In 1980 when Friday the 13th was released I'm sure many of us didn't expect to get caught off guard by Jason Voorhees, a boy who was supposed to be dead. He pops out of the lake, startling poor Alice, before dragging her down to the bottom of the lake with him. Turns out it was only a nightmare of hers, but it gave us all a glimpse of what this character had in store when it comes to any potential sequels that came after.
And sequels there were.
When part 2 came out Jason was a full grown man. . .yeah I know. Fives years after the demise of his "dear, sweet" mother he sought revenge against the woman responsible and boy did he ever! What was interesting about Steve Daskawisz's portrayal of him was simply seeing him in action for the first time. Mostly unseen except below the knees, Jason already had the ability to scare you with the unknown, the uncertainty of everything he was capable of. There wasn't much on Daskawisz's part as far as that goes, but it was still enough to have you on the edge of your seat.
Jason running after his victim in the climax of the movie wasn't one of my favorite aspects of that particular Jason portrayal, especially compared to the others, but it was good enough for that movie at the time. It showed that even though he was now back at Camp Crystal Lake to claim it, he's still an ordinary human being who can be dealt with. Meaning, a killer who is powerful, intimidating, and supernatural is not going to feel the need to run after you. He'll find you one way or the other. And that this point, that wasn't the case with dear old Jason.
I'm sure it was more than obvious how Jason's, ahem, wardrobe changed (because he stopped at the store of his first victims of the second sequel, Harold and his nagging wife, to recover and steal clothes) but it wasn't the only change that made Jason iconic and completely unforgettable. One thing Friday the 13th part 3 was known for was the introduction of Jason's 1950's style hockey mask.
That's when the game changed forever. Camping would never be the same.
Richard Brooker was the actor who portrayed Jason this time around, completely changing how we all saw this iconic slasher killer compared to the previous movie. Everything he did was purposeful. He had a mission: kill all those who stepped foot on his territory. And you KNEW he meant business. Sure, that's pretty much how it was in the first sequel, but in this one, you were certain he vowed to kill all those who stepped foot on Crystal Lake entirely, not just Camp Crystal Lake. I truly enjoyed Brooker's portrayal of Jason. Despite how early it was in the franchise, you started seeing how difficult it was to bring Jason down. It made you wonder "what will it take, now?" And it made you want to see more.
The Final Chapter was not so final, but none of us knew that at the time. Here is where it gets even more interesting because of the iconic climax where Tommy went HAM on Jason, killing him with no mercy, mentally breaking down all at the same time. If you don't know what HAM means, it's an acronym for "hard as a motherfucker". Anyway, Ted White is the actor who portrayed Jason in this one. And in my opinion it wasn't that distinctive from Richard Brooker's portrayal of him in part 3. But it was still well done.
The one thing that was distinctive was Jason running after the character, Trish, during the climax of the film, reminding you of the only other time he ran after the final girl, Ginny, in part 2. So it was sort of like a combination of both Jasons seen in the first and second sequels. I'm not sure if that's what the actor had in mind, but it made it fun to see. Still a mere mortal, albeit too stubborn to die, Jason seemed to be turning into more a generic slasher killer that had the same motive in each and every film of the franchise. Perhaps that was one of the reasons the film was meant to be the final one? Who knows? But with a mediocre plot, not counting the memorable character, Tommy Jarvis, it seemed like Friday the 13th had run its course.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. Here is where the film took a turn and became more of a psychological horror because of the way the character, Tommy Jarvis, was portrayed. Definitely not my favorite portrayal of Tommy, but overall I love how this film helped to re-jumpstart the franchise with a bang. And although the "copy cat" Jason Voorhees meant the real Jason Voorhees wouldn't be making an appearance (except in a few scenes in Tommy's many hallucinations), and although the setting of the killings wasn't at Camp Crystal Lake, I thought using the persona of Jason made it interesting. The kills were exciting, some of the characters were hilarious, and it showed that anyone could be "Jason" given enough motivation and provocation.
I'm glad the franchise didn't continue by allowing Tommy to become the villain. Let's face it, that would have been a very stupid idea. The copy cat killing was good enough. Tom Morga is the one who donned the famous hockey mask and started a killing spree after his son was brutally murdered in a halfway house that acts as the main setting of the film. With graphic killings that more than rivaled Jason's very own, I thought the actor portrayal and the sequel was brilliantly done.
