Jason Voorhees' Most Brutal Friday The 13th Kill Scenes Ranked By Savagery
Of all the slasher franchises that dominate the horror genre, one that looms especially large is Jason Voorhees, the primary antagonist of the "Friday the 13th" film series. The franchise began in 1980, and Jason made his proper introduction in 1981's "Friday the 13th Part 2"; in the years since, he has been butchering anyone who gets in his way with blood and fury time and time again. From his preferred machete to various objects that come into his orbit, or even his bare hands, Jason is particularly inventive with the lethal methods he uses to slice and dice a long list of dearly-departed.
Some victims, however, deserve the very best. With that in mind, here are all the most brutal kills in the "Friday the 13th" film series committed by Jason. This does not include any kills from the 1980 original film or 1985's "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning," both of which featured different murderous, non-Jason antagonists.
14. Mark's machete facial
After a nightmare cameo at the end of the 1980 original film, Jason made his official debut as the main antagonist in 1981's "Friday the 13th Part 2." Seeking revenge for his mother's death in the preceding film, Jason targets a new group of ill-fated counselors at the reopened Camp Crystal Lake. While Jason dispatches his first set of victims with a variety of weapons, the most memorable is when the masked slasher begins wielding his signature machete.
As Jason begins picking off his victims one-by-one, counselor Mark Jarvis (Tom McBride) goes out alone to investigate what exactly is going on with his friends. Mark is quickly ambushed by Jason, who drives the machete deep into Mark's head, with his lifeless body falling down the stairs. It's with this murder that the "Friday the 13th" franchise truly found its bloody voice — and a kill that came to define the overarching series moving forward.
13. Rick's eye-popping skull crush
American cinema embraced 3D movies in the '80s, with "Friday the 13th" trying its hand at the filmmaking technique with 1982's "Friday the 13th Part III." In addition to being the installment that gave Jason his iconic hockey mask, the movie took advantage of the 3D perspective with its cinematography. This strategy led "Part III” to feature kills that were meant to jump out at the audience, making the gruesome display pop off the screen and offering a more immersive movie-going experience.
The kill in "Part III" that best takes advantage of this filmmaking gimmick occurs late in the film, as Chris Higgins (Dana Kimmell) and Rick (Paul Kratva) return home, where Jason has murdered their friends. As Rick searches the grounds to learn what has happened, he is attacked by Jason, who crushes his skull with his bare hands. To bring this graphic death to the third dimension, Rick's eyeballs pop out of his skull in a cartoonish display of ultraviolence, as Jason claims another victim.
12. The boxer's hot rock stab
If there was any doubt before, 1989's "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" saw the slasher franchise unabashedly embrace its own campy possibilities. After being freed from the watery grave where he was entombed in the previous film, Jason sneaks on board a ship transporting a celebrating group of high school graduates to New York City. Steadily murdering the hapless passengers throughout the ship's halls and chambers, Jason's most brutal kill before he makes landfall involves a particularly lethal use of a sauna.
Dejected after a recent loss to a rival boxer, an unnamed athlete (David Jackox) on the ship decides to unwind from his defeat by taking a quick steam bath alone in the ship's sauna. Jason catches the boxer lying down on a wooden bench, with a towel covering his face to leave him unaware that death incarnate is rapidly approaching him. Grabbing one of the steaming hot rocks providing heat to the sauna, Jason slams it deep into the boxer's chest, killing him instantly.
11. Amanda's sleeping bag roast
With many of the "Friday the 13th" movies taking place at a summer camp, the idea of Jason murdering someone resting inside a sleeping bag is a well-worn trope within the franchise. The 2009 "Friday the 13th" remake provides its own nasty twist on this type of kill, setting the tone for this new vision of the series. It addresses fans that may have been concerned that a reboot would lessen the graphic violence that defined the franchise's previous films.
The reboot opens with a group of college students searching Camp Crystal Lake for a reputed patch of marijuana growing on the premises, only to be ambushed by Jason. Amanda (America Olivo) waits for her boyfriend Richie (Ben Feldman) in her sleeping bag, only for her and the bag to be hoisted by Jason directly over a roaring campfire. Hearing Amanda's screams, Richie rushes back, only to step into a bear trap planted by Jason, with an incapacitated Richie watching in horror as his girlfriend is roasted to death.
