How to Watch the “Friday the 13th” Movies in Order

Halloween season is here and it's time for a Friday the 13th movie marathon

Premiering in 1980, Friday the 13th was initially intended to be a cheap, easy-to-make copy of Halloween to cash in on the massive boom in slasher movies. But instead of being just a quick way to make a buck, Friday the 13th became one of the longest-running horror franchises ever.

That said, there hasn't been a new Friday the 13th movie since 2009 because of a legal battle between the original movie’s screenwriter and director. Currently, the courts have ruled that one party has the rights to the franchise while the other has the rights to the character Jason and his iconic hockey mask, so trying to create another rendition would be difficult.

Luckily, Peacock will be breathing new life into Friday the 13th when it releases the prequel series Crystal Lake sometime in 2024, according to actress Adrienne King. As a prelude, it won't involve Jason, causing fans to wonder what exactly the show will look like.

In anticipation of the upcoming series and the Halloween season, here’s how to watch all of the Friday the 13th movies in release date and chronological order. Warning: spoilers ahead!

Friday the 13th Movies in Release Date Order

• Friday the 13th (1980)

• Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981)

• Friday the 13th: Part III (1982)

• Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

• Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

• Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

• Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

• Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

• Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

• Jason X (2002)

• Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

• Friday the 13th (2009)

Friday the 13th Movies in Chronological Order

Friday the 13th (1980)

The film that started it all is also the first chronologically. In Friday the 13th, viewers don’t see much of Jason until the very end. As the legend goes, he was a bullied kid at summer camp who drowned in 1957 after being neglected by the counselors who were off having sex. In the present day (1979), Camp Crystal Lake is about to reopen, but when the new counselors arrive, they’re murdered — by Jason’s mother.

At the end of the movie, a young Jason pops out of the water during a dream sequence, grabbing the sole survivor and dragging her underwater ... alluding that there’s more horror to come.

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Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981)

The following year, a sequel was released with Jason wearing a burlap sack instead of his iconic mask. In Friday the 13th: Part 2, Alice, the survivor from the first film, returns and attends a camp counselor training school that happens to be built right near the abandoned Camp Crystal Lake. Now an adult, Jason is out for revenge after his mother’s death and kills the counselors.

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Friday the 13th: Part III (1982)

Taking place soon after the events of Part 2, the beginning of Friday the 13th: Part III reveals that Jason has survived and is continuing his murder spree. Meanwhile, Chris, a traumatized girl who was assaulted years ago, decides to visit her old family homestead near Crystal Lake to confront her past.

Upon arriving, it becomes clear that the man who assaulted her was Jason, and he still stalks the woods around the lake. This is also the first movie where he sports his now-iconic hockey mask. After its initial theatrical run, Part III was released as a 3D movie.

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Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter explores the idea that Jason isn’t mortal and has some supernatural power. Taking place the day after Part III, police take Jason’s corpse to the morgue, where his body suddenly reanimates and his killing spree resumes. Meanwhile, a group of teens are taking a weekend trip to a cabin on Crystal Lake, and all hell breaks loose when Jason arrives.

This was supposed to be the potential conclusion of the franchise since the slasher genre hit a lull in the mid-80s. But The Final Chapter became a financial success, and later that year A Nightmare on Elm Street premiered, reinvigorating the slasher genre and prompting both franchises to release more sequels.

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Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

Despite being released the following year, A New Beginning is set years after The Final Chapter. Tommy, who was only 12 years old in the previous film, is now in his late teens and lives in a halfway house after suffering a mental breakdown. Before long, people start dying one by one.

The big twist in A New Beginning is that Jason isn’t actually in the film, and the murders were all committed by a copycat killer. In the end, Tommy dons the infamous hockey mask, alluding that he would be the killer moving forward.

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Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

After A New Beginning’s noble attempt at a fresh story, fans still wanted Jason, and as the title implies, Part VI brings the killer back from the dead again. Tommy also returns (portrayed by a new actor), but the film bypasses his descent into madness in the previous movie and makes him the protagonist.

He goes to a cemetery near Crystal Lake to destroy Jason’s body once and for all, but a conveniently timed lightning bolt strikes the original serial killer, resurrecting him and starting the carnage again. In the finale, Tommy manages to wrap a chain around Jason, sinking him to the bottom of Crystal Lake and just before the credits roll, his eyes move showing he’s not dead yet.

Watch Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives on Max

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

The New Blood introduces viewers to a new protagonist: Tina Shepard, a young girl with telekinetic powers. At the start of the film, she accidentally kills her abusive father in Crystal Lake using her untrained powers. Years later as a teenager, Tina returns to the location to try and resurrect him — but she ends up bringing Jason back to life.

This time around, Jason isn’t the only character with superhuman powers and he’s forced to battle it out with Tina, whose telekinesis grows stronger with each scene. Part VII was also the first time fan-favorite Kane Hodder portrayed Jason, a role he would reprise four more times.

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Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Set after the events of Part VII, two teens mistakenly revive Jason from his watery grave, and he boards a cruise ship that’s headed to New York City. Unsurprisingly, the titular character starts picking off passengers during the voyage.

Despite the subtitle Jason Takes Manhattan, very little of the movie is set in the Big Apple, with only the final act taking place in the city. Critics and audiences felt cheated by the title and grew bored with the repetitive and monotonous film. Part VIII only earned $14.3 million at the box office, making it the lowest-grossing Friday the 13th movie of all time.

Watch Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan on Max

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

After a brief hiatus, Jason returned (sort of) in The Final Friday. This time around, the movie tried to create lore and mythology by explaining that Jason was a supernatural entity that could possess anyone and turn them evil.

Although the concept was out of the box, the film’s ending played an important part in Jason's rebirth. After he's sent back to hell, his hockey mask is seen sitting on the sand. Suddenly, Freddy Krueger’s hand reaches up, grabs the mask and drags it underground.

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Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

A decade after The Final Friday, Jason is raised from the dead by Freddy Krueger, who disguises himself as Jason’s mom to manipulate him into killing the children of Elm Street. Freddy can only terrorize people in their dreams, and after 20 years of peace, the residents have forgotten about him.

To gain enough energy to hijack people’s dreams, Freddy needs Jason to create some chaos, hoping that it makes everyone think he’s returned. But once Jason gets going, he becomes uncontrollable, and Freddy realizes he’ll need to put a stop to it himself. Freddy vs. Jason is the highest-grossing Jason movie ever, raking in over $116 million.

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Friday the 13th (2009)

Part reboot and part sequel, 2009’s Friday the 13th retcons the previous films and shows a world where Jason didn’t die. Instead, he witnessed his mother’s murder in the original film, turning him into a maniacal killer hellbent on revenge.

Thirty years later, a group of teens arrive at a summer cabin on the shores of Crystal Lake only to discover that Jason is out for blood. Starring Jared Padalecki, the movie became a hit, bringing in $91.5 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing Friday the 13th film ever and the second-highest-grossing Jason movie.

Watch Friday the 13th (2009) on Max

Jason X (2002)

Set 450 years in the future, Jason’s frozen body is transported to space to be researched by the government. Naturally, everything goes wrong, and he lives again, running around the spaceship and killing everyone in sight — but it gets even wilder.

Complete with androids, holograms and even “Cyber-Jason,” it’s a fantastically awful movie that is pure camp. Jason X ends with his body being burnt to a crisp while entering the orbit of Earth II, a new utopian planet humans have inhabited, alluding that, even in the future, Jason will still be stalking teens in the woods.

Rent Jason X on Amazon Prime

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