Franchise Report Card: Friday the 13th

Happy Anniversary, Jason!

Whether a random coincidence or clever marketing ploy, the fact that the theatrical release date of the original Friday the 13^th movie, May 9, 1980, was also (for North American audiences) the Friday of Mother’s Day weekend is nothing short of brilliant, especially since (spoiler alert—to no one at this point, lol) the camp-counselors-killing machine was revealed to be Mrs. (Pamela) Voorhees, one of horror’s most memorable, “justice”-seeking, iconic mothers.  

Without Mrs. Voorhees, there would be no Jason, and without Jason, there would be no Friday the 13^th franchise. So, as we head, no pun intended, into Mother’s Day weekend, I wanted to celebrate both the box office and critical highs and lows of what can best be described as Jason’s home movies, as well as my personal rankings of the slasher franchise’s 10 films, excluding Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and the remake in 2009. 

How would you rank the Friday the 13^th movies, from best to worst?

WHICH ENTRY KILLED IT THE BEST AT THE BOX OFFICE (USD):

1. Friday the 13^th (1980) – $39,754,601
2. Friday the 13^th Part III (1982) – $36,690,067
3. Friday the 13^th:  The Final Chapter (1984) – $32,980,880
4. Friday the 13^th:  A New Beginning (1985) – $21,930,418 
5. Friday the 13^th Part 2 (1981) – $21,722,776 
6. Friday the 13^th:  Jason Lives (1986) – $19,472,057
7. Friday the 13^th Part VII:  The New Blood (1988) – $19,170,001
8. Jason X (2002) – $16,951,798 
9. Jason Goes to Hell:  The Final Friday (1993) – $15,935,068 
10. Friday the 13^th Part VIII:  Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) – $14,343,976 

WHICH ENTRY HAS THE HIGHEST IMDB RATING:

1. Friday the 13^th (1980) – 6.4
2. Friday the 13^th Part 2 (1981) – 6.1
3. Friday the 13^th:  The Final Chapter (1984) – 6.0
4. Friday the 13^th:  Jason Lives (1986) – 6.0
5. Friday the 13^th Part III (1982) – 5.6
6. Friday the 13^th Part VII:  The New Blood (1988) – 5.2
7. Friday the 13^th:  A New Beginning (1985) – 4.7
8. Friday the 13^th Part VIII:  Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) – 4.5
9. Jason X (2002) – 4.4
10. Jason Goes to Hell:  The Final Friday (1993) – 4.1

WHICH ENTRY HAS THE HIGHEST ROTTEN TOMATOES (RT) CRITICS RATING:

1. Friday the 13^th (1980) – 66%
2. Friday the 13^th:  Jason Lives (1986) – 53%
3. Friday the 13^th Part 2 (1981) – 33%
4. Friday the 13^th Part VII:  The New Blood (1988) – 33%
5. Jason X (2002)– 25%
6. Friday the 13^th:  The Final Chapter (1984) – 21%
7. Friday the 13^th:  A New Beginning (1985) – 18%
8. Jason Goes to Hell:  The Final Friday (1993) – 16%
9. Friday the 13^th Part VIII:  Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) – 11%
10. Friday the 13^th Part III (1982) – 7%

WHICH ENTRY HAS THE HIGHEST ROTTEN TOMATOES (RT) AUDIENCE RATING:

1. Friday the 13^th (1980) – 60%
2. Friday the 13^th:  Jason Lives (1986) – 53%
3. Friday the 13^th:  The Final Chapter (1984) – 51%
4. Friday the 13^th Part 2 (1981) – 48%
5. Friday the 13^th Part III (1982) – 42%
6. Friday the 13^th Part VII:  The New Blood (1988) – 37%
7. Friday the 13^th:  A New Beginning (1985) – 26%
8. Friday the 13^th Part VIII:  Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) – 26%
9. Jason Goes to Hell:  The Final Friday (1993) – 23%
10. Jason X (2002) – 20%

SCARLETT’S RANKING:

1. Friday the 13^th Part 2 (1981)
2. Friday the 13^th:  Jason Lives (1986)
3. Friday the 13^th Part III (1982)
4. Friday the 13^th (1980)
5. Friday the 13^th:  The Final Chapter (1984)
6. Friday the 13^th Part VII:  The New Blood (1988)
7. Friday the 13^th:  A New Beginning (1985)
8. Jason X (2002) 
9. Friday the 13^th Part VIII:  Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
10. Jason Goes to Hell:  The Final Friday (1993)

You might also like

---

More from Stories

---