Ranking every Friday the 13th film from worst to best

3. Friday the 13th: Part III (1982)

Directed by Steve Miner

The original four films of the Friday the 13th series could easily be considered a quadrilogy on their own. They each follow-up on each other with Jason continuing his rampage after the death of his mother. The first film offered Pam as the villain, the second one had Jason replace her, but the third is what solidified Jason as a brewing horror icon.

By Part III, the series was finally starting to find its groove and knew what stuck and what didn’t. If the series was to keep going, Jason couldn’t just keeping killing teenagers with no extra appeal beyond that. So when the concept of 3D was introduced as a potential concept, the sequel just had to jump on it.

Back then, 3D was only afforded to films that justified a 3D release, such as major blockbusters. So seeing the second sequel to an indie horror film get the 3D treatment was jarring, but nonetheless important for the horror genre. Some artistic integrity was sacrificed to make this happen, what with actors being forced to perform actions that would translate well for the 3D cameras, but the end result was a film that fully played to its audience while finding its stride as a horror franchise.

We also can’t talk about this film without mentioning the birth of the hockey mask, which would come to define Jason both physically and in popular culture. Quite fitting too, since the mask came from one of his many victims and demonstrating just how indifferent he was to their suffering. That malice is shown here with creative and 3D-friendly kills, a menace that hasn’t been replicated as often as with other Jason actors, and a fun personality to boot. I

n many ways, I would consider this to be the best pure Friday the 13th film. No gimmicks beyond the 3D nature and no supernatural offerings; just a guy in a hockey mask slicing and dicing his way through a camp. Simple, but effective.