Classic Thoughts: Friday The 13th Series

Before taking the break for the Oscars, I saw the new Friday the 13th film and beforehand I took a look at Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood.

Over the last two week I have been steadily watching the classic films OnDemand and now is the time for me to finally give my opinion on the series. I should note beforehand that I have yet to see Freddy Vs. Jason and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday for some reason isn’t on the list of film.

Either way, I have seven films to talk about, so I should get started.

Friday the 13th
So, this is the film that started it all. However, the film was obviously made as a standalone feature.

I can also say that I was not a huge fan of the POV shots for the killer, since it almost removes any tension the scene would have.

The film is an OK start for the series and thinks would get better (before they got worse).

7/10

Friday the 13th Part 2
I can say that I got into this film a bit more than the film and it’s probably because it’s the film that introduces Jason.

It’s still not perfect, but at least those POV shots were starting to be used (slightly) less.

8/10

Friday the 13th Part III
Even though the film was not in the 3D it was filmed in, this is where the series started coming into it’s own.

The big development is that this is the film where Jason gets the hockey mask and starts being shown on the screen more often. While the film is filled with cheesy 3D gags, it was still a decent film.

8/10

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
It is general considered that the series peaks with Part 4 and I have to agree.

This is the film that features Corey Feldman as (the slightly creepy) Tommy Jarvis. The film also features a pre-Back to the Future Crispin Glover (and a wacky dance).

The film was also supposed to be where Jason gets killed off and he sure does go big time in this film.

8/10

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
From what is probably the best in the series, we go to what is probably the worst.

This film is so ridiculous at times I can almost call it a comedy instead of a horror film. The only real decent part is towards the end, but other than that it’s a joke.

6/10

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
After the ridiculousness of the previous film, it seems the series just decided to have some fun and not take itself too serious anymore.

Jason is pretty much a zombie from this film on and his kills are getting less and less realistic. It is probably this lack of seriousness that made the film halfway decent.

I also have to say that this is probably the most 80’s feeling entry in the series, complete with a new-wavish Alice Cooper song in the credits.

7/10

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
While people accuse this film of false advertising (the action doesn’t move to New York until the end), I found the New York scenes (especially Jason walking down Times Square) were worth it enough that anything that came before didn’t really matter.

8/10

Jason X
Now we move onto the Sci-Fi chapter.

All I can say is that the space-setting really made this film not seem like a Friday the 13th film. You could pretty much add any monster in Jason’s place and have the same movie.

That said, it was a decent sci-fi film, and I really liked the cameo by David Cronenberg at the beginning (and there’s also props for the film being made in Toronto).

7/10

And that’s the series. I’m sure some of the films are probably worse than what I rated them, but with horror films like this there is a sort of a B-movie charm in which they are so bad it’s good. None of the films were particularly that scary in this day and age I’ll probably stick to my Halloween.