Summary
- Jason Goes To Hell introduces a demonic slug Jason who can possess others, setting up a shared universe.
- Part 3 establishes the iconic look of Jason with a bald head and hockey mask, making him a calculated killer.
- Jason Lives turns Jason into an immortal zombie, leading to more outlandish kills and a menacing presence.
The Friday the 13th franchise has experienced many ups and downs, with varying directors and writers taking on the iconic killer: Jason Voorhees. As a result, Jason Voorhees himself has seen numerous revisions, with every movie doing something different for him, from his kills to his looks to even the way the actors play him.
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Fans of Friday The 13th have enjoyed Jason for various qualities, but in the end, the slasher villain is intended to incite fear in the viewer. With so many variations of Jason since Friday The 13th first started in 1980, some have gone down as iconic for how scary they are, thus enhancing the films they were featured in.
10 Hell Jason
The Strangest Version Of Jason To Date
- Movie: Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
- Release Date: August 13, 1993
- Actors: Kane Hodder, Richard Grant, Steven Culp
Although Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday takes Friday The 13th in a weird direction that feels more akin to Hellraiser, the concept of Jason being this dark demonic slug that can transfer from host to host is creepy. There is even an attempt to explain that Jason was brought back to life by the Deadites from Sam Raimi's famous Evil Dead movies, setting up a shared universe.
Jason's real form is completely deformed now with the mask embedded into his skin and the attempt to turn random people into avatars of Jason after his body is destroyed is unique. It also helps that Jason Goes To Hell features some of the most over-the-top gory kills in the whole series, which often makes up for the movie's shortcomings.
9 Part 2 Jason
The Original Jason Was A Clumsy Killer
- Movie: Friday The 13th Part 2
- Release Date: May 1, 1981
- Actor: Warrington Gillette
Oddly enough, despite Jason Voorhees being the poster child of the iconic slasher franchise, he did not have the greatest debut as the killer. In Friday The 13th Part 2, Jason, played by Warrington Gillette, is a clumsy killer who constantly trips, stumbles, and falls in his attempt to kill all the counselors, particularly the film's final girl: Ginny.
Jason also did not debut with his favorite hockey mask, but instead wore a bag mask that only had one eye which doesn't come off as that imposing in certain scenes. However, the killings Jason executes and the times he can be seen stalking in the background are memorable. However, Jason would get a total redesign, since even the creators felt the bag head version was lacking.
8 Part 7 Jason
Kane Hodder Breathed New Undead Life Into The Series
- Movie: Friday The 13th Part 7: The New Blood
- Release Date: May 13, 1988
- Actor: Kane Hodder
This was the first time Jason Voorhees was played by Kane Hodder, the only actor to play Jason in multiple movies. Friday The 13th Part 7: The New Blood featured Jason with his most zombie-like design yet, with bones and rotting flesh exposed that added to Hodder's physicality, as he did all the stunt work and made Jason a more intense villain.
In The New Blood, Jason is an intense figure who just takes damage and keeps going, breaking through doors, and throwing people around with ease. Sadly, this version of Jason was a victim of the MPAA being overbearing, with his brutal kills being heavily reduced in the editing room.
7 Part 5 Jason
The Mystery Copycat Left Fans Divided On The Fifth Film
- Movie: Friday The 13th Part 5: The New Beginning
- Release Date: March 22, 1985
- Actor: Dick Wieand
Arguably the most divisive version of Jason because there was no Jason in Friday The 13th Part 5: The New Beginning. Instead, Tommy Jarvis and the other characters are being stalked by a copycat who wears a blue-chevron-adorned mask to commit murders, adding a whodunit murder mystery aspect that leaves the audience guessing who is continuing Jason's work.
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The fake Jason in The New Beginning was a more methodical killer who stalked from the shadows and waited for the right moment to strike. What tends to make or break the fifth entry is the reveal of the paramedic Roy being the man behind the mask, with some fans considering it a weak twist because he was barely in the story and his reasoning for dressing as Jason is never explained.
6 Part 1 Jason
The Nightmare Jumpscare That Traumatized Moviegoers
- Movie: Friday The 13th
- Release Date: May 9, 1980
- Actor: Ari Lehman
When Friday The 13th came out in 1980, Jason Voorhees was not the killer, but the catalyst for his mother Pamela to go on a killing spree at Camp Crystal Lake. Jason was presumed to have drowned in the lake, leading to Pamela's descent into madness and pursuit of revenge for her child.
