Out of all the Friday the 13th films (twelve in all). It could be really tough on how to decide which film is the best for me. I am sure there are hundreds of F13 fans that are struggling like me today to determine which is their favorite Friday film. In your eyes, it's just that one Friday film that allowed you to fall in love with the series. Even though there were eleven other ones that were extremely horrible to you, you tolerated them because this one film allowed you to be a huge fan. We have so many to chose from.
Lets see... If you look back at the original, it started the whole series. If it wasn't for the success of the original F13 movie than we wouldn't have this great franchise today. However, Jason wasn't in the original, it was his mother. She was played by one of the greatest if not, the best actress in the series, Betsy Palmer. So is Betsy the reason why the original is your favorite? Friday the 13th part two does introduce the main character, Jason for the first time in the film and let me tell you it was a huge success on how they introduced the Jason character. We got a chance to experience Jason's taste for blood. We saw a mysterious man who covers his face with a sack and brutally murders camp counselors all around camp crystal lake. We wonder as we watch the film, "are we going to get to see this man's face?" Well this film doesn't disappoint because we do see his face at the end and it's a "jump out of your pants" moment. So could this be your favorite? Maybe part three could your all time favorite of the series because this is the first time we see Jason don the hockey mask than meet his fate inside the infamous red barn. Part four is also a good movie because we are introduced to a new character, which happens to become Jason's arch nemesis, Tommy Jarvis. When we thought Jason was dead in the previous film, Tommy Jarvis takes care of that by chopping Jason to death. We get to see in alternate ending to this film many years later. It also became a turning point in the series which allowed two more films after that to star Tommy Jarvis. So could this be your favorite? Part five of the series introduced to you a copy cat of Jason. Like Jason, Roy had his own vendetta on why he don the hockey mask. In this film we do get to see a slightly different version of the hockey mask. Once again, Tommy Jarvis gets in a battle with the copy cat, thinking it's Jason, and kills him. On Friday the 13th part six this was the final battle between Tommy Jarvis and Jason. The townspeople think Tommy is just a crazy, sedated, mental patient who comes around crying wolf all the time. Once again, Tommy is the hero in the film and gets the girl. Perhaps, Part seven is your favorite in the series because we are introduced to a bigger, more muscular version of Jason played by all time great, Kane Hodder. We are also introduced to Tina and her "special powers" which gives Jason a run for his money. In Part 8 we have Jason taking on the Big Apple. Jason goes to hell could be a favorite because we are introduced to a different side of Jason. This Jason Is able to jump from body to body. He eventually goes to hell where this concludes the final of the Friday series.
Even though Jason goes to hell was the last of the series, that couldn't stop him from doing three more films. Jason X could be your favorite film because we see a futuristic side of Jason in space. We get to see Uber Jason make his debut and takes a whole crew ship down. Freddy Vs. Jason could be an all time great because we get to see the first crossover film that Jason ever made when he faces off with Freddy to see who his the baddest bad ass of them all with kick ass fight scenes. This film becomes a spin off of a great comic book series that includes evil dead featuring Ash. The last of the twelve film series is the remake of Friday the 13th. We get to see a rebirth of Jason Voorhees.
After watching all of Friday the 13th films with an average of two times per film I have finally made my choice. Drum roll please. My favorite Friday the 13th film of all time is..... Friday the 13th Part 12 (reboot). If you are a die hard fan of the films like myself, you are going to tell me I am like Tommy Jarvis. I am f***ing crazy and I need to have my head examine. I know this film is the most controversial film of the series, but I have my reasons why this one is my favorite. This film was the rebirth of Jason Voorhees and he was deadly. Let me explain why I chose this as the best Friday the 13th film of the series.
