Ch, ch, ch, ha, ha, ha: Ranking every Friday the 13th film

What a year it's been for Friday the 13th fans. After so many long and hard years in the wilderness, the franchise roared back to life with the prequel series Crystal Lake, starring Linda Cardellini as Jason's mom, Pamela Voorhees. If you haven't binged the series on Peacock yet, definitely get on that!

Additionally, 2026 had not one, not two, but three Friday the 13ths, which concludes today. Because of the franchise's rejuvenation and it being the final Friday the 13th of the year, now's a great time to rank the series. Please note that this ranking includes the movies only, not Crystal Lake.

Let's dig in and celebrate favorite final girls, memorable kills, and various actors who played Jason over the years.

Jason X

I'm sure that Jason X probably has its defenders, but shooting Jason (Kane Hodder) into space and even having him fight a cyborg is a step too far for me. Though this movie had a theatrical release, it very much looks and feels like a cheesy SyFy Channel, made-for-TV movie. Additionally, I'm just not a fan of the uber Jason space look. As a lover of the franchise, I return to all the movies, but Jason X far less than the others.

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday

Jason Goes to Hell, directed by Adam Marcus, released in 1993. By that point, slashers had worn out their welcome, at least until Scream upended horror a few years later. Jason (Hodder) as we know him is only in this movie for about ten minutes, until he's blown to smithereens by a team of FBI agents. However, that's not the end of the big guy. His lifeforce manifests itself and possess people one by one. There are some great special effects in this movie, especially when victims swallow Jason in the form of his parasite-like heart. Those scenes are cool, but this premise is wildly absurd, even by this franchise's standards. It also has a bounty hunter named Creighton Duke (Steven Williams). It's pretty late in the franchise to suddenly introduce a major character like this.

Marcus has gone on record talking about how the franchise's initial director, Sean S. Cunningham, interfered in this project and took over directing and editing in its final days. That certainly impacted the final product.

Freddy vs. Jason

For years, slasher fans waited for the 80s icons of horror, Freddy and Jason, to face off. This finally happened in 2003 with Freddy vs. Jason, directed by Ronny Yu, who previously directed Bride of Chucky. This would be the last time that Robert Englund played Freddy in a movie, and he certainly had great fun in the role again, taunting Jason and frequently calling him a mama's boy. The plot is pretty silly. Teens enlist Jason's help to fight Freddy, and Freddy uses Jason to kill because people no longer fear him. The movie has some cool dream sequences, but it is a shame that Hodder was pushed out of the role, though Ken Kirzinger does an okay enough job. Still, out of all the Friday the 13th movies, the New Line entries, which include Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X, and Freddy vs. Jason, are the weakest of the bunch and pretty different in tone than Paramount's long run.

Friday the 13th Pt. 8: Jason Takes Manhattan

Jason Takes Manhattan has a scene where Jason kicks over a boombox belonging to punk rockers. They threaten him, he pulls up his mask, and they flee and apologize. It's great, as are scenes where Jason shoves people out of his way on the subway. That said, this movie is a low point for the franchise. Most of it takes place on a boat, and the final girl, Rennie (Jensen Daggett), is a real snooze fest. Additionally, most of the city scenes were shot in Montreal, not Manhattan. Oh, and this, by far, features the wettest version of Jason. I get that he hitched a ride a boat from Camp Crystal Lake to the Big Apple, but why the hell is he always soaked in this? Then, there's the ending. Oof!

Friday the 13th Pt. 5: A New Beginning

Ah yes, here we have one of the true black sheep of the franchise, the fifth entry, the one that doesn't feature Jason. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I won't spoil the actual killer, but it really comes out of left field. This is the second movie in the Tommy Jarvis trilogy. This time, John Sheperd plays Tommy, and he's sent away to a mental hospital for teens, essentially. He keeps having flashbacks of what happened to him at Camp Crystal Lake as a kid, when Jason nearly murdered him. Sheperd is pretty good in the role, but this is, by far, the horniest movie of the bunch, and that's saying a lot. Director Danny Steinmann did get his start in porn, after all.

I will admit that A New Beginning has grown on me a lot over the years. It's so strange and different in tone. I have to love it for that, despite Jason's much-felt absence.

