Friday the 13th (1980)
This film rates first because it is
the purest in its intents and purposes. Camp counselors. Serial killer. Wooded
seclusion. Echoplex. It’s like cooking in that sometimes, the dish with the
least ingredients tastes the best. And I love the quiet, unpolished, even
snuff-like aesthetics of ‘70s horror films. While I don’t love that a poor
snake gave his life for this film (Sean Cunningham should be thankful that he
didn’t film in Italy), and while I don’t really care much for Alice (sorry),
the other characters are likeable and relatable, and the death of Annie—who I
just love, who advocated for children in that jeep and still bought the farm at Pamela Voorhees’ hands—really gives you the
sense that this film could go anywhere.
Jason Lives (1986)
This film gets the second spot because I
love it so much, and it has the most nostalgia attached to it. I was the same
age as those children at the camp, I was
actually going to summer camp in the creepy woods of Pocatello, Idaho in the
summer of 1986, and while Jason Lives
was not technically the first of the series to feature children (sleeping
children can be glimpsed in the opener to the first film), it is the first to
make them integral to the plot. We fade out the Tommy subplot (which I have
always hated) and bring back Jason, and we get the coolest final girl since Amy
Steel. I couldn’t stand Jennifer Cooke in “V: The Series,” but I absolutely
love her here. Plus this film has the Alice Cooper song, the shish-kabob
motorcycle, paintball kills, the greatest score of the series, and Horschak.
What more do you want? Geez.
The Final Chapter (1984)
I am a huge Joseph Zito fan. I love The Prowler. He has an amazing “waste
nothing” approach to horror, and you definitely feel that in this one. The
Tommy subplot is introduced, but we don’t quite yet know that it’s going to be A
Thing, so okay, we get a kid who is into masks and FX and I’m way on board with
all of that, plus he has a really nice family, and even the horned-up kids in
the party house are nice, and it’s all nicety nice-nice. While progressive in
its direction, it retains the feel of an early Friday film, not yet fettered by
gimmicks and all the crapola that came later on. And Crispin Glover has some
great moments in it. I heart him.
Part 2 (1981)
If you take away Amy Steel, this would
still be a good entry, but just not as good. It rips off at least three films
that I can think of, and I can see why Steve Daskawisz was brought in to
replace Warrington Gillette. But this film has its redeeming moments. First of
all, they don’t let the brotha or the Asian sista speak at all (well, not
beyond the brotha wrapping up a board game or laughing at a joke), but at least
they get to live along with Stu Charno, who is one of my favorite character
actors, ever. And even the physically challenged guy gets an equal-opportunity
kill, which amps up the terror factor and leaves you thinking that if Jason’s
going to off a dude in a wheelchair (who was about to get laid!), then who
knows what else he’s capable of? This film was also preceded by that beautiful “countdown
trailer,” my favorite of the series.
Part 3 (1982)
On paper, this should be my third favorite.
It’s got disco, it’s got the first appearance of The Mask, it’s got Shelley,
who I love, and it’s got Tracie Savage, who went on to anchor our Channel 4 News. Even better, it’s got
Tracie Savage getting “Bacon-ated” while reading a Fango. But it’s got one of
my least-favorite final girls, a terrible subplot featuring her first encounter
with Jason (blech), her dopey boyfriend, who looks like a narc dressed for
brunch, two inexplicable subplots—one involving a stoner couple (WTF are they
even ON THIS JOURNEY?!!), and another involving motorcycling Solid Gold dancers
in a barn—and an ending obviously tacked on after the producers watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. No. Just …
no.
Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
I was just starting high school when this
came out, and it had me from the trailer. But that song. That glorious
boner-inducing song by Metropolis … THAT is why this film gets the #6 spot. And there’s no wait you can fight, so show
some respect, and try to survive … I know, right?!! @#$%!!! Anyway, this
film also features one of my favorite death scenes, in which Julian boxes
himself into total exhaustion before Jason takes him out of his misery with one
hell of an uppercut. Unfortunately, this film also features the scene I make
fun of the most out of any other in the franchise—when that SAME brotha gets a
massive chub over getting to New York City. He goobers himself up into such a
lather that he sounds like one of the Three Stooges. Yes, we get it, you’re in
New York City. Shaddup. And while we’re at stupid scenes (and there are many in
this film), how about Jason in the sewer morphing from the Toxic Avenger into a
child model? For real?! Did they never see the first Friday? And why are we treating Rennie like she’s a special-needs
child? I feel like I’m watching pt. 7, just without the telekinesis. Fuhgeddaboudit.
Friday the 13th: The Series (1987)
Yes, I know. Jason was never in this. It
doesn’t count. But I’m gonna make it count anyway, because Frank Mancuso, Jr.
created it, and Paramount Television distributed it, and enough veterans of the
franchise took a pit stop in Vendredi’s Antiques that I might as well. Plus
Robey. Okay? Many of the series’ episodes were better and scarier than some of
the films in the franchise. And Jason wasn’t in A New Beginning, either, but we still see that one included in all
the TV marathons.
