Friday the 13th is my favorite slasher franchise. It’s the perfect combination of homemade horror and nostalgia. For reasons I can’t fully remember, Freddy was my older brother’s favorite movie monster. Since I’m the little sister, I had to pick a different killer. 10-year-old me went with Jason. A choice I’ve stuck with for over 30 years.
Even as my tastes have grown and expanded, the Friday the 13th movies are the ones I come back to when I need that comforting, familiar feeling. On repeated viewings, plot holes, storytelling inconsistencies, and other issues became more apparent, but my love for the franchise has never faltered. In fact, the imperfections have become a large part of the appeal.
Slasher Elements:
As a slasher, Jason fits all the standards. Huge and menacing, he’s got a distinct look, both with and without his mask. He also has clear, non-verbal body language. Each actor brought a little bit of a different take to the character. Kane Hodder is the most well-known Jason, and one of the more physical, but I’m partial to C.J. Graham. I also like the speed that Derek Mears used in the reboot.
Jason has not only a traumatic past, but a pretty harsh present. Bulled through his childhood due to his disabilities, he was loved by his mother but treated cruelly by everyone else. Thought to be drowned as a child, he somehow survived and lived a survivalist existence in the woods around Crystal Lake. He saw his mother killed as she tried to avenge his supposed death.
He’s been resurrected by lightning, attacked by psychic powers, hopped into new bodies, and thawed from cryostasis. If you’re keeping track, this does mean that he is, in fact, a supernatural slasher.
He’s pretty good at hunting down his prey, although I’d make the argument that he’s more direct and less into stalking than some of his peers. Jason does have a flair for the creative when it comes to kills. This love of drama and excess put Jason on a collision course with what would become his greatest foe, and the reason for some of the most glaring flaws in the franchise.
Jason’s Real Nemesis: the MPAA
In 1980, the first Friday the 13th surprised everyone by being a hit. It shouldn’t have been that much of a shock; every part of the movie was designed to draw audience’s attention, starting with the title and poster. The script came later. The financially savvy co-creator, Sean S. Cunningham, made a lot of smart decisions with cast and crew, with pacing and structure, and most of all, with his attitude and approach to filmmaking at the time. He never lost sight of the business aspect and worked to give audiences and studio executives what they wanted: bigger, bloodier scares. That’s where the trouble started.
Unlike the kills in Halloween, which are relatively bloodless, the original Friday the 13th showcased its gore. Thanks to the work of a young Tom Savini, this added an uncomfortable level of realism to the film. So much so that critics suggested offended viewers write to star Betsy Palmer to express their disapproval of her taking a role in the movie. People even protested to the MPAA, feeling that Friday the 13th deserved a harder rating then “R”.
The Overcorrection
The MPAA, determined to not suffer the wrath of the general public ever again, decided to react sanely by aggressively cutting every other Friday the 13th movie. The result is a franchise that varies wildly in tone. While some of the movies planned for elaborate and innovative kills, what they end up reduced to often removed any real impact from the movie.
These changes also introduced weird cuts and inconsistences in the overall movies. Scenes felt unfinished. Kills are so important in slasher movies, and to neuter that element reduces the feeling of the entire movie. How can we as an audience properly empathize with our Final Girl or Guy, if we aren’t fully aware of the extent of the danger they are in? The worst part is when they are reacting to gore that we haven’t been able to see, since the MPAA cut that scene.
Friday the 13th II lost 48 seconds, including major cuts to the Bay of Blood-inspired double impalement. A lot of blood was removed from the other kills.
The cuts would continue through the rest of the movies, making Jason less brutal and frightening with each edit. Even after all the trimming and cutting, Jason still came out on top, racking up a kill count well over 20,000. I’m counting the space station, sorry not sorry.
What Makes Jason Special
The Friday movies have always been a little different than the other slashers. After all, Jason wasn’t even the killer in the first movie. They’ve also been much more open to tonal changes and shifts in feel of the movies.
While Halloween is constantly revising and adapting the story around Michael, adding complexity and layers, the core feeling of watching a Michael Meyers movie is pretty much the same. In contrast, while Friday the 13th sticks to a pretty basic formula—partying young adults must die—each movie has a distinct feel. The franchise wasn’t afraid to take some wild risks, mostly structured around the core concept of partying young adults at camp being killed, mostly by Jason.
The further we get into the franchise, the more the movies deviate. In any other series that might be an issue. By the fifth film, we are introduced to a copycat killer. After that, we would see slapstick comedy, telekinetic teens, the longest boat ride to the shortest trip to Manhattan ever, and some light body-hopping. That would be followed by the epic Jason X. A film that sees Jason jettisoned into space for future teens to worry about.
Side note: I saw Jason X in the theater. Very few people did. I was lucky enough to watch it in a theater full of the right kind of audience. They laughed and screamed at the right moments. They also yelled helpful advice at the characters on screen at the best parts too. It’s not my favorite Friday, but it was one of my top ten theater experiences.
My Favorite Fridays:
These inconsistencies in tone could have worked against the franchise. For many horror fans they did. The top grossing movies in the franchise are Freddy v Jason, the 2009 reboot, and then the original Friday the 13th. While Part 3 and Final Chapter come close to the box office of the original, the others fall farther behind.
But, the love of horror is not always rooted in appreciation of the crafting of plot or technical mastery. Although it can be. Sometimes, it’s just about feeling like you did when you were kid one more time. Nostalgia is as close as we’re going to get to time travel in my lifetime. So I might as well enjoy it. In short, while there will be slashers that are better written, have better effects, less arbitrary cuts, and deeper themes, Jason will always be my favorite mass murderer.
Top Three Favorite Friday Movies: In No Order
- Friday 2: Ginny is a better final girl then Alice. More importantly, Jason makes his first appearance here. All respect to Mrs. Voorhees, and Betsey Palmer who got the ball rolling, but I’m here to see her boy work. This one also has the Mark Jarvis kill. Killing a man in a wheelchair, in such a way, established that no one was safe from Jason.
- Jason Lives: I wrote about Jason Lives when we had a Friday the 13th in December 2024. I love the comedic, self-aware tone of this one, and I hate how much was cut from it. The sheriff getting bent in half is one of my favorite kills and practical effects.
- The Final Chapter: Corey Feldman saves the day with SFX makeup. Crispin Glover and his friends are peak horny young adults. This one also has a nice machete to the face. It’s almost as good as good as the billhook kill in Bay of Blood. After this movie, Jason becomes the supernatural monster we know and love, and this is a fitting end to his life.
Final Thoughts:
The golden age of slasher’s is filled with imperfect gems. Budgets were low, and productions ran fast and dirty. Time has been kinder to some of these movies, earning them cult status and the love of horror fans. Only a few of these franchises made a large enough impact on the mass market and generated enough movies to become pop culture icons.
Up until a few years ago, that list was mostly the big three: Freddy, Michael, and of course, Jason. Thanks to his recent movies and TV show, Chucky put himself back in the limelight. As new killers are starting to dominate the conversation, with gorier kills, smarter final girls and guys, and more complex plots, we still return to our favorites. As does Hollywood, with inevitable reboots, prequels, and requels.
Next up for the franchise looks to be Crystal Lake, a series exploring the history of Pamela Voorhees. I’m sure I’ll tune in, as I patiently wait for Jason to return to the screen.
The Friday the 13th movies can occasionally be found on streaming platforms
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