Back in 1980, Sean S. Cunningham sent a group of camp counselors to Crystal Lake, and the franchise has returned 11 times since: nine sequels, the crossover Freddy vs. Jason, and a 2009 remake. (Next up is Crystal Lake, a Peacock prequel series with Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees.) Here they are ranked from best to worst by Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, with the one tie broken by number of reviews.
Spoilers below!
- Friday the 13th (1980)
- Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
- Friday the 13th (2009)
- Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
- Jason X (2002)
- Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
- Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
- Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
- Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Cunningham’s original film tops the list at 48 percent from 122 reviews, and Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus calls it “a grisly campfire tale in slasher form” whose effects-driven kills never quite disguise “its threadbare plotting or lack of genuine chills.” Jason barely figures in it: the killer is his mother, Pamela, played by Betsy Palmer. It opened May 9, 1980, and made $39.8 million at the domestic box office for Paramount.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Ronny Yu’s crossover was the series’ biggest box office hit, earning $82.6 million domestically on a $30 million budget, and it sits two points ahead of the next film at 41 percent based on 182 reviews. The consensus: “Fans of the two horror franchises will enjoy this showdown. But for everyone else, it’s the same old slice and dice.”
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Tom McLoughlin’s entry is the best-reviewed of the Paramount sequels, at 39 percent from 88 reviews, and audiences like it too, giving it a score of 54 percent. The consensus says it “indeed brings back ol’ Vorhees [sic], along with a sense of serviceable braindead fun.”
Friday the 13th (2009)
Marcus Nispel’s remake drew 183 reviews, the most of any film in the series, and 27 percent of them were positive. It also had the biggest opening weekend the franchise has seen, earning $40.6 million on a $19 million budget, and it finished with $65 million domestic for Warner Bros. The consensus: “technically well-constructed,” but “a series rehash.”
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Steve Miner’s first sequel arrived in the spring of 1981 and scores 27 percent from 104 reviews. The consensus credits it with setting “the template for the franchise to follow with more teen victims, more gruesome set pieces, and fewer reasons to keep following along.” It made $21.7 million domestically.
Jason X (2002)
James Isaac’s film is the only one here where critics and audiences land on the same number, 25 percent. It was also the lowest-grossing of all 12 movies in the U.S., earning $13.1 million on an $11 million budget. The consensus: “Jason goes to the future, but the story is still stuck in the past.”
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
John Carl Buechler’s sequel scores 21 percent from 75 reviews. Its consensus calls it “as lumbering and bereft of conscious thought as its unstoppable star,” then finds the franchise “in desperate need of the title ingredient.”
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Joseph Zito’s film scores 20 percent from 80 reviews. Its consensus opens almost exactly like the last one’s, calling this film “as lumberingly single-minded as its homicidal star.” It made $33 million domestically, and eight more movies followed it.
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
This is the movie where Jason first puts on the hockey mask, a Detroit Red Wings goalie mask credited to 3-D supervisor Martin Jay Sadoff. Critics gave Miner’s second sequel a 17 percent based on 106 reviews, and the consensus grants the “iconic wardrobe” and little else, calling it “a tired formula of stab and repeat.”
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
The first film released by New Line instead of Paramount scores 12 percent across 69 reviews, and its 23 percent audience score is the lowest in the series. Adam Marcus’s film “nobly attempts to reinvigorate the franchise’s mythology,” per the consensus, “only to be dragged down by generic slasher tropes, shoddy production, and incoherent plotting.”
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
Danny Steinmann’s film scores 11 percent from 84 reviews, and the consensus has it “failing even as mindless splatter entertainment” as it hacks “its way through a repetitive parade of uninspired kills with little style or tension.”
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Rob Hedden’s film, the last of Paramount’s eight, lands at the bottom with 8 percent, earning just seven positive reviews out of 84. The consensus: “Jason terrorizes a ship and nearly sinks the franchise in a clunky sequel that feels like self-parody without the charm.”