 16. This includes Tina’s father who was killed by Tina herself. There’s also a general rule in horror movies: The bigger a jerk someone is, the worse their death. This is true for Dr. Crews who gets a weedwhacker to the stomach (well deserved).
The movie starts with Tina killing her father. This takes place 3 months after part 6. We will then jump 7 years, where Dr. Crews and Tina’s mom have taken Tina back to evaluate her powers (although it turns out to be exploit in Dr. Crew’s case).
Dr. Crews is completely unethical, and we are almost force-fed reasons to hate him. He gaslights Tina when evidence that she might be telling the truth appears. He threatens her with a return to a mental institution if she doesn’t use her powers on demand. And given the way she reacts when he gets close to her there is a strong feeling among the fanbase that he took other liberties as well.
The obligatory group of partying youth really serves little purpose other than to give us a body count. Even the possible love interest Nick has little development. And that’s ok. We don’t watch these movies for deep intricate plots. We watch them to see people die.
I like that Tina’s telekinesis isn’t overwhelming. While she obviously has great power (she basically reawakened Jason) she has no real skill. Her attempts at stopping Jason are exactly what you’d expect from someone in over her head. Trying to crush Jason’s mask, using nails in a ranged attack, strangling him with a cord, it’s all what you’d expect from someone who isn’t skilled with their powers.
However, at the end she can bring her dad back. This allows Dad redemption for his past behavior, and he can stop Jason by dragging him down. Unfortunately, this raises some questions. Why is Dad not rotted/been eaten to bones by fish? It’s been 7 years, so you think the body would be bone only. For that matter, why is the body still there? The lake isn’t that deep by the pier and dragging for bodies was a thing well before the 80s. it should have been easy to find, especially since it hasn’t moved/drifted away.
It’s a fun Friday the 13th movie if you don’t think about it too much. Unfortunately, that seems to be a general trend from this point on. I rank it 9th in the series.
Friday the 13th part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
“Hello my baby, hello my darling, hello my ragtime gal”. Jason doing that dance is the first thing that comes to mind whenever I read this title. They really missed an opportunity here.
Body Count: 20+. It’s unclear how many other students/crew members/chaperones died on the boat since we never get a good count. But it’s a safe bet there were more than just the ones we saw die. The deaths hold true to the standard. The two biggest jerks get bad deaths. Tamara gets a face full of mirror shards. Biology teacher McCulloch gets drowned in a barrel of toxic waste. A young aspiring boxer also gets his head punched off (very cool). This count also includes Jason, who is dissolved in toxic waste.
There are two big problems with the movie (ignoring how silly it is). Once Jason reaches Manhattan he doesn’t really do anything besides chase our protagonists. Not sure why he’s so focused on them, but there are plenty of times he walks past others without bothering them at all. He even chooses to intimidate a small group of street kids by raising his mask to show his face. Nothing we’ve seen in his undead behavior shows he is smart enough to understand why that might work.
The other huge problem is at the end of the movie. The city floods the sewers with toxic waste every night? Really? I can buy that there might be release of water from other places that floods the sewers. I can buy that sometimes storm water drains get flooded with sewage overflow when actual sewage lines back up. I can even buy that some company might ILEGALLY be dumping toxic waste in the sewer. I can’t buy that this is a scheduled release that the city knows about and allows. This is just crazy.
This is a silly movie that must be watched as such to provide any enjoyment. And despite that it is 10th in the series (as opposed to last).
Body Count: 20+. It’s unclear how many other students/crew members/chaperones died on the boat since we never get a good count. But it’s a safe bet there were more than just the ones we saw die. The deaths hold true to the standard. The two biggest jerks get bad deaths. Tamara gets a face full of mirror shards. Biology teacher McCulloch gets drowned in a barrel of toxic waste. A young aspiring boxer also gets his head punched off (very cool). This count also includes Jason, who is dissolved in toxic waste.
There are two big problems with the movie (ignoring how silly it is). Once Jason reaches Manhattan he doesn’t really do anything besides chase our protagonists. Not sure why he’s so focused on them, but there are plenty of times he walks past others without bothering them at all. He even chooses to intimidate a small group of street kids by raising his mask to show his face. Nothing we’ve seen in his undead behavior shows he is smart enough to understand why that might work.
The other huge problem is at the end of the movie. The city floods the sewers with toxic waste every night? Really? I can buy that there might be release of water from other places that floods the sewers. I can buy that sometimes storm water drains get flooded with sewage overflow when actual sewage lines back up. I can even buy that some company might ILEGALLY be dumping toxic waste in the sewer. I can’t buy that this is a scheduled release that the city knows about and allows. This is just crazy.
