The Definitive Ranking of the 'Friday the 13th' Movies From Best to Worst

My 100% accurate, inarguable, perfect ranking of the Friday the 13th films from best to worst.

By: Josh McCormack

Every film buff has their guilty pleasures and I have a multitude of them. However, none of which match the incredibly passionate enthusiasm I have for the trashy, infamous slasher movie franchise; Friday the 13th. Since today is Friday, October 13, let's take a magical journey through gratuitous sex and violence while I rank the Friday the 13th franchise from best to worst.

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

Jason Lives is a legitimately good movie. For a series that has produced films that have never gotten a "Rotten Tomatoes" score above 59%, that's a pretty incredible feat. Now, by no means is Jason Lives a masterpiece. It's still a goofy Friday the 13th movie. However, with a witty script by writer/director Tom McLoughlin, a group of characters that you can actually sympathize with, and a badass Alice Cooper song; Jason Lives proves to be a fun, lean, self-aware slasher film with a good chunk of individuality and heart. This makes it my personal favorite of the franchise. 

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

The Final Chapter (the fourth installment of the franchise) may be considered the absolute antithesis to my previous pick, Jason Lives. It's mean, gratuitous, and a film that has a black hole where its heart should be. With all of that in mind, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter may very well be the quintessential Friday the 13th film. Loads of incredibly nasty gore effects by make-up wizard Tom Savini and an obscene amount of nudity are the true stars of this film. It also features one of the greatest Jason performances by the legendary stunt man, Ted White and introduces Corey Feldman's Tommy Jarvis, a character that would wind up having his own heroic arc over the course of two more consecutive films. It might not be the most fun movie of the franchise, but it expertly displays all the elements that make the Friday movies what they are. 

3. Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)

Time to get into the schlock territory, my friends. A bout between Freddy and Jason had been in the works since the late 1980s after fans had consistently demanded seeing these two titans of terror duke it out on screen. In 2003, New Line Cinema and director Ronny Yu finally made this dream a reality (no pun intended). Freddy Vs. Jason is smart enough to focus most of the movie's drama around the conflict of Freddy and Jason, rather than having their battle emerge out of random circumstance in the final act. The motivation for their battle is actually quite strong given both of their character traits, and the one-dimensional human characters don't get in the way of the action too much. It's wonderfully directed, wonderfully bloody, and a wonderful send off to the two giants of 80s horror.

4. Friday the 13th: Part II (1981)

Friday the 13th: Part II is pretty standard fare in the Friday the 13th canon, but its well-acted standard fare. Some of the most genuine performances in the franchise come from the counselors in Part II. In fact, actress Amy Steel may be my personal favorite of the series' prominent "final girls". Jason also makes his first appearance as the killer in this flick, and his appearance is truly more unsettling with the sack over his head rather than the infamous hockey mask that would follow. 

5. Friday the 13th (1980)

The one that started it all. The original Friday the 13th deserves a great deal of respect for being the first film in the never-ending horror franchise. It has great kills, a wonderful performance from the late Betsy Palmer as the villainous Mrs. Voorhees, and even gave Kevin Bacon one of his first prominent screen roles. However, watching it now, it is hard to escape the fact that it is a tad bit slow and its lack of budget does give it less style than the sequels that would follow. But even then, Friday the 13th was made by a bunch of low-budget filmmakers hoping to ape off the success of Halloween, and yet it wound up being a legendary horror movie in its own right.

6. Jason X (2002)

Yes. This is the one where Jason goes to space. But for such a goofy premise, Jason X is far better than it has any right to be. The late director James Isaac seemed to find the humor in the basic conceit and the franchise itself, which was now on its tenth film. It's very tongue-in-cheek with an incredibly over-the-top attitude throughout ranging from the kills (cryogenically freezing a head and smashing it. Hell. Yes.) and the performances all given by actors who seem to be having a blast. The best movie with a 19% on "Rotten Tomatoes" ever made. 

7. Friday the 13th: Part 3D (1982)

The film that introduced Jason's hockey mask to the world, as well as the first and only use of 3D in the franchise. Richard Brooker is a great Jason Voorhees, actress Dana Kimmel is a truly capable female protagonist, and it's campy fun. It almost feels like a parody of itself at times and the supporting characters (cannon fodder) are unusually annoying, though. 

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

A real divisive film in the franchise, Jason Takes Manhattan actually works best before the lead characters wind up in Manhattan. A small cruise ship on the high seas full of saunas, boiler rooms, and a discotech makes for some pretty cool set pieces for Jason's kills. It's very 80s and very fun, all until they reach Manhattan (or Toronto doubling for Manhattan) and the movie instantly nosedives into awful territory. It's a shame because, with the exception of a few dumb flashback scenes, the first two acts are really enjoyable.

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

It may be controversial to fans of the franchise to put this one so low on the list, but I truly think this movie is more unbearable than usual when Jason is not on screen. The counselors are so over the top and each of them feels stereotyped to a level that's insulting even for this franchise. That might work if the movie was a bit more willing to laugh at itself, but that is sadly not the case. Even with the super silly idea of a telekinetic adversary towards Jason, in the form of our lead character Tina, the movie still tries to take this idea seriously and is never willing to go into the campy territory that this basic premise is asking for. With that being said, this was Kane Hodder's first of four portrayals as Jason and he instantly became a fan favorite for good reason. He has energy, barbarity, and a truly badass look. His kills (including the infamous sleeping bag murder) and the final fifteen minute confrontation really makes up for the otherwise lame movie. Far from the worst of the Friday movies, but certainly the most overrated. 

10. Friday the 13th (2009)

Whatever. Not much to talk about for the bland 2009 remake/reimagining. It bears the distinction of the only Friday movie that I'm pretty indifferent about. Derek Mears is a pretty cool Jason, though.

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

New Line Pictures' first film after acquiring the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise tried something new and failed pretty miserably. The film opens with a truly exciting scene where we see Jason (with an incredibly cool new look provided by the great make-up artists at KNB EFX) chasing after a nude girl throughout Camp Crystal Lake only to be realize that the girl is a plant by the army and they immediately blow him to smithereens in the first three minutes of the film. Jason then becomes reduced to a demonic worm (seriously) that begins taking over people's bodies, causing them to carry out his murders. Perhaps it was ambitious, but it ends up being too stupid and overlong to appreciate. The only saving grace is that it confirmed an upcoming battle between Freddy Krueger and Jason was in the works before the film's credits rolled. Other than that, this movie sucks.

12. Friday the 13th: Part V-A New Beginning (1985)

Friday the 13th: Part V-A New Beginning feels as if the people behind the scenes took all of my least favorite elements of the rest of the series and put it in a blender to make the absolute trashiest, crappy movie they could. I know this movie has its fans and that bothers me to no end. Its special effects are hideous, the soundtrack nearly makes my ears bleed, its acted as if its a porno (directed like one too), and the gratuity of everything from the sex, violence, and objectification of women is raised to new, disgusting heights. Aside from all of that, Jason isn't even in the movie. It's a copycat killer and the film is framed like a "Who done it?" mystery, even though you'd have to be a complete moron not to figure out who did it halfway through the movie. Part V is the lowest of the low for the franchise and represents everything that can go wrong with this franchise in the wrong hands.