Even with the catchy “Ki…ki…ki…Ma…ma…ma” and the iconic nature of Jason’s mask, one thing has kept the Friday the 13th franchise alive for 12 installments, and that’s the often-clever nature of its kills. And, more often than not, we see those kills on-screen. Here, we’re going to be ranking the films based on how many of those kills are actually seen on-screen. Note that, if someone is stabbed below the screen and we just see their facial reaction, that counts! What doesn’t count is all the teens on the boat in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan who we don’t meet who apparently all just drown. Or the 19,000 plus people on Space Station Solaris in Jason X. Technically we see their final moment, but they’re not on-screen deaths in the traditional sense.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Even Ned in the original film, who wanders into a cabin after catching a glimpse of Mrs. Voorhees only to have his throat slit doesn’t count. We don’t see him die, we just see his body afterwards.
12) Friday the 13th (1980) — 6
In Sean S. Cunningham’s seminal Friday the 13th, we see just over half of the 10 deaths on-screen. First is the opening scene, which as Barry get stabbed just off-camera, at which point he falls over. We get what happens even without seeing the blade go in, so he counted. Claudette however did not. The last we see of her she’s screaming at it cuts to credits after a flash of light.
After them, we follow Annie for a while, who has her throat slit after a lengthy chase. Then, after we spend some time with the counselors who did make it to Camp Crystal Lake, Ned is killed off-screen, with his body being used as tension-building while Jack (Kevin Bacon) and Marcie are in bed. Jack then gets an arrow through the throat as he smokes a joint, then Mrs. Voorhees pursues Marcie, on whom she uses an axe. Brenda is then killed off-screen, either with a knife or an arrow (she is last seen alive in the archery range, after all) and her body is thrown through a window later on. Steve Christy is stabbed in the stomach just off-camera and Bill is killed off-screen and pinned to a door with a bunch of arrows in one of the film’s better scares. So Claudette, Ned, Brenda, and Bill are fully killed off-screen, but Mrs. Voorhees isn’t. She gets her head lopped off by Alice with a machete.
11) Friday the 13th Part 2 — 8
Like the first film, there are 10 kills in Friday the 13th Part 2. The kill count would always be higher from here on out. But, here, we see even more on-screen than in the first film. The only two that were counted were Terry, who screams at the screen and is later seen in Jason’s shack and Paul, who just flat-out disappears in one of the sequel’s biggest logic leaps.
The first kill is Alice. Jason avenges his mother’s death by jamming an ice pick into her temple. “Crazy” Ralph (the other returning character) is garroted with a razor wire, Deputy Winslow gets the claw of a hammer to the back of the head, Scott has his throat slit while he’s hanging upside down courtesy of a rope trap, Mark gets a machete to the face and rolls down a flight of stairs in his wheelchair, Jeff and Sandra are impaled with a spear while in bed, and Vicky is stabbed just off-camera after Jason raises a knife and slowly walks towards her (in one of the franchise’s better shots).
10) Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter — 11
One of the best horror movies of 1984, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is many people’s favorite entry for good reason. It was also the only entry to actually kill off 13 people (14 including Jason).
Of those 13, ten are on-screen (as is Jason’s demise, though of course he does return). The off-screen deaths are one of the British twins, Terri, who we see impaled only through a shadow, Mrs. Jarvis, who screams and isn’t seen again, and Rob, who is hacked apart in a basement too dark for us to see anything (though we do hear his laughable screams of “He’s killing me!”). The highlights of the on-screen deaths include Coroner Axel, who has his throat slit with a hacksaw and his head twisted around, Sam, who is impaled by a machete protruding from beneath a raft, and Jimmy (Crispin Glover), who gets a corkscrew to the hand and a hatchet to the face.
9) Friday the 13th Part III — 11
11 of Friday the 13th Part III‘s 12 total kills are on-screen. And the one that isn’t, biker Fox’s pitchfork through the throat, is done so well that it feels like it is.
Whether it’s the slightly cheaper look (a necessity of the antiquated 3-D technology) or the fact Jason kills a pregnant woman, Part III just feels like the most violent installment, even if its on-screen kill count isn’t the highest. There’s some brutal stuff here, like Vera’s speargun to the eye and Rick’s big headache.
8) Friday the 13th (2009) — 15
Every last one of the kills in Friday the 13th (2009) occurs on-screen (including Mrs. Voorhees in the opening flashback montage). Those at Platinum Dunes knew what the audience wanted and delivered.
That said, the kills are only okay, not that we’re ranking based on inventiveness. Even still, the highlights include Amanda, who is toasted in a sleeping bag (a nice reference to The New Blood), Richie, who gets a bear trap to the foot and a machete to the noggin, and Bree, who is impaled on deer antlers.
7) Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood — 16
If there was an installment of the Friday the 13th saga that the MPA butchered with a chainsaw, it was Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood. All of the kills happen on-screen, but they’re so brief that we barely even get a chance to see what exactly is happening.
Even still, there are some that stick in viewers’ memories, and one that is flat-out iconic. The iconic one, of course, is the sleeping bag kill (which, in the theatrical cut, has Jason slam the zipped-up Judy into a tree once, at which point she’s just kind of dead). Fortunately, it’s possible to watch these kills unedited online. Unfortunately, the quality isn’t great.
6) Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives — 16
There are 18 total kills in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, but 16 of them happen on-screen. But thanks to the lightness of tone, this really doesn’t feel like a particularly violent movie. The original film has just over half as many kills and feels twice as gory and brutal.
One other aspect that helps this movie’s body count feel lighter than it is: the double kill and the triple kill. Specifically, Stan, Larry, and Katie (three businesspeople on a work retreat) are beheaded with one swing of Jason’s machete and Steven and Annette (a couple having a night picnic, because apparently that’s a thing) are impaled while getting on their ’80s style moped.
5) Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan — 16
Of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan‘s 19 kills, 16 of them are on-screen. There’s even an argument for seventeen, if you count Colleen Van Deusen, who dies in a car explosion.
The highlights include J.J., who gets a guitar to the face, Jason (not the one with the hockey mask), who gets a sauna rock to the stomach, and Eva, who gets strangled in a tense disco scene. But the apex is Julius, who gets his head punched off, at which point it tumbles down into a dumpster.
4) Friday the 13th: A New Beginning — 17
There are 19 kills in Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, 21 if you count the two graverobbers who die in the opening nightmare scene (note: we are counting them). Of those 21, Jason kills zero. In fact, there isn’t even really one killer in this one, as it takes place at a mental health clinic where axes are apparently available.
The only kills not counted are Dr. Letter (railroad spike to the head), George (throat slit), Anita (another throat slit), and Duke (yet another throat slit), all of whom have their bodies discovered. As for the on-screen kills, the highlights are Billy, who gets an axe to the head, Tina, who gets her eyes gouged out with garden shears (we don’t see the shears go in, that would be too much even for this grim, grimy movie), and Eddie, who gets his head squeezed against a tree with a belt.
3) Jason X — 18
As mentioned, the thousands of people who died on the Solaris when the ship crashes into it didn’t count. If they did, well, Jason X would never be beat. And, for that matter, there were a few other kills that didn’t count in the film’s favor here. For instance, Pvt. Valcez who is impaled on a swinging claw hook fully off-screen, and Lou, who is hacked to pieces off-screen. Not to mention, Professor Lowe, one of the film’s main characters, goes out with just a scream.
But that still leaves the film with 18 on-screen kills. The highlights are David Cronenberg’s Dr. Aloysius Wimmer, who gets a pole thrown through him and Pvt. Klune, who is impaled on a mining drill and slides down its increasing width. And of course, arguably the second-best death of the franchise after Jack’s in the original film: Adrienne’s liquid nitrogen head freeze followed by a counter bash.
2) Freddy vs. Jason — 18
Thanks to the rave massacre along with the typical number of teen protagonists, Freddy vs. Jason has a sizable kill count, and Jason is responsible for the vast majority of the carnage. Only one person dies off-screen, and that’s Blake’s dad.
Of the 18 remaining, Freddy only kills Mark Davis by burning him and slashing his face. The other 17 are all Jason, and most of them are fine but unremarkable character offings.
1) Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday — 20
While far from the Friday the 13th franchise’s biggest financial successes, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday comes equipped with a huge kill count. It’s also a kill count open to interpretation, specifically the “when” of the deaths over the “how.”
But let’s go through the kills. Coroner Phil is possessed, then melts later (that will be a recurring theme in this entry), Coroner Eric is stabbed through the head with a probe, then we get two off-screen kills with Agent Grieco and Agent Murphy. Alexis is killed with a straight razor, which is another off-screener. Debby is then impaled with what appears to be the bottom of a stop sign while her lover, Luke, is killed off-screen. Edna gets her head crushed by a car door, Deputy Josh is another possession, Diana Kimble is hit in the back with a knife, and mega-jerk Robert Campbell is another possession.
Then Jason, in the form of Robert, goes on a killing spree in the police station, taking out officers Ryan, Mark, and Brian on-screen. This is followed by the diner massacre, in which six people die, all of them on-screen. Lastly, we have Officer Randy, the film’s final possession, Sherriff Landis, who is impaled by one of the protagonists after she mistakes him for a possessed individual, and Creighton Duke, who gets bear hugged to death. Well, technically last is Jason, who gets dragged down to Hell. Counting Jason and the possessed, that’s 20.
Most Viewed
-
Courtesy of Marvel -
Logo courtesy of Marvel Studios