Jason Lives is where the entire tone of the franchise changed considerably, and is the main reason this is one of the most successful movies of the franchise. Jason is now completely supernatural, having been accidentally resurrected by a makeshift lightning rod. You knew shit just got real. How do you kill a man who's no longer a man? Here is where it was time to use his one weakness against him: water.
CJ Graham and Dan Bradley were the ones to portray the more evolved infamous killer this time around, giving you an entirely different Jason than what we were used to seeing. He was considerably faster, stronger, and fearless. All the makings of a badass slasher king and I loved every minute of it.
I'm not sure where the filmmakers were going with having a heroine with telekinesis in The New Blood, but it strangely worked and it included a Jason who was one again resurrected from the dead.
Kane Hodder makes his memorable first appearance as the hockey mask wearing killer. The game changes again. No other actor has been able to portray Jason the way Hodder has. The only one to ever come close was the portrayal in Jason Lives. Jason wasn't only supernatural, but also more aggressive with no fucks to give. You couldn't even begin to fight something like that, something so powerful. Where would one begin? Oh yeah, you had a heroine with a supernatural ability.
Not only was Hodder's portrayal of Jason significantly different than the rest, but I loved how his appearance changed to him being more rotten and decayed. Makes perfect sense if you've been dead under water for a long time. You'd think he'd look that way in Jason Lives, but it's cool. No harm, no foul.
His apperance wasn't all that bone decayed in Jason Takes Manhattan but with Hodder back to portray the pissed off goalie, and with a slimier look, the killings were made all the more interesting on a ship with a group of teenage kids on a class trip. This is another sequel that wasn't actually in Camp Crystal Lake, but it doesn't matter. It was still memorable, along with the amazing soundtrack.
Hodder's portrayal of Jason in Jason Goes to Hell was interesting but still well done, despite the stupid and weird plot. I'm not too crazy about the yells and other grunts and noises made by Jason in that particular film, but it didn't take away from its effectiveness. Hodder never failed to deliver. . .that is. . .when you actually saw him in the film.
Now here's where it turns weird. Jason X was the ninth sequel but it was done in space, making it futuristic. I didn't think I would like the direction this film took but in a strange way it worked and I think the main reason it did was because of Hodder portraying the Jason we all know and love, not to mention his kills were as good in this sequel as they were in previous movies.
I wasn't expecting an Uber Jason but damn! That made it all the more interesting. At this point (well, maybe before this) we knew there wasn't much more evolution you could get with the same kind of plot when it comes to Jason. I'm kinda just in it for the kills and how Jason is ultimately defeated. Burning up while entering an alternate Earth's atmosphere was perfectly fitting for this particular sequel.
I blame Freddy vs. Jason for the swarm of horror movies that came after featuring "X" vs. "X" kind of thing. But I really loved how two of the most iconic slasher killers came together. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it fit well together. . .to an extent. I wasn't feeling the portrayal of Jason in this one. Hodder's portrayal was purposeful, aggressive. And the filmmakers for this movie wanted a slower, bigger Jason. I don't know. I think Kane Hodder would have made the movie better. It would have been interesting to see the clash between his interpretation of Jason and Freddy Kruegar.
Ken Kirzinger portrayed Jason this time around. But the interpretation was a Jason who was easily manipulated (to an extent), and sort of lagging with every step he made. The kills were good, don't get me wrong. But overall this was probably one of my least favorite portrayals of Jason. Still a pretty good film though. At least the filmmakers were smart enough to have Robert Englund as Freddy. I think that's what mainly helped the film along.
At this point I'm not going to get into the portrayal of Jason in the Friday the 13th reboot. I didn't care for that either and to give an honest opinion about it I would have to watch the movie again, which I don't plan on doing. I know there are plenty of movies in this franchise, but I would love to see another sequel to go along with the original franchise and not that stupid so-called reboot. And I would love it if Kane Hodder came back to play the infamous killer, especially after the excitement and anxious waiting revolving around the upcoming Halloween 2018 movie!