However, Jason made his first on-screen appearance at the very end, even if it was only a dream sequence. After Alice kills Pamela and escapes on the lake, audiences were given an unexpected scare of the deformed corpse of Jason emerging from the water to pull her into the water. That one scene was enough to terrify audiences and set up the potential of Jason being a killer.
5 Crossover Jason
Fans Loved When Jason Finally Met Freddy
- Movie: Freddy Vs. Jason
- Release Date: August 13, 2003
- Actor: Ken Kirzinger
Both Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street were kings of the slasher genre back in the 80s and 90s, so Freddy Vs. Jason was in development for years. Finally, the hockey-masked killer met the Springwood Slasher in 2003, resulting in a story that was more about the spectacle of seeing two icons battle, but it's not without its scares.
While many fans wanted Kane Hodder to return, Ken Kirzinger took over and his take was much more of a towering behemoth. He was slower-paced, but he was given plenty of iconic kills, from using a bed to fold a person to killing Freddy Krueger with his own claw arm. Ken's version was a nice balance of doing the character justice while still putting on his unique stamp.
4 Part 3 Jason
Jason Finally Found His Hockey Mask And For The Better
- Movie: Friday The 13th Part 3
- Release Date: August 13, 1982
- Actor: Richard Brooker
The third entry of the Friday The 13th franchise established the visual template of Jason Voorhees that most fans think of. No longer was he a clumsy, long-haired feral. Instead, Jason was depicted by Richard Brooker as a cold hunter with a bald head, giving him a hulking look that inspired other horror games and movies, and it was the first time he wore his signature hockey mask.
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Brooker's version of Jason in Friday The 13th Part 3 is also more efficient. Gone was his clumsiness and now Jason Voorhees was killing counselors and other victims left and right with expertise. He is fierce, intense, and fast in his kills, as it is one of the few movies to show Jason Voorhees running. The sight of the unmasked Jason charging at Chris left an impact on viewers.
3 Part 6 Jason
Turning Jason Into A Zombie Changed The Franchise Forever
- Movie: Friday The 13th Part 6: Jason Lives
- Release Date: August 1, 1986
- Actor: C.J. Graham
C.J. Graham took on the role when the choice was made to resurrect Jason Voorhees from the dead in Friday The 13th Part 6: Jason Lives. The fifth movie tried to do something different, so they needed to draw fans back with a proper Jason return and the result was a zombie slasher villain who cannot be killed.
Embracing the campier side of horror with a bit of gothic horror inspired by classic Universal monsters, Jason Lives turned the titular villain into an unstoppable force. This led to more outlandish kills while maintaining him as a menacing presence, especially now that he was immortal.
2 Part 4 Jason
Perfected The Formula For The Intended Finale
- Movie: Friday The 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter
- Release Date: April 13, 1984
- Actor: Ted White
In Friday The 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter, one of the more loved horror sequels, Ted White took over from Richard Brooker as the last time Jason was depicted as a deranged human killer. Given that it was intended to be the series' finale, the filmmakers went all out to make Jason into a killing machine, continuing to make him more ruthless than ever.
Throwing people from top-story windows, mutilating others, crashing through doors, and even attacking children, The Final Chapter made Jason scarier than ever. Had it been the true final movie, it would have been quite the movie for Jason to go out on with small tweaks to his design and wielding his famous machete to create what most fans think of when they think of Jason Voorhees.
1 Reboot Jason
Going Back To Basics Made Jason Scarier Than Ever
- Movie: Friday The 13th
- Release Date: February 13, 2009
- Actor: Derek Mears
Jason Voorhees was rebooted in the late 2000s when many slasher movies were being rebooted. Friday The 13th was considered one of the better attempts and a large part of that had to do with Jason himself, played by Derek Mears, who was brought back to the style of Part 4 but updated to be far more aggressive and able to sprint after his victims.
The entire movie takes elements of the first three appearances of Jason Voorhees and fuses them, from finding his hockey mask to being an effective hunter who can turn anything into a weapon. However, they do add new things like Jason having underground tunnels to explain how he appears everywhere and a bit more development to show that he's not just a mindless killer.