Every Friday the 13th Movie Ranked by Jason’s Appearance

The Friday the 13th franchise has always been pretty fast and loose with logic, and that’s just one element that makes it such a treasure. For instance, Jason shouldn’t even be anything other than a decomposing little boy at the bottom of a lake, yet he’s walking around, machete in hand. Just as there’s no consistency with how life and death work, there’s not even any consistency with how the resurrected (or never dead at all?) man looks. Each film has a different look for Jason, and we’ll be doomed if they aren’t able to be ranked.

Primarily, the focus was the character’s various physical designs. However, the work of the man behind the mask (or burlap sack) was taken into account. How Jason carries himself doesn’t vary quite as much as his physical appearance from film to film, but it still does, especially when comparing the second, third, fourth, and twelfth films with what came in between.

#12 – Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is an odd duck. It often plays more like a cheapo piece of midnight trash (which has its merits) than a coherent film. Director Danny Steinmann, who was known for directing pornography more than anything else, was clearly out of his element.

It also features the worst Jason because, well, it’s not Jason at all. It’s an ambulance driver named Roy, whose identity as the killer is less a twist and more blatantly obvious (the man sinisterly looks directly into the camera at one point for goodness’ sake). Given that fact, this “Jason” doesn’t even move like Jason. He moves like a mortal man, and not in a particularly frightening way at that.

#11 – Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

On the whole, Steve Miner’s Friday the 13th Part 2 is one of the franchise’s best installments. However, it’s often clear that those behind the film weren’t quite sure which direction to take it all. For instance, one of its most iconic kills is lifted directly from Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood.

There’s also the fact that the film’s Jason, his first appearance as an adult, is really just the unnamed killer from The Town That Dreaded Sundown. On one hand, that kind of works as it makes Jason seem like a flesh-and-blood real-world threat, but it’s also without a doubt the second least inspired Jason design in the franchise’s history.

#10 – Jason X (2002)

The worst Friday the 13th doesn’t quite have the worst Jason design, but it’s close. The fourth and final Kane Hodder installment of the franchise, Jason X, is like the other three in that it ranks pretty low in terms of the overall series.

His Jason, however, is iconic for a reason. Hodder makes Jason a force, but of his quartet of performances, this is the only one hampered by an outright goofy design and awful special effects. Even still, at least it’s objectively creative, which can’t be said about the ones seen in A New Beginning or Part 2.

#9 – Friday the 13th (1980)

Some may thing that the first Jason is the worst Jason, because he’s relegated to a cameo. But what a cameo. The final jump scare in Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th is iconic, and even after 45 years and however many viewings, it’s lost none of its impact.

Were the franchise to have not been a franchise and instead been a single film, this moss-covered and grotesque Jason would still work. After all, he’s the prime motivation for the film’s momentum even though he’s long dead. Or is he? A little air of mystery never hurt a horror flick, and it certainly doesn’t hurt the original Friday the 13th.

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#8 – Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Freddy vs. Jason operates as a continuation of the later Paramount films when it comes to Jason. He’s nothing like the one seen in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday and there’s no silly Jason X silver mask (or admittedly effective blood red eyes). Instead, he’s closer to what was seen in the next entry.

The one thing that does work quite well about this lumbering, fairly standard take on the character is actor Ken Kirzinger’s considerable height. Even still, this is the most “meh” Jason out there. You believe he could kill you, but you also believe you could either run away or summon a dream demon to distract him.

#7 – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

Far ahead of its time and one of the best slasher sequels ever made, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is still burdened with a pretty lame Jason. To be fair, he’s dead dead after The Final Chapter, so he’s supposed to be a slow-moving zombie, but without Kane Hodder behind the mask that’s really all he is.

C. J. Graham had the right size for the role, and there’s admittedly nothing particularly wrong with his take on the character. But, when combined with a comedic tone, this Jason is a pretty difficult one to take seriously, much less be afraid of.

#6 – Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Watching Jason storm through Times Square (actually Vancouver) makes for one of the best Friday the 13th chase sequences, but he’s still a step down from the previous film’s legendary take on the character. However, the film still benefits from Kane Hodder’s return, not to mention all the slime that coats pretty much Jason’s entire body.

Once the mask comes off, this Jason pretty quickly becomes the worst, but up until then he’s solid enough. At the very least he’s the funniest Jason. If you don’t want your jukebox kicked, don’t put it in front of a hockey masked killer with 100+ kills under his slimy belt.

#5 – Friday the 13th (2009)

For the first time in a long time, Jason could catch up with a marathon runner without the use of teleportation which, let’s face it, he can apparently do in some of the movies. The 2009 Friday the 13th remake may be a little too glossy for its own good and filled with obnoxious characters, but they got Jason right.

Derek Mears made for a really terrific Jason. If there was any main reason for Marcus Nispel’s reboot to get a sequel, it was Mears. It also helps that he was coming on the heels of one of the more boring Jasons in the franchise’s history.

#4 – Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter is quite a few fans’ favorite installment of the franchise. That’s very much understandable, but its Jason is still a step down from the inferior-as-a-film Part III. Richard Brooker’s Jason set such a high bar that it was almost impossible for Ted White to fill his big, blood-soaked shoes.

On the negative end of things, this Jason just isn’t quite as bulky, which was an asset when it came to just how intimidating Part III‘s could be. On the positive end, White’s is still one of the better Jasons because he’s still surrounded by the grim tone that elevated the first four movies, not to mention the carrying over of the axe mark from the previous film’s climax is a nice touch. Though Jason is most identified as a slow-moving killing machine, he still ran here, which is indeed scarier. The Final Chapter would be the last time he did so until the remake.

#3 – Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Were this a ranking of the films’ overall quality, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday would be pretty close to the bottom. Though, unlike the other New Line movies, it at least attempts to capture the visual and tonal spirit of the Paramount years. It’s just how it goes about doing so that’s…questionable.

What isn’t questionable is that it takes some mighty big swings, and that includes the look of Jason (for the scant amount of time he’s actually on-screen). The penultimate Hodder Jason is wholly unlike the other three. It takes the consistent deterioration of the character and ups it a few notches. And, in doing so, pulls the now barely-there mask a few notches into the undead man’s face. Plus, the few strands of long, graying hair somehow works.

#2 – Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

It’s a toss-up for the top spot, but on a tier list only one can win. But, while Richard Brooker’s take on the character in Friday the 13th Part III didn’t win in terms of design, he is the definitive Jason.

For the most part, the Friday the 13th movies aren’t particularly scary, but the way Brooker portrays Jason gives him a particular frightening edge. Just look at the way he lumbers back up the pier after shooting Vera with the speargun, it’s as if he’s halfway between the mindless killing machine of Part VI and the distinctly human rendition in Part 2. Like the number one spot, this Jason is iconic, primarily because it was here that he got his mask.

#1 – Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

Again, it’s a toss-up, but the first Kane Hodder performance as Jason takes the W. Alongside directing the film, John Carl Buechler was a noteworthy make-up artist, and his vision for what the character should look like was a vast improvement over the dull Jason Lives zombie.

The exposed ribs and spine, the decayed face, Hodder’s forceful yet slow way of moving, it all works. Thanks to the MPAA’s demands it’s arguably the least effective entry of the Paramount years (all eight of which are now available to stream for free on Pluto TV), but Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood has the Jason that most people think of when his name is mentioned.