This is a silly movie that must be watched as such to provide any enjoyment. And despite that it is 10th in the series (as opposed to last).
Jason films: OK, buckle up. Because as weird as you thought anything was before, you ain’t seen nothing yet. (I think I now owe Bachman-Turner Overdrive a nickel). It’s also important to note that the Jason films generally ignore continuity other than Jason becoming unkillable in part 6. They also don’t officially share continuity with themselves.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
We’ve had zombie. We’ve had telekinesis. So, body-hopping seems the next logical choice. And in case anyone doubts that we’re diving full blown into the supernatural we’ll include the Necronomicon at no additional cost!
Body Count: 24. This also includes Jason (twice). We get a lot of head bashing, but we also get deep fried head, heads torn off, and the bear hug from hell.
This movie is sillier than the last one. Let us see what to make of it…
OK, they send an attractive FBI agent to lure Jason so they can kill him. Apparently, Jason won’t attack until she strips down for the shower? Why did she strip down? Did they KNOW she would have to strip down? Don’t get me wrong. I totally understand why they had her strip down. It just doesn’t make much sense as a plot point. I also like the fact that all her backup is a couple hundred yards away, since there were a few chances for her to get killed without ever making it out of the house. I expect a HUGE lawsuit.
It’s an impressive force sent to kill him. I especially love the men rappelling from the copters while shooting. I’m not sure what the purpose was for that either. I also like the fact they brought mortars. At least they are acknowledging that normal gunfire might not work.
So, the coroner eats Jason’s heart and is possessed with his spirit. And the spirit can then apparently move from body to body. OK, I’ll accept that. In the context of the film, it is rational. But how does Dukes know all this? He seems to have an awful lot of specific knowledge for someone who has never been face to face with Jason before. He’s generally an ass but does get a decent death at the end.
Back to body hopping, the body continues looking like the original person except for reflections. Not sure why, but OK. But when he hops into Diana’s body (his half-sister) he can automatically assume his own form? This is Odo level changing, since he adds about a foot of height and 100+ ponds of mass.
We end with Freddy Kruger’s knife glove grabbing Jason’s mask and dragging it underground. Obviously, he is making sure Jason never bothers anyone again. Needless to say, this movie ranks low, coming in at 11th on my list.
Body Count: 24. This also includes Jason (twice). We get a lot of head bashing, but we also get deep fried head, heads torn off, and the bear hug from hell.
This movie is sillier than the last one. Let us see what to make of it…
OK, they send an attractive FBI agent to lure Jason so they can kill him. Apparently, Jason won’t attack until she strips down for the shower? Why did she strip down? Did they KNOW she would have to strip down? Don’t get me wrong. I totally understand why they had her strip down. It just doesn’t make much sense as a plot point. I also like the fact that all her backup is a couple hundred yards away, since there were a few chances for her to get killed without ever making it out of the house. I expect a HUGE lawsuit.
It’s an impressive force sent to kill him. I especially love the men rappelling from the copters while shooting. I’m not sure what the purpose was for that either. I also like the fact they brought mortars. At least they are acknowledging that normal gunfire might not work.
So, the coroner eats Jason’s heart and is possessed with his spirit. And the spirit can then apparently move from body to body. OK, I’ll accept that. In the context of the film, it is rational. But how does Dukes know all this? He seems to have an awful lot of specific knowledge for someone who has never been face to face with Jason before. He’s generally an ass but does get a decent death at the end.
Back to body hopping, the body continues looking like the original person except for reflections. Not sure why, but OK. But when he hops into Diana’s body (his half-sister) he can automatically assume his own form? This is Odo level changing, since he adds about a foot of height and 100+ ponds of mass.
We end with Freddy Kruger’s knife glove grabbing Jason’s mask and dragging it underground. Obviously, he is making sure Jason never bothers anyone again. Needless to say, this movie ranks low, coming in at 11th on my list.
Jason X (2001) or “Jason in Space Space Ace Ace…”
This is the movie all the other horror villains mock Jason about. Whenever Jason says “Busta Rhymes” Michael simply responds “Space”. It’s completely over the top.
Body Count: 25 (although word of god says it is 19752 if you count the space station). We get such spectacular deaths as frozen face smash, sucked through a hole, and becoming a shooting star.
The government is going to cryofreeze Jason, since electrocution, hanging, lethal injection, and firing squad all failed. But given that Jason is 1) probably the biggest mass killer in universe and 2) already “dead”, why stop there. Toss his ass into a volcano or a vat of molten steel. I seriously doubt he has any recognized rights (and if he did, I doubt he’d be prisoner of the military). Interestingly, while it’s not obviously clear, Jason’s get free because the IV that was sedating him gets knocked loose when the guard throws the jacket over him. I’m not clear why sedation works since…again, dead.
