Everybody and their Mother knows about Friday the 13th. What was once a superstitious date evolved into a multi-media franchise that’s spanned generations. However, the tumultuous legacy the franchise has left behind has come to define it.
The franchise spans twelve main line films, a couple cross-over comics, multiple games and a number of cameos in other properties. If you haven’t watched the films, you’ve definitely seen the series’ machete weidling, hockey mask wearing serial killer, Jason Voorhees.
Jason is one of the most iconic slasher ions up there with the likes of A Nightmare On Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger and Halloween’s Micheal Myers. He’s got an instantly recognisable look and a terrifying back story that’ll make you petrified.
But unfortunately, there hasn’t been a new Friday the 13th since the underrated 2009 remake, this is because of the lengthy court battle between the original films director Sean S Cunningham, and the films writer, Victor Miller.
Serial killers and copy cats
The original Friday the 13th was made in the wake of the John Carpenters incredible Halloween. Originally planned as a low-budget ripoff, the franchise grew arms and legs after the first films surprising success.
Whilst the original film has aged in a lot of areas, its campy charm makes it an easy watch if your looking for some cheap scares. However, the series didn’t gain the household infamy it has until the many, many sequels release in the years following. Hell, Jason doesn’t even don the hockey mask until the third film.
With each sequel, the franchise attempted to chase the latest craze in horror, most infamously with Friday the 13th part 3 which was a horrifically bad 3-D film. But, some of the sequels stand out as must watches. Probably the best of the bunch being Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, the fourth film in the franchise.
It’s got some of the most iconic moments from the entire franchise, and a surprisingly great performance by a young Corey Feldman as series hero and leading man of three film, Tommy Jarvis.
The “Tommy Jarvis” trilogy which spans The Final Chapter to Jason Lives features arguably the best films from the franchise, that includes the admittedly terrible A New Beginning. But after the sixth entry, there’s very little reason to stick with the series as the rest of the films are pretty terrible.
Terrible sequels and the never ending court case
Friday’s part 7 through Jason X(the tenth film) are some of the worst horror films of their respective decades, abandoning what made the series so good.
After the fantastically stupid Freddy vs Jason that saw the two horror icons clash for the first time, the series was rebooted in 2009, with more modern take on Jason. Instead of the the slow, lumbering, partially mystical killer fans had come to love, remake Jason was a more grounded take, transforming him into a tactile hunter that stalked his victims.
It was an exciting change that left many fans at the time baffled, but in the years since its release, the remake has garnered a cult following, with many heralding it as one of the better horror remakes of the 2000s.
However, the series has remained dormant since the remake because of the lengthy legal case involving the ownership of the title Friday the 13th, as well as the right to use the iconic hockey mask. With the case only wrapping up a couple of years ago.
The legal battle not only killed any chance of a new film coming out during that time period, but it also destroyed the only Friday the 13th related product that had many fans excited, that being Friday the 13th: The Game. An Asymmetric multi-player horror game that allowed one player to play as Jason himself whilst everyone else played as camp Councillors, looking to either kill Jason or escape camp Crystal lake.
Since the game shut down, their has been no news on a potential follow up or future films, until earlier this year.
Deceased no longer
After three years of silence following the court case being settled, a new series titled Crystal Lake is being worked on by A24, set to release in the next couple of years, but perhaps more exciting is the news of the Jason Universe.
The Jason Universe is a new plan for the iconic horror franchise, opening the titular character to new opportunities in all facets of media. After the announcement of the new universe, Jason was almost immediately put into Warner Brothers’ fighting game Multiversus.
It’s an exciting time to be a Friday the 13th fan, but if your new to the series, stick to the first few film and Freddy vs Jason, it’s not worth it to watch the later films.
Featured image credit: New Line Cinema
Fourth year Film and Journalism student
Deputy editor
Contact - deputyeditor@brignews.com