For anyone and everyone who has bitched about this film for over two years now know what it's about. This is an "American slasher film" directed by Marcus Nispel, which is the same guy who directed the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (I loved this film. This film is the reason why I watched other Platinum Dunes movies). Damian Shannon and Mark Swift are people who wrote the movie, which are the same people who wrote Freddy Vs. Jason. (You know how I felt about that film). Originally, this film was going to be based off the first Friday the 13th film but they decided to do it for part one through part four. This film was going back to Jason's roots. This film didn't beat the whole, long, drawn out back story of Jason's character to death like all the Friday films did. At the beginning of the movie we had a short, brief history lesson about Jason which I thought was a good idea since he is being introduced to a new generation. This film answered my questions that puzzled me growing up about the Friday films like, "why was Jason able to get across the woods of Camp Crystal Lake faster than that teenager when he was walking?" It answered other questions like "How was Jason able to survive in the woods In Friday the 13th Part Two and Three?" I was always curious on why Jason was so good with his arsenal of weapons. The film answered that for me too. This movie was like a Q&A session and I was very satisfied with my answers. When this film was first released, it broke two records. the first record it broke was the largest opening day for the Friday the 13th series and the largest opening weekend for any horror film at that time. Like other articles I write, I do like to give the plot to the movie. Here it goes...
The film opens up with a flash back of June 13, 1980. A younger Jason saw the decapitation of his mother by a camp counselor, which is the main character from the original Friday the 13th(Alice). She was trying to escape the deadly encounter of Pamela Voorhees at Camp Crystal Lake. She killed Pamela Voohees in an act on self defense. After that, we fast forward thirty years later where we see a group of teenagers on a getaway trip at Camp Crystal Lake. Here are their names as followed; Wade, Richie, Mike, Whitney, and Amanda. Mike and Whitney breaks into what appears to be a condemned camp building. While they are doing that, Wade finds a place to take a piss break which happens to be the same spot marijuana plants are that he was looking for, Richie and Amanda are having dirty sex in the tent at the same time while Jason picks them off one by one killing all of them with the exception of Whitney. Six weeks later, we see a new group of teenagers. Here are all of their names; Trent, Jenna, Chelsea, Bree, Chewie, Nolen, and Lawerence. The whole group goes to Trent's parent's summer cabin located in the Camp Crystal Lake area. The group didn't know what happened six weeks prior to their arrival. We are introduced to a new character, which I think would be a good arch nemesis for the New Jason, Clay Miller. He arrives at Camp Crystal Lake posting fliers of his missing sister, Whitney, that he hasn't seen in over six weeks. Clay eventually runs into the group of teenagers, where he befriends Jenna. Jenna agrees to help Clay go around Camp Crystal Lake searching for clues. While they are doing that Jason starts picking off people one by one throughout the day. His first victims are Chelsea and Nolan. Clay and Jenna's first sighting of Jason is at the condemned, Camp Crystal Lake camp building where he is carrying a few dead bodies. Clay and Jenna frightened run back to Trent's summer cabin to tell the other teenagers that they are in danger of Jason. Jason eventually arrives at the summer cabin, cuts the electricity in Friday the 13th fashion and kills others. Here are the people who die in order; Chewie, Lawerence, Bree, and Trent. Clay and Jenna run away from Jason going back to the camp building. When they get to the camp building, Clay and Jenna find Whitney. Whitney was captive by Jason. They free her. The three of them try to escape Jason's liar, but Jenna dies. Clay and Whitney eventually overcome Jason when Whitney creates a diversion. They use the memories of Jason's mother to distract him long enough to put chain around his neck and a machete in his chest causing him to die by getting his neck snapped. Clay and Whitney dumps Jason's body, without the mask, into the lake. A few seconds later they throw his mask in the lake. While Clay and Whitney get ready to leave, Jason pops up through the wooden deck breaking the wood in half with his mask on and grabs Whitney ending the movie assuring Friday fans of a potential sequel.
Even though there is so many negative reviews about the film I feel this is my favorite film of the series because it shows a more human side of Jason. Michael Bay and company took most of the things that were important from the Friday the 13th films and mashed it up to make a great Friday film. They did a great job by using this film to focus on the storyline of Jason. What makes this film different from any other Friday films is that the previous films focused on the teenagers and their personalities and how they were going to die. This film focus on why does Jason kill and how does he survive in the woods doing it. As I watched this film, I was thinking if the traditional Jason had a son, this is what his son would look like and how he would interact. I could of pictures this film being called, "Friday the 13th-Son of Jason Voorhhes."
