"Ranking Jason: From Worst to Best in the Friday the 13th Horror Franchise"[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-_G5JD8E1c[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y10jRZLzTAE[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka8QJjfpw1w[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ5cMK-3Z_I[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij9c4_yFwks[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AyRUWJriuY[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCfO1aB8CIE[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDdBhDJ7wdA[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpWpe8REbag[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDrOvFtzyPQ[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mNnJuOoI80[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljFRYn1W9Lk[/embed]

The horror movies have their own subgenres. The “Friday the 13th” film series has shaped what we call “slasher movies“. Essentially, we’re talking about those films where there is a serial killer who gruesomely -and often in particularly amusing ways- slashes a group of victims until only one remains, who usually has some connection to the killer.

The genre “was born” with the Halloween movies and Mike Myers, but Friday the 13th stamped its characteristics with the iconic killer/undead Jason Vorhees and his hockey mask, haunting the nightmares of millions of viewers.

Here are some spoilers for the Friday the 13th movies.

It took some time for the franchise to take its final form. The films started in 1980 with the first becoming a box office success. However, in the original film, the killer is not Jason Voorhees, but his mother, Pamela (Betsy Palmer), who seeks revenge for her son’s death due to the negligence of the camp counselors.

The film ended with a twist, suggesting that Jason was still alive and returned -now an adult- in the 1981 sequel. In the third film from 1982, Jason ditched the bag he wore on his head (from the 2nd film) and got a bloodied hockey mask, which has now become part of his iconic look, and the formula was fully established.

In the next nine films, Jason was “built up”, engaging in various activities, often funny and exaggerated. He died numerous times. He was resurrected. He fought his “colleague” Freddy Krueger. He terrorized Manhattan and, of course, went to space.

The franchise had its good and bad moments, and many times it was supposedly “over”, but after Jason X, the flow of movies practically stopped, as since then we have only seen the crossover with Freddy and a relatively failed reboot in 2009.

However, Jason cannot stay dead and so a prequel television series is currently being prepared, which is very trendy and is called Crystal Lake, named after the legendary camp where Mr. Vorhees operated.

While we wait to see if the series will actually be “watchable,” we decided to rank the movies from worst to best to remember the most iconic moments of Jason Vorhees.

12. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Perhaps the only film in the franchise that is truly “unwatchable”. Every scene is painful. It earns points only for trying to differentiate itself somewhat, as Jason is a “ghost” and possesses people. It has no cohesion with the rest of the series and is completely poorly made in every aspect. Other films in the series may be very boring, but this one earns the award for it.

11. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Let’s say the film came out during a time when they were looking to see what to do with Jason to refresh him, and they decided it would be a good idea to bring him to an urban setting. It wasn’t -entirely- a bad idea, but the execution was the worst. It marked the transition to the truly bad movies of the franchise, which were also the last ones. Yes, but why is Jason X ranked higher? Because…

10. Jason X (2001)

Jason goes to space. It’s such a ridiculous idea that it brings a bit of fun with it. But let’s not be fooled. Jason X belongs to the worst movies of the series, meaning it was created at a time when studios were throwing money at producing movies literally with “whatever”. And you can tell. However, that led to one of the best scenes in the entire franchise. Yes, that scene with the liquid nitrogen.

09. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

We arrive at a better time for the franchise (compared to the previous films). Number 5 was the start of the decline and was really bad with an even worse central idea. The franchise was supposed to end at number 4, and had it done so, it might not have been as well-known today, but it would have certainly been higher quality. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and A New Beginning decided to take this on itself and do it skillfully. Jason is absent and this is more evident than ever.

08. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

One of the most well-known and entertaining crossovers in all of cinema. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” meets the killer of Crystal Lake and -surprisingly- makes sense plot-wise, hitting the right notes. Okay, it remains ridiculous and is like watching a comic, as it takes us out of the atmosphere of the films, but it’s probably one of the “okay” attempts of the series.

07. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

Although it belongs to the “old” good formula, it is unfortunately the least memorable, while it tried to bring in some other fantasy elements that didn’t work very well.

06. Friday the 13th (2009)

The reboot was decent considering how terrible most of the old films were and how unacceptable most reboots from that era were. Here we have a logic of “back to basics”, which worked to some extent, but ultimately ended up failing, plunging the franchise into a deep sleep.

05. Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

Here we are in the “good” movies of the series. Unfortunately, the 3rd lost the charm of the first two films, which had a heavier, more mysterious atmosphere. However, it is the film that gave Jason his iconic look with the hockey mask.

04. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

The fourth film in the series was exactly what was needed for the time and to completely close the story up to then. It is the most “classic” Friday the 13th movie in that it has all the elements one expects and provided tension in its purest form.

03. Friday the 13th (1980)

This film laid the groundwork. While it reminded one of Psycho and Halloween, it had its own identity and unparalleled atmosphere, easily the best alongside the 2nd film. The twist at the end elevated it even higher. And looking at it now, historically speaking, we see the very important inception of a significant cinematic franchise. It also has Kevin Bacon in it.

02. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

The “birth” of Jason. Although he comes with a sack on his head instead of his famous hockey mask, he is equally imposing and perhaps more terrifying. Many of the foundational ideas that we saw evolve later on began here.

01. Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)

While the 4th was practically the most “classic” of the series, here we have the perfect balance that combined the “gloom” of the early films with the “ridiculousness” of the later ones. The grand return of Jason is equally hilarious, includes iconic killing scenes, and of course, one of the most memorable resurrection scenes. It takes itself as seriously as it needs to and allows room for self-references, with interesting characters and plot. This was the peak of the series movies and it’s unlikely we’ll ever see that “sweet spot” again.