I have never seen a Friday the 13th movie all the way through. Despite sharing Jason Vorhees first name, and despite being a kid of the 80’s and watching way too many movies, it just never happened. Horror isn’t my favorite genre – the gore gets under my skin, for one. Plus, I hate camping. Seriously, camping sucks (the visitors of Camp Crystal Lake agree with me).
However, there is an awesome looking Friday the 13th movie set that came out recently, and I finally had the urge to go through the series and see if they are really as bad as I have always imagined them to be. Let’s get started!
Purchasing through our Amazon affiliate links helps keep this site going. Thank you!
Friday the 13th (1980)
Score:
6
A young hitch-hiker on her way to Camp Crystal Lake screams “Please stop!” as the killer chases her down. I wonder if we will be screaming the same thing as we go through all 11 films…
This first entry is a low-budget affair looking to capitalize on the success of Halloween, and it’s not too bad. Despite time not being kind to the film, it still offers a couple of decent scares and is certainly watchable. Kevin Bacon helps to establish the horror movie rule: never have sex in a scary movie.
The film is bare bones and it helps to create the feeling that you are indeed in a run-down, haunted campground. There is an unintentionally comical cat-fight between a teenage girl and a grandma, at least until the slow-motion beheading which is effectively gruesome. The ending puts a twist on things and raises the all-important question: is Jason actually a fish-boy? Hopefully we will find out in the next one.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Score:
3.5
After the first film became extremely profitable, the world was blessed with a sequel. Unfortunately, we don’t find out if Jason is actually a fish, or how he survived drowning. Was he in the water the whole time as the first film suggests? Did he drag himself from the lake two decades ago and live in the woods while his mom went around avenging his ‘death’? Who knows!
We do discover that Jason has no problem venturing out into the world to kill folks, and he takes his dead mothers head with him whenever he goes. In fact, he builds that head a shrine in his lovely 2 bedroom shack.
You might think standing up for his mom makes Jason a good guy, but that notion is quickly shattered when he murders a cute little doggy and a guy in a wheelchair.
This sequel doesn’t offer the scares of the first film, but I was able to power through it without too much pain and anguish. This one also has a twist ending – the little doggy was alive after all! Also, I find it odd that after two movies Jason still hasn’t put on a hockey mask. What the heck?!
Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)
Score:
2
Aw snap, it’s 3D Jason! Only I don’t have a 3D tv… but it’s ok because you get the idea with every object in the movie being pointed directly at the screen. 3D! 3D! Too bad this movie is terrible.
Pretty much everything about it is poorly done, and unfortunately it doesn’t have that ‘so bad, it’s good’ vibe to it. However, Jason does finally put on his hockey mask, after stealing it from some kid he murdered.
The heroine of the movie puts a big gash in it with an axe, though. I doubt if an axe to the brain will hurt Jason much, but we will find out when we start the next film!
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Score:
4
On a cold October night I experienced the fourth film in this beloved horror franchise. I was ready for the thrills and chills of this epic saga. Then the movie started and what I got was what appeared to be a commercial for the first three movies.
Almost every kill was highlighted in this stunning montage. Is this the movie or a trailer? Before I could figure it out, the title of the film (“The Final Chapter”) zooms through the hockey mask, causing it to explode!
I have to admit it made me laugh. My imagination began to get the better of me. Perhaps this one will morph into an action movie! Or Jason will use explosive devices this time, instead of sharp objects. Or maybe this one will be so bad, it’s good.
‘No’ on all counts, unfortunately. However, Corey Feldman makes an appearance which makes me want to watch the Goonies. Plus, there is a guy who looks like George McFly from Back to the Future. Oh wait, that is George McFly!
I have to say I liked this one better than the last two, although there is still no explanation for how Jason survived drowning and an axe to the head. I mean, we gotta know these things people. Also, it’s too bad this was the ‘Final Chapter’, because the next one might have been really good!
Four Friday the 13th movies down, and many more to go! Check out Part 2 of our series as we watch Jason Vorhees rid the world of annoying campers…