They did this Jason character very detailed and realistic. The facial features of Jason was a mix of Carl Fullerton's design in F13 part 2 and Tom Savini's make up effects in F13: The Final Chapter. Jason had hair, but you could tell he suffered from hair loss, he had mental deformity, and skin rashes and other skin diseases which you could experience living in the woods. To me there wasn't much difference between Jason and the traditional Jason with the exception of a different attire. Jason's jacket in the movie looked like a hunting jacket or a military jacket combined. Jason did have a hump in his back which represented he had scoliosis, (I didn't like the hump) which would definitely explain how he could get the disease from living out in the woods for so many years in real life. The hockey mask looks just like the one used in F13 part three and part four except dirtier.
The Jason in the remake was like a hunter or a trapper instead of a slow, zombie-like corpse Jason. In this movie, He has many traps set up. He uses bait to trap his prey. He is very successful at doing it too. For example, the scene with the marijuana plants. Jason was stealing marijuana seeds from that guy who worked inside that barn. He needed something to attract more teenagers to visit Camp Crystal lake (This is just my take on the film). Another scene in the movie when he uses Amanda's body as bait by putting it over the fire to get Richie to try to rescue her but fails when he gets stuck in a bear trap. The controversial scene of him keeping Whitney alive. Traditional Jason never kept anyone alive but this isn't him. Other than the fact she looks like his mom, It would make sense to keep her alive, knowing she has a big brother going all over Camp Crystal Lake looking for her. Lastly, He uses Lawerence as bait by having Lawerence continue to suffer to see if any of his friends would come out of the summer home to rescue him. This was an excellent way how Jason was able to trap everyone. This Jason is more patient, intelligent, and cunning in this film than any other films in the Friday series. He is out to get revenge on his mom's death but he is being calculated about it. He is planning it out in his head while sharpening his machete. This makes him a deadly killing machine. This Jason reminded me both of Rambo and the Predator.
They made Jason much leaner in this film compared to the Kane Hodder's Jason where he was bulked up. It does make since to have a leaner Jason since he is portrayed as living off the land. Jason exactly does this by stealing from residents, living in an old condemned camp building, having tunnels or mine shafts underground, (This answered my question in regards to how is Jason able to appear out of no where in the films)makes clothing such as a cloth sack to hide his face, and a cool looking jacket. He also kills and disposes bodies that come on his land. The crazy thing is residents in Camp Crystal Lake know of Jason is doing this and won't go near the lake because they know he wants to be left alone(Scene with the older lady and Clay Miller). Too bad residents don't warn the teenagers who go to Camp Crystal Lake unless Jason has some sort of treaty that says if you keep your mouth shut than I won't kill you. Of course the residents don't want to be killed by Jason. I mean look at him. he is fast and quick. He is agile like a cat. He climbs on rooftops, jumps down off of houses, he can throw an ax at and kill you while your 30 yards away. He can hide in rooms in your house waiting on you to come home. he can jump out of no where, killing you instantly, not knowing you just been killed. This is how quick he is. Michael Bay and company selected the best man for the job, actor, Derek Mears. Derek had the perfect body size to play the leaner Jason Voorhees. With his background as playing other killers in movies, I knew he was going to play the part just right.
The ending to this film has the same classic ending compared to the original Friday the 13th films but better. Like the other Friday films, we have a hero or heroine that emerges victorious at the end after a grueling battle with Jason. They think they are going to go home and have a happily ever after but, Jason begs the differ. He appears out of no where, grabbing the hero or heroine, ending the movie. Other similarities I found in this film that were important to me was Jason's death. It was the same death in part three. In both films, he is in the red barn with something tied around his neck. I liked the death scene because it was pretty straight forward. I enjoyed Whitney psychology messing with Jason's head to set him up for the kill. I felt that someone actually outsmarted Jason on his own turf. The way the death scene is set up it makes the audience think that Jason is really dead or if he is playing possum. The scene can either be set up for a sequel or it could be set up just for this film, depending on the success of it. We find out at the end that Jason is alive making him similar to traditional Jason because death can't stop both of them. The cliff hanger at the end of Jason jumping out of Camp Crystal Lake, grabbing Whitney is similar to the ending of Friday the 13th part three. The only difference is part three had the rotting corpse of Pamela Voorhees jumping out Camp Crystal Lake. With a new look for Jason and a realistic aspect on the series, why are we so quick to run our mouth? Well after watching the movie the first time, I was the same way. I was running my mouth on how disappointed I was. After watching the movie multiple times, I said, "I get it! Now bring on the sequel!"
I would love to hear feedback on which one is your Favorite Friday movie and why.