In the wake of the successful Halloween (1978), a glut of similarly intentioned films - collectively known as "slasher" or "stalk and slash" movies - flooded the market. The most successful of these slashers was Sean S. Cunningham's mechanical but undeniably effective Friday the 13th (1980) which took many of the conventions created by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and refined by Halloween and remixed them into a movie that spawned a seemingly endless franchise. From Chain Saw, it took the rural setting (the summer camp milieu would turn up again in The Burning (1980) and the Sleepaway Camp series) and the 'Final Girl' motif, while it cribbed the prowling camerawork and teen victims from Carpenter's film.

It also borrowed extensively from Mario Bava's Ecologia del delitto (1971), some of the sequels moreso: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) even cheekily restages the set-piece wherein a love-making couple are skewered together by the killer. As the series progressed it became even less original and inventive, content to simply cannibalise itself by restaging its various set-piece murder scenes ad infinitum. Of all of the slasher franchises, Friday the 13th certainly has the highest body count which goes some way to explaining the series' continuing popularity and impressive longevity. By our reckoning, up to and including Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason, members of his family or various Vorhees wannabes have accounted for an astonishing 140+ onscreen killings - and that doesn't account for the various accidental deaths and assassinations of Jason himself!

Jason Vorhees, clearly the screen busiest psychopath, has become an enduring horror icon, though strangely the image that has endured the strongest came relatively late to the series - the first film featured Jason only in a brief "is-it-a-dream-or-isn't-it" ending (his mother was responsible for the killings) while the trademark hockey mask didn't appear until Part III. This makes the Friday the 13th series unique in that it's killer is largely absent from three films (aside from the aforementioned cameo in Friday the 13th, Jason only appears in dreams in A New Beginning (1985) and is blown up at the start of Jason Goes to Hell, though his murderous spirit survives and posses others to do his dirty work for him) and is without his trademark appearance for one other.

By 1993, the series had more or less played itself out, yet that didn't stop New Line Cinema from buying the franchise from Paramount, sparking the still-held hope among fans that Jason would be pitted against New Line's other money-spinning mass murderer, Freddy Kreuger. That didn't quite happen, though there's a nice hint that it may at the climax of the unexpectedly rather good Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, New Line's first Jason film.

The franchise remained dormant until the futuristic mess that was Jason X (2001). It wasn't terribly good, though it did prove that there was still a market out there for old school slasher anti-heroes and it paved the way for the much better and eagerly anticipated Freddy vs Jason two years later.

Although most of the Friday the 13th films are really quite poor, the series helped to define the 80s strain of slasher movie perhaps even more than Halloween and enjoys a devoted cult-following even to this day. It's outlived most of its rival franchises and has certainly been more active than most of the horror franchises - Texas Chain Saw only managed 4 entries (and a dismal remake), Halloween so far numbers 8 (with one more about to go into production (September 2004)) and Nightmare on Elm Street, 8 (one of which it shared with Friday the 13th) - only the excerable Witchcraft series has managed to equal Friday the 13th, with 11 to date.

The 1987 - 1990 TV show Friday the 13th: The Series has nothing whatsoever to do with the Jason Vorhees saga.

FILMOGRAPHY

FILM

1980
Friday the 13th
Divendres 13 - Catalan Spanish title
Fredag den 13. - Danish title
Fredagen den 13:e - Swedish title
Freitag, der 13. - West German title
A Long Night at Camp Blood - working title
Martes 13 - Argentinean title
Péntek 13 - Hungarian title
Perjantai 13. päivä - Finnish title
Piatek 13 - Polish title
Sexta-Feira 13 - Brazilian title
Vendredi 13 - French title
Venerdì 13 - Italian title
Viernes 13 - Spanish title
Yom Shisi Ha-Shlosh-Esre - Hebrew Israeli title

1981
Friday the 13th Part 2
L'assassino ti siede accanto - Italian title
Fredagen den 13:e del 2 - Swedish title
Freitag, der 13. Teil 2 - West German title
Friday the 13th Part II - advertising title
Martes 13: Parte 2 - Argentinean title
Øksemorderen - Danish title
Piatek 13 czesc 2 - Polish title
Sexta-Feira 13 - Parte 2 - Brazilian title
Le tueur du vendredi - French title
Vendredi 13: Le tueur du vendredi - French television title
Viernes 13, 2ª parte - Spanish title

