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Fansided

Ranking every Friday the 13th film from worst to best

By Wesley Lara

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 09: Actor Derek Mears arrives at the premiere of Warner Bros.' "Friday the 13th" at the Chinese Theater on February 9, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 09: Actor Derek Mears arrives at the premiere of Warner Bros.' "Friday the 13th" at the Chinese Theater on February 9, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) /
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12. Jason X (2002)

Directed by Jim Isaac

Look, I LOVE this movie. I never get tired of seeing a bunch of horny astronauts (adjust yourselves to reading “horny” in these slides) battle a futuristic version of Jason Voorhees and to the film’s credit, there are some decent ideas in the film. Making the film a full-fledged comedy has aged the film much better than a serious tone would’ve done and it is home to one of Jason’s most creative kills with the infamous face freeze. Both creative and fitting for this movie’s tone and setting, but one great kill doesn’t make a whole movie.

Jason X is the most overtly comedic film in the Friday the 13th  series, yet it feels like the most humorless with its ultimately tepid and inconsistent personality. At this point in 2002, the self-aware horror-comedy craze was in full effect, so the characters here exert that Scream like personality, but without a sense of what it truly wants. It seems like it wants to be a comedy, but its moments of attempted horror and melodrama don’t mesh quite as well with the comedic tone of the script.

Also, this was the strongest case of the series jumping the shark with no clear idea of what it wanted to do next. Bringing Jason back to life was already risky, but bringing him to space was just a gigantic failure for its own refusal to actively change the Jason formula that was still very present in this film. It’s such a failure that it’s even joined the jumping the shark phrase as a symbol of a series officially outstaying their welcome and/or completely removing themselves from reality, a la Fast and Furious.

Jason X may have been a failure, but it’s still a winner in my trashy heart.