By James A. on July 13th, 2007
On the unluckiest day of the year, Blogzarro celebrates the killer who made us love Friday the 13th.
But what the hell did the date Friday the 13th have to do with the Jason Voorhees slasher series? It wasn’t played up much, but the date was significant because Jason was born on Friday the 13th (June 13, 1946, to be exact). Unfortunately, little Jason died — for the first time — and the date became even unluckier as his mom returned to Crystal Lake on his birthday for a little revenge. And that’s the beginning and end of the significance of the date in the series. But who really cares what Friday the 13th has to do with the franchise? Everyone just wants to see bloodshed. And Friday the 13th, it turns out, was indeed unlucky for anyone crossing Jason’s path.
Come with me now on a journey through the life and times of everyone’s favorite hockey-masked-wearing killer…
| Friday the 13th (1980)
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Notable for featuring 21-year-old Kevin Bacon. The Six Degrees actor was separated from his vocal cords when — no, not Jason — Mrs. Voorhees drove an arrow through his neck. Mrs. V, of course, was seeking revenge for the drowning of her son. The movie cost $700,000 to make and earned $40 million. So, yeah, there were gonna be sequels.
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| Friday the 13th II (1981)
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So, yeah, they made a sequel. Mommy Voorhees is dead and it turns out Jason didn’t drown in that lake after all. (So why was Mrs. Voorhees on a killing spree again?) We’re introduced to the adult Jason, who wears a pillow case over his head. The movie features the first — but certainly not the last — time somebody impersonates Jason’s mom to escape death.
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| Friday the 13th III (1982)
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This movie is significant for two reasons. 1) It was in 3-D (oh my god, duck, that yo-yo’s gonna poke my eye out!). 2) Jason finds his trademark hockey mask. At the time it was the highest grossing sequel in history at $37 millon. So, obviously, the filmmakers would want to end the series. Let’s see how that turns out…
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| Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
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Final chapter, huh? Not letting death stop him, Jason rises from the dead, returns to Crystal Lake, and encounters a nemesis so deadly, so ingenious his name can only be…Corey Feldman. Feldman, who played Tommy, outwits the killer by shaving his head and pretending to be Jason Junior. Then the 12-year-old hacks him to death. No wonder Corey went into rehab.
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| Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
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Corey Feldman reprised his role from the previous movie, but because he was busy filming “The Goonies,” he was limited to a cameo. Tommy is now in a halfway house where a psycho killer is on the loose. After a few teases that it’s Jason returned from the gave, it’s revealed that the killer is actually a guy named Roy who dressed up like Jason. Major waste of time!
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| Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives (1986)
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Tommy sticks around for a third movie (now played by Thom Mathews). Tommy is still plagued by Jason. So, even though the killer is dead, he decides to dig him up and destroy the body. A bolt of lightning revives Jason — and here we go again. Tommy ends the nightmare by chaining Jason to the bottom of Crystal Lake. Body count: 18
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| Friday the 13th VII: The New Blood (1988)
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This was to be the movie that pit Jason against Freddy. But when Paramount and New Line couldn’t work out the deal, Jason went up against Tina Shepard, a telekinetic teen. It would take Jason 15 years to meet Freddy. This movie marks Kane Hodder’s first appearance as Jason. Body count: 16.
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| Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
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It took him 43 years, but Jason finally took a vacation from Crystal Lake. And like the Muppets before him he took Manhattan. Unlike the Muppets, he killed everyone in sight. Jason is resurrected, boards a boat heading for the Big Apple, kills everyone onboard, then pursues the survivors into the sewers. He’s undone when the sewers are washed out with nuclear waste.
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| Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
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Jason’s next trip is to hell. Well, not really. But it is the final Friday, right? Wrong. Turns out Jason can be destroyed only by another Voorhees. Luckily, there’s one left, after Jessica Kimble discovers her mother was Jason’s unknown sister. In the end Freddy Krueger’s hand reaches up and pulls Jason into hell. It’ll be 10 more years before the real showdown.
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| Jason X (2002)
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Now things get really stupid! This was the longest time between “Friday the 13th” movies. A whole nine years without Jason in theaters and this is what they came up with — Jason in Space! In the year 2455 Jason is revived from cryonic suspension and he yet again kills a bunch of young, sexy dopes. Body count: 28
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| Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)
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Finally! After years in development hell, Freddy Krueger got to battle Jason. But Freddy’s stuck in real hell. He conjures up Jason and tricks him into killing the kids on Elm Street, so they’ll remember Freddy. When Freddy returns to Elm Street he tries to stop Jason and a battle to end all battles ensues. Dracula and the Frankenstein monster roll over in their graves.
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July 13th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Friday the 13th (1980) - Jason looks like C3P0 in The Phantom Menace - oh dear!
July 13th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Kevin Bacon wasn’t in Six Degrees of Separation. He is the subject of a game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”
July 13th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
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July 13th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Freddy accepted the dream demons offer to live for all eternity. Jason did not. Freddy > Jason
July 14th, 2007 at 1:20 am
Heh. I also blogged about Jason Voorhees today, in my “Reid Watches It So You Don’t Have To:
The Friday The 13th Franchise” article.
http://www.reidaboutit.com/index.htm
July 14th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
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July 16th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
I actually “LOVED” Freddy vs. Jason!
I make my husband watch it all the time with me!
I love both those guys,well I actually like Freddy a little bit more, you should do a time line on Freddy next time!
October 8th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
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