1982
Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D
Fredagen den 13:e del 3 - Swedish title
Friday the 13th Part 3 - video title
Friday the 13th Part III
Martes 13: Parte 3 - Argentinean title
Meurtres en 3 dimensions - French title
Piatek 13 czesc 3 - Polish title
Und wieder ist Freitag, der 13. - West German title
Vendredi 13, 3e partie - French title
Viernes 13, 3ª parte - Spanish title
Week end di terrore - Italian title

1984
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Fredagen den 13:e del 4 - Swedish title
Freitag, der 13. Teil 4 - Das letzte Kapitel - West German title
Friday the 13th Part 4
Martes 13: Capítulo final - Argentinean title
Piatek 13: Ostatni rozdzial - Polish title
Sexta-Feira 13: O Capítulo Final - Portugese title
Vendredi 13: Chapitre final - French title
Venerdì 13: capitolo finale - Italian title
Viernes 13: capítulo final - Spanish title

1985
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Fredagen den 13:e del 5 - Swedish title
Freitag, der 13. Teil 5 - Ein neuer Anfang - West German title
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning
Martes 13: Parte 5 - Argentinean title
Piatek 13 czesc V: Nowy poczatek - Polish title
Vendredi 13, chapitre 5: Une nouvelle terreur - French title
Venerdì 13: il terrore continua - Italian title
Viernes 13, parte V - Spanish title

1986
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives!
Fredagen den 13:e del 6 - Swedish title
Freitag, der 13. Teil 6 - Jason lebt - West German title
Jason le mort-vivant - French title
Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI
Martes 13: Parte 6 - Argentinean title
Piatek 13 czesc VI: Jason zyje - Polish title
Vendredi 13: Jason le mort-vivant - French title
Venerdì 13: Jason vive - Italian title
Viernes 13 VI: Jason vive - Spanish title

1988
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
Fredagen den 13:e del 7 - Swedish title
Freitag, der 13. Teil 7 - Jason im Blutrausch - West German title
Martes 13: Parte 7 - Argentinean title
Piatek 13 czesc VII: Nowa krew - Polish title
Sexta-Feira 13 Parte 7 - A Matança Continua - Brazilian title
Sexta-Feira 13 Parte VII - Sangue Novo - Portugese title
Vendredi 13, chapitre 7: Un nouveau défi - French title
Venerdì 13: il sangue scorre di nuovo - Italian title
Viernes 13 VII: Sangre nueva - Spanish title

1989
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Fredagen den 13:e del 8 - Swedish title
Freitag, der 13. Teil 8 - Todesfalle Manhattan - West German title
Martes 13: Parte 8 - Argentinean title
Piatek 13 czesc VIII: Jason zdobywa Manhattan - Polish title
Sexta-Feira 13 Parte 8 - Jason Ataca Nova York - Brazilian title
Sexta-Feira 13 Parte VIII - Terror em Manhattan - Portugese title
Vendredi 13, l'ultime retour - French title
Venerdì 13: incubo a Manhattan - Italian title
Viernes 13 VIII: Jason toma Manhattan - Spanish title

1993
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Fredagen den 13:e, del 9 - Swedish title
Friday the 13th IX
Friday the 13th Part 9 - working title
Friday the 13th Part IX: The Dark Heart of Jason Voorhees - early title
Jason goes to hell - Die Endabrechnung - German title
Jason va all'inferno - Italian title
Jason va en enfer - French title
El último martes 13: La muerte de Jason - Argentinean title
Vendredi 13: Jason en enfer - French title
Viernes 13 IX: El viernes final - Spanish title

2001
Jason X
Friday the 13th Part 10 - working title
Jason 2000 - working title
Jason 2000: Friday the 13th Part X - working title
Jason X: Friday the 13th Part 10 - working title

2003
Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy contra Jason - Spanish title
Freddy contre Jason - French title
Friday the 13th Part 11 - working title
A Nightmare On Elm Street 8 - working title
A Nightmare On Friday the 13th - working title

Return to Crystal Lake: Making Friday the 13th

COMPUTER GAMES

1989
Friday the 13th