For 30 years, lumbering lunatic Jason Voorhees — whether he was a backwoods psycho or an undead maniac — terrorized New Jersey’s scenic Crystal Lake (and occasionally Manhattan and future Outer Space). By the third Friday the 13th film, in 1982, the murderous Jason finally acquired what would become his signature look, with a hockey mask covering his misshapen face, transforming him into a
Set five years later, which would make it 1984,
Going from numbers to roman numerals, and shifting from 2D to “early ’80s craze” 3D, the
But Jason’s dead, right? What the heck?
The only ’90s Jason movie was an insane affair, featuring the least amount of Jason since the first movie. Absolutely obliterated by an FBI task force, Jason’s evil essence, in the form of demonic black blood, escapes and possesses others, making this mostly a body snatcher movie. With one of the biggest supernatural left turns in the franchise, Jason Goes to Hell, set five years after Jason Takes Manhattan, so 2003, is one of the most polarizing films in the franchise’s multi-decade run. The movie also marks Kane Hodder’s third time as Jason (he’ll get one more) while also allowing him to don the Freddy glove at the end (a tease for a movie we’d see 10 years later).
Their own reboots aside, this is the last time we’d see both Jason and fellow slasher legend A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger in their O.G. timeline forms. And what a last stand it was. Freddy vs. Jason was an absolute blast that delivered on the promise of a hard-hitting heavyweight bout between these two icons. Hong Kong cinema’s, and Bride of Chucky’s, Ronny Yu directed the hell out of this as Freddy vs. Jason was a tremendous send off (if this was truly it for both of them) for these movie monsters, even transforming Jason into a de facto hero to root for over Freddy. The Jason movies, timeline-wise, are now sort of islands unto themselves, with no true connective tissue. So it’s dealer’s choice with these last three. They’re all very different experiences.
See our guide to the Nightmare on Elm Street movies in order.
At this point you may be longing for the woods again, nostalgic for Jason’s old stomping/slashing ground, so hit up 2009’s full Friday the 13th reboot, from director Marcus Nispel who found success with his Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot in 2003. CW stars Jared Padalecki (Supernatural) and Danielle Panabaker (The Flash) took the lead roles here in a movie that portrays Jason as a murderous survivalist-type (he’s got tunnels, traps, floodlights, etc) who just maybe also has a massive marijuana farm tucked away in the forest so that he can lure young adults into his lair. Now, getting into logistics here, this isn’t a remake of the first Friday the 13th movie, which as you know didn’t have Jason as the killer. This is more like Part 2, in a way, since the events of the first movie already happened and they’ve driven Jason into a revenge-bent mindset.
We may as well save the most outrageous Jason movie for last, right? And – hey! – it even lines up in a chronological sense since Jason X not only takes place in space but also over 400 years later. In this Friday film’s reality, Jason was captured and actually put on trial (so then…not a zombie?) and was ultimately cryogenically frozen. Hundreds of years later, with the Earth uninhabitable, a cosmic science field trip leads students to our wasteland where Jason gets picked up, unfrozen, and…yup, you guessed it. Not only is Jason a defrosted space maniac aboard a giant spaceship in this movie, but the third act has him augmented with cybernetic parts and nano-technology. Jason X was made because Freddy vs. Jason had stalled so it exists because New Line wanted to keep Jason in the public consciousness (since it had been almost a decade since Jason was on screen).
If you’re looking to watch all the movies in theatrical release order, the correct list is below:
After years of entanglements over rights, Friday the 13th is officially entering a new era. Per an exclusive IGN report, Horror, Inc. is launching the “Jason Universe.” Upcoming projects include Crystal Lake, a prequel series with Horror, Inc.’s President, Robert Barsamian, on board as executive producer. Victor Miller, the original film’s writer, is also involved in the project.
At SDCC 2025, a “Jason Universe” panel confirmed that another sequel movie as well as a new Friday the 13th video game are both in development. Details about these projects are sparse, but for now it seems the franchise is headed in a solid direction.
Matt Fowler is a freelance entertainment writer/critic, covering TV news, reviews, interviews and features on IGN for 13+ years.
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