Jason X (2001)
I may be the only one in the world who
likes this film (and its score). But I don’t give a damn, as it features my
favorite director of all time, two badass heroines in Rowan and Kay-Em, and a
nice package of innovative kills that you wouldn’t see anywhere else but in space. Yes, I thought the trend
of sending many of our horror heroes into space was lame (which is mostly why
this gets the 8th spot), but this one sort of worked. Kind of? Just
a little? Well, fine. Look at it this way: there could’ve been a
machete-wielding killing machine out there in the Mir space station. I mean, we
still kiss Alien’s ass, and when’s
the last time the news reported a creature killing all the passengers of a
cargo spaceship? Wait, where you going?
The New Blood (1988)
I just can’t get it up for this one. I know
so many people love it, and the director is a really nice guy who talked to my
husband for quite a while about filmmaking, plus there’s something really
exciting about giving Jason a true formidable match in the final girl. It’s
just not Tina. Tell me you can’t make a drinking game out of this one. Go
ahead, try not to tip it back every time Tina runs out of the room in
dramatics. She’s a pitiful character and the most tolerable in a film in which
no one is likeable. Like, not even a
little bit. If you like Tina, it’s because you either feel sorry for her or you
wish you had her powers, or (like me) you really like the actress who plays her, Lar-Park Lincoln. But seriously? If I were
Tina, I would’ve wrapped that shit up in 30 minutes, Carrie White-style,
starting with her doctor. But then I guess we wouldn’t have a film. And that
would be bad how?
A
New Beginning (1985)
I should love the hell out of this film. It
has Suicide and Spider from the ROTLD
films, Dudley from Different Strokes,
good kills, a Blue Mask (I love little variations like that), poppin’ and
lockin,’ great boobies and chocolate bars. And you know what? I don’t even
dislike this film because Jason’s not in it. I dislike this film because
Jason’s not in it—and neither is Tom Atkins, or homicidal Halloween masks, or a
catchy Silver Shamrock jingle, or all the other things that I love about Halloween 3: Season of the Witch despite
Michael Myers not being in that film.
This film looks as if the life has been sucked right out of it, and hearing
about what a miserable experience it was to make this film explains it all. I
have about as much fun watching it as I believe the cast and crew had making
it. And who kills a brotha on the toilet? It’s “no” time!
Jason
Goes to Hell (1993)
I saw this one just after I graduated from high
school, and I remember leaving the cinema looking and feeling as if I had just
sucked on a lemon for two hours waiting for it to turn into Country Time. Jason’s
got a sister? Whaa? Didn’t we already see this film oh wait this one is
different because metaphysics. But at least the Laurie Strode-as-Michael-Myers’-sister
twist was something you could buy, considering that in the first Halloween, Myers killed his older
sister, then spent the rest of the film clocking some chick called Laurie. Why?
Because she saves her babysitting money? Because she has access to hot friends?
Because she understands that fate is like a natural element, like earth, air,
fire and water? No, it’s because he needs to finish what he started with
Judith, duh. So when we find out that Laurie and Michael are related, we don’t automatically
think it’s caca. However, we’re nine
films in when Jason intersects with half-sister Diana Kimble (yeah, we get
it. Dianadana Kimmeble.), so introducing a sibling at that point just seems stupid
and lazy. Just two years prior, Freddy was reconnecting with his long-lost daughter,
and I didn’t care for that reunion, either. But then, like Freddy, Jason starts
possessing people, which makes you wonder why he didn’t just use that ability
in part 5. Or in part 7. Or in all the other films. You know why Freddy pulled Jason’s
mask into the ground at the end of 9? Because bitch stole his look.
Freddy
Vs. Jason (2003)
Man, I hate this film so much. No Kane
Hodder (but to be fair, no Richard Brooker, no CJ Graham, or any other Jason
that I loved in the series) means no true matchup. You’ve just got one titan
(Freddy) versus Hodder’s Manhattan
double, who really isn’t all that bad. He’s just not iconic. Yes, we wanted to
see this fight for so long, but you know we all really wanted to see Hodder
versus Englund. So fine, we don’t get what we wanted, but look at what we do
get in return: a recycled kill from Jason
Lives (just with a mattress), Destiny’s Child and other annoying people I
really couldn’t give a puck about, and Jason and Freddy duking it out for
villain supremacy amidst elaborate sets and fi-yah! And then that ending. Is
Jason dragging along Freddy’s head like a trophy, or is he saving Freddy’s head
for regeneration? I mean, Freddy is winking in that ending. I don’t think it’s
because he’s happy he got his ass kicked. Or maybe he’s winking because he’s planning
to Lovecraft his way through the next installment? Who the hell knows? And, since it’s now 12 years later and no new
films, who the hell cares?
Friday
the 13th (2009)
What, they remade it? Oh sorry, I wasn’t
aware.
