In this column, I am continuing to lead up to my first time watching and of course reviewing “Freddy Vs. Jason.”
Previously I ranked all of the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” films, and this time around, I will be focusing on the “Friday the 13th” franchise.
Let’s get right into it.
“Part 7” starts the unfortunate tradition of adding weird and unnecessary plot elements to the “Friday” films. In this one, he faces off with a girl with telekinesis and lackluster storytelling.
However, the look for Jason is pretty good with the exception of his face, which is a little too monstrous for my liking.
“JGTH” makes the strange decision to have Jason be dead for most of the movie and having the kills done by possessed victims with the goal of possessing Jason’s remaining family.
This film adds weird lore that doesn’t track with the previous films, mainly the idea that only Jason’s family can kill him, which was contradicted five films prior in “The Final Chapter” with Tommy Jarvis killing Jason. And Jason stays dead until “Part 6.”
“Part 8” is one of the more disconnected films in the franchise with the opening seeming to take place after “Part 7,” but no characters return from the past films. This film notoriously is the first to send Jason to a random place, in this case New York.
The film has OK kills and cool shots, but overall is a pretty bad installment.
- “Friday the 13th” (2009)
This film being another remake I haven’t seen I can’t say too much about the film itself.
However, unlike the “A Nightmare On Elm Street” 2010 remake, this film seem to much more liked by the fanbase, and I can say I like the Idea of Jason’s mask going from the “Part 2” burlap sack to the ever iconic hockey mask, which was introduced in “Part 3.”
From here on out, this list becomes a lot harder to decide.
The films already discussed are those that are more looked down on, wile the remaining films in the series are movies that are pretty equal to me, making on big fourth place.
But I said I was going to rank them, so here it goes.
“Part 2” is a pretty good sequel to the original film, and seeing Jason as the killer is historic in a way. But Jason had a little bit more to go before he became the hockey mask killer we know, and that’s another thing.
In this film, Jason doesn’t have his hockey mask yet; instead he wears a burlap sack over head. However this look is still effective for him, and any other problems with the movie are personal issues with one of the actors in the film and not the film itself.
- “Friday the 13th” (1980)
For some franchises, the first is the best. In this case, the first is pretty good
I’m not trying to bash this film. It’s like I said; it’s pretty good, but it really is just a Halloween ripoff that got popular. Still this film is iconic for a reason and set up a lot of what made this series great, such as the end dream sequences.
One thing that some might not know is that Jason Voorhees isn’t the killer in this film. Instead his death as a young boy is the motivation for his mother Pamela Voorhees to kill at Camp Crystal Lake before it reopens.
While “Part 5” is looked down upon most by fans, I enjoyed it quite a bit with my main issue is that the main killer Roy is way too much like Jason, especially toward the end with him getting his chest ripped open and arm sliced with a machete. That is it just doesn’t feel like a guy pretending to be Jason.
However, I think Tommy Jarvis is played very well by John Shepherd, even if he didn’t return for “Part 6.”
“Part 3” may not have the best acting and some of the 3-D effects may not have aged well, however one thing this film did do is give Jason his iconic design with tan paints, green work shirt, bald head and his ever iconic hockey mask.
While the film may not have aged well, it’s certainly left an impact on pop culture.
- “Jason X“
While “Jason X” isn’t particularly loved by the fan base, as a fan of both horror and sci-fi, it’s a film that works for me. And overall, it’s a pretty good slasher with good kills and great lines.
Director Joseph Zito tried to finish off “Friday the 13th,” and while he failed to do that, he succeeded at everything else, with this film being one of the best and most popular films with fans, myself included.
I think “Part 4” is a great slasher and a great movie, with great actors and effects.
“Jason Lives” is the best “Friday the 13th” film in my opinion with great humor, great kills and embracing the campiness of these films, both in tone and setting.
“Part 6” marks the end of the original films for me with Tommy Jarvis not coming back after this and the franchise shifting in strange directions with both good and mostly bad results.