10. Doug's bloody shower bash
By 1984, the filmmakers were considering wrapping up the "Friday the 13th" franchise for good; few franchises ever went beyond a third Roman numeral in those days.
As such, the fourth installment of the series was subtitled "The Final Chapter." The movie followed another group of teens making the ill-advised decision to hang out at Crystal Lake, only to be hunted by Jason. While the killer may have met his own temporary death by the end of the film, he certainly doesn't go down alone, adding several more victims to his growing body count with gory aplomb.
Young couple Doug Bell (Peter Barton) and Sara Parkington (Barbara Howard) commit the ultimate slasher movie no-no by having sex, unaware of the carnage taking place outside of their shower of sin. Jason strikes after Sara leaves, bashing Doug to death on the increasingly jagged ceramic tiles of the stall as he tries to wash himself after the amorous encounter before pinning him to the wall. "The Final Chapter" is full of kills that are completed with a single stab or slash — but, for Doug, the movie takes its brutal time to get the job done in putting him down.
9. Deborah torn asunder
The 1993 film "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday" featured a new ability for the slasher, with Jason now able to possess the bodies of those around him when his current host body is destroyed.
After having his original body blown to smithereens in an FBI ambush, Jason takes over the body of a coroner (Richard Gant) to continue his killing spree. And returning to Camp Crystal Lake, Jason finds a new set of victims celebrating the mass murderer's apparent demise, oblivious to the fact that slasher has managed to rise again.
As the young couple Deborah Caldwell (Michelle Clunie) and Luke McCabey (Michael B. Silver) are having sex in a tent, they are secretly stalked by Jason in his new body. Just as the amorous interlude reaches a crescendo, Jason rudely interrupts the proceedings by stabbing Deborah in the torso with a pole. Jason then pulls the pole out of Deborah, ripping her in half, before turning his lethal attention to Luke.
8. Trent's bloody truck ride
The Jason of the 2009 "Friday the 13th" reboot was depicted as a more agile, strategic killer than his plodding, inevitable counterpart from the original series, with traps and shortcuts to help him ensure no one left Camp Crystal Lake alive. This included Jason keeping an eye on the road outside of the camp, with the slasher ready to intercept anyone trying to make their nighttime escape by car. College student Trent Sutton (Travis Van Winkle) finds this out the hard way as he flees to the road, attempting to be picked up by a passing car.
While Trent is successful in flagging down a truck as it drives down the road by the summer camp, Jason suddenly appears behind Trent and stabs him with his machete. Jason then hoists the dying Trent and impales him on some spikes on the back of the truck, with the panicked driver speeding away. Trent is last seen stuck to the back of the truck, with his body gruesomely bouncing against it, his bid for a roadside rescue gone lethal.
7. Adrienne's frozen head smash
After numerous films stalking victims in the 20th century, Jason and the "Friday the 13th" franchise were catapulted four centuries into the future with 2001's far-fetched but fun "Jason X." Taking the slasher series into the realm of unapologetically campy science fiction, Jason is discovered cryogenically frozen by a group of college students in the 25th century and studied for his regenerative powers. Upon regaining consciousness, Jason proves he hasn't lost a step, launching a new bloody rampage with all sorts of futuristic tools at his disposal.
Jason's first victim in "Jason X" is his most memorable, targeting intern Adrienne Thomas (Kristi Angus) after coming back to his senses. While violently tossing Adrienne around the ship's lab, Jason drags his 25th century victim to a vat of liquid nitrogen, plunging her face inside and lethally freezing her in seconds. Pulling the dead Adrienne out of the vat, Jason examines his handiwork, then shatters her frozen head on a nearby counter.
6. Sheriff Garris' body snap
While Jason has always possessed some degree of superhuman strength and endurance, his abilities have been ratcheted up at various points along the franchise. One time he was taken to the next level was when officially crossed the threshold of becoming an undead monster in 1986's "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives."
Brought back to life from two lightning strikes after his body is exhumed, Jason resumes his killing spree with even more gruesome ferocity. While local sheriff Michael Garris (David Kagen) doesn't believe Jason is back at first, he learns the nightmarish truth firsthand at the cost of his life.
Sheriff Garris