Friday the 13th (2009)

Marcus NIspel had a lot of success with 2003's Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, so he was tapped to direct the Friday the 13th remake a few years later. This is another entry that's grown on me over the years. This is Jason in one of his most terrifying iterations, and Derek Mears is all business in the role, intimidating and imposing. We get Sack Head Jason for part of the movie, before he finds his beloved hockey mask in a barn. He's also a quite a crazed, yet intelligent mountain man here, using underground tunnels and booby traps to slaughter victims. I will state that the guys in this are total assholes, and certainly a product of the 2000s frat boy culture, but there is a good final girl in Whitney (Amanda Righetti). This is also one of the goriest entries.

Friday the 13th Pt. 7: The New Blood

This is basically Carrie versus Jason, but I'm here for it. Years later, I still love this movie, in part because it's one of the first Friday the 13ths I ever watched. I also adore Lar Park Lincoln as final girl Tina and how we finally have a character equally matched to Jason, one who uses telekinetic powers to kick his ass. The plot is totally bonkers, but who cares? It's fun watching Tina drop a porch on Jason, douse him with gasoline, and launch a TV at his head. Also, this is Hodder's first appearance as Jason and maybe the best costume/character design of Jason to date. He's rotted, to the point parts of his spine show. Jason's wear and tear is most evident here.

Friday the 13th: Part 3

Friday the 13th: Pt. 3 deserves to be in the top five simply because it's the movie where Jason gets his iconic hockey mask. Additionally, Richard Brooker made a great Jason, and Dana Kimmell's Chris is one of the strongest, most memorable final girls in the franchise. She also had a past encounter and trauma from meeting Jason in the woods previously, and the monologue she gives about it is chilling. Maybe Crystal Lake will actually explore this scene in a future season. This movie is a lot of fun with some great kills. Just don't mind the cheesy 3D effects.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Sean S. Cunningham's first movie kicked off the franchise, and it may be a bit blasphemous not putting it in the top three, but in truth, some of the sequels did what this movie does much better. Still, this first film contains great practical effects by Tom Savini, a role from Kevin Bacon, the franchise's first final girl Alice (Adrienne King), an awesome concluding jump scare, and, of course, Betsy Palmer's unforgettable performance as Jason's revenge-crazed mom, Pamela.

Friday the 13th Pt. 4: The Final Chapter

Okay, now we're in the top three, and really, any of these could be interchangeable for me. Let's start off with The Final Chapter. Corey Feldman stars as monster kid and horror lover Tommy Jarvis, whose family is assaulted by Jason, played by Ted White in this sequel. White does an absolutely fantastic job here. White's Jason busts through doors, throws axes at victims, and simply isn't fooling around. He's terrifying and unrelenting. Besides Feldman, the movie also stars Kimberly Beck as Tommy's sister and badass protector, Trish. This is one of the most rewatchable sequels in the franchise.

Friday the 13th: Pt. 2

Friday the 13th: Pt. 2 features crazed mountain man, Sack Head Jason. Here, he's the most realistic, a man who's been living in the woods for years and seeks revenge against those who killed his mother. Steve Dash is fantastic as Jason, but this movie lands so high on the list because of final girl Ginny (Amy Steel), maybe the smartest and most memorable of the final girls. Not only does she psychoanalyze Jason at one point, but she also tricks him into thinking she's his mother, thus saving herself.

Friday the 13th: Pt. 6: Jason Lives tops our Friday the 13th movie ranking

Before Scream's meta slasher commentary and jokes, there was Jason Lives, a movie very much aware that it's the sixth entry of a franchise with long-established rules. Sorry to Kane Hodder, but C.J. Graham remains my favorite Jason, and this zombified version of the slasher is also my favorite. Meanwhile, Thom Mathews gives a heck of a performance as adult Tommy Jarvis, who escapes the mental institution to stop Jason once and for all. This results in a very Universal Monsters/Frankenstein-like opening. Besides the great kills, this movie contains likeable camp counselors, a soundtrack by Alice Cooper, and fantastic set designs. Tom McLoughlin's love for the Universal Monsters and the aesthetic of those movies is clear here, and it totally works, as does the comedy. This movie still feels fresh and innovative 40 years later.

So, here it is, our Friday the 13th movie ranking for the final Friday the 13th of the year! When we do this again in a few years, these choices will probably shuffle. In the meantime, be careful in those woods, and let us know in the comments if you agree or disagree with our ranking. Feel free to share your favorite entry in the franchise, too!