Since Rowan took no preparatory steps, it appears that cryofreeze is remarkably effective. She’s able to be revived with no complications. Jason also took no preparations and is able to come back to “life” when he thaws.
“Guys, it's okay! He just wanted his machete back!” has to be one of the best lines in the movie. There’s a lot of great (read funny) dialog.
VR teen girl #1 : Hey, do you want a beer?
VR teen girl #2 : Or do you wanna smoke some pot?
VR teen girl #1 : Or we can have premarital sex?
[both remove their tops]
VR teen girl #1 , VR teen girl #2 : We love premarital sex!
Yeah, that pretty much pushes all the kill buttons other than being a jerk.
It is interesting that the spaceship is almost as big as the space station. That ship is either huge (much bigger than we’re led to believe) or the station is very small. And since there was 19000+ people on it I’ll have to go with the former.
This also gives us Jason of Borg. If the nanites can repair and enhanced his rotted corpse to that level, imagine what they could do to normal human? Still, he makes do with ordinary weaponry, NOT a laser machete as someone commented above.
It should be noted that Jason X was the only movie to lose money at the box office 9ever other movie made a profit). However, it tripled its production budget in DVD and home rental sales, making it a classic example of a cult film. It’s not a good movie but manages to fall into the “so bad it’s fun” category. Watch this one with a friend and a 12 pack and drink every time something silly happens. I rank it 8th.
Body Count: 25 (although word of god says it is 19752 if you count the space station). We get such spectacular deaths as frozen face smash, sucked through a hole, and becoming a shooting star.
The government is going to cryofreeze Jason, since electrocution, hanging, lethal injection, and firing squad all failed. But given that Jason is 1) probably the biggest mass killer in universe and 2) already “dead”, why stop there. Toss his ass into a volcano or a vat of molten steel. I seriously doubt he has any recognized rights (and if he did, I doubt he’d be prisoner of the military). Interestingly, while it’s not obviously clear, Jason’s get free because the IV that was sedating him gets knocked loose when the guard throws the jacket over him. I’m not clear why sedation works since…again, dead.
Since Rowan took no preparatory steps, it appears that cryofreeze is remarkably effective. She’s able to be revived with no complications. Jason also took no preparations and is able to come back to “life” when he thaws.
“Guys, it's okay! He just wanted his machete back!” has to be one of the best lines in the movie. There’s a lot of great (read funny) dialog.
VR teen girl #1 : Hey, do you want a beer?
VR teen girl #2 : Or do you wanna smoke some pot?
VR teen girl #1 : Or we can have premarital sex?
[both remove their tops]
VR teen girl #1 , VR teen girl #2 : We love premarital sex!
Yeah, that pretty much pushes all the kill buttons other than being a jerk.
It is interesting that the spaceship is almost as big as the space station. That ship is either huge (much bigger than we’re led to believe) or the station is very small. And since there was 19000+ people on it I’ll have to go with the former.
This also gives us Jason of Borg. If the nanites can repair and enhanced his rotted corpse to that level, imagine what they could do to normal human? Still, he makes do with ordinary weaponry, NOT a laser machete as someone commented above.
It should be noted that Jason X was the only movie to lose money at the box office 9ever other movie made a profit). However, it tripled its production budget in DVD and home rental sales, making it a classic example of a cult film. It’s not a good movie but manages to fall into the “so bad it’s fun” category. Watch this one with a friend and a 12 pack and drink every time something silly happens. I rank it 8th.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
The ultimate physical killing machine vs. the Nightmare. One should dominate in the outside world while the other should dominate in the dream world. Place your bets.
Body Count: 21/22. Depends on whether you count Freddy as a kill or not. I tend to say no since even his head winks at the end.
I give the townsfolk of Springwood credit for an interesting idea. “Let’s drug our kids so they don’t dream and won’t dream of Freddy”. And apparently it works. Admittedly this is the first time that we hear that he only gets his power from the dreams of children. You’d think the adults who know the truth might still dream about him occasionally. I’ll also credit Freddy with a good idea. Find another killer to create a body count and get people talking about you again. And it works (to some extent anyway).
Of course, since most killers can’t share Jason starts hogging all the kills, stealing them from Freddy. Freddy response is to take over one of the teens trying to stop Jason and drug him to sleep. Again, it’s unclear if Jason is supposed to be alive or dead here, but drugging works and Jason visits Freddy’s world.
Except Jason seems unstoppable even there. He counters everything Freddy throws at him until he is stopped by a curtain of falling water. Suddenly Jason is hydrophobic. Despite us seeing him walk under water multiple times to kill people on the lake, killing people in heavy rain, and even taking a boat to Manhattan, Jason is apparently deathly afraid of water. I guess they needed something to give Freddy an advantage.
They also needed to give Freddy another advantage. Once both of them are in the real world we see that Freddy is a good fighter. Against any normal opponent he could easily hold his own. Of course, Jason isn’t a normal opponent. These two end up cutting each other to pieces, with a LOT of blood being spilled. Jason’s blood is mostly black which again lends weight to the “he’s dead argument”, but it sprays, which implies pulse, which implies alive. Best not to think about it.
This film was done because people wanted to see what happened when the two most popular New Line villains went to war. It’s basically a draw with advantage to Jason. I rank it 7th.
Body Count: 21/22. Depends on whether you count Freddy as a kill or not. I tend to say no since even his head winks at the end.
I give the townsfolk of Springwood credit for an interesting idea. “Let’s drug our kids so they don’t dream and won’t dream of Freddy”. And apparently it works. Admittedly this is the first time that we hear that he only gets his power from the dreams of children. You’d think the adults who know the truth might still dream about him occasionally. I’ll also credit Freddy with a good idea. Find another killer to create a body count and get people talking about you again. And it works (to some extent anyway).
Of course, since most killers can’t share Jason starts hogging all the kills, stealing them from Freddy. Freddy response is to take over one of the teens trying to stop Jason and drug him to sleep. Again, it’s unclear if Jason is supposed to be alive or dead here, but drugging works and Jason visits Freddy’s world.
Except Jason seems unstoppable even there. He counters everything Freddy throws at him until he is stopped by a curtain of falling water. Suddenly Jason is hydrophobic. Despite us seeing him walk under water multiple times to kill people on the lake, killing people in heavy rain, and even taking a boat to Manhattan, Jason is apparently deathly afraid of water. I guess they needed something to give Freddy an advantage.
They also needed to give Freddy another advantage. Once both of them are in the real world we see that Freddy is a good fighter. Against any normal opponent he could easily hold his own. Of course, Jason isn’t a normal opponent. These two end up cutting each other to pieces, with a LOT of blood being spilled. Jason’s blood is mostly black which again lends weight to the “he’s dead argument”, but it sprays, which implies pulse, which implies alive. Best not to think about it.
This film was done because people wanted to see what happened when the two most popular New Line villains went to war. It’s basically a draw with advantage to Jason. I rank it 7th.
Friday the 13th (2009)
Since the franchise has been a financial success to this point (even Jason X thanks to home sales), and Halloween (2007) was a successful reboot, it was inevitable that someone would reboot this series. We start with what was the end of the original movie with the death of Pamela Vorhees, so the original movie is technically canon for this one.
Body Count: 14. This includes Pamela at the beginning of the film. It does NOT include the Miller siblings as the movie ends with a sudden attack on them.
This movie duplicates the Halloween reboot by having Jason as a truly brutal killer. Unlike the plodding zombie he had become, this Jason FEELS angry. He also moves much faster and is willing to run. He definitely still cares for mom and takes Whitney captive (because she looks like his mother when she was young) instead of killing her. But he is extremely vicious with others. Hanging someone in a sleeping bag over a campfire, setting bear traps, spears through eyes.
The group of kids Clay meets is typical for these films. As usual, the jerk gets their just rewards. Clay’s love interest dies almost at the end of the film, however. Jason is also smart enough to wound someone to use as bait.
It is a surprisingly decent reboot and made enough money at the box office that a sequel should have been a done deal. But there was apparently an extended legal battle over the rights that was only settled recently (which allows the planned Crystal Lake series to be made) I rank it 6th.
Body Count: 14. This includes Pamela at the beginning of the film. It does NOT include the Miller siblings as the movie ends with a sudden attack on them.
This movie duplicates the Halloween reboot by having Jason as a truly brutal killer. Unlike the plodding zombie he had become, this Jason FEELS angry. He also moves much faster and is willing to run. He definitely still cares for mom and takes Whitney captive (because she looks like his mother when she was young) instead of killing her. But he is extremely vicious with others. Hanging someone in a sleeping bag over a campfire, setting bear traps, spears through eyes.
The group of kids Clay meets is typical for these films. As usual, the jerk gets their just rewards. Clay’s love interest dies almost at the end of the film, however. Jason is also smart enough to wound someone to use as bait.
It is a surprisingly decent reboot and made enough money at the box office that a sequel should have been a done deal. But there was apparently an extended legal battle over the rights that was only settled recently (which allows the planned Crystal Lake series to be made) I rank it 6th.
Thoughts?
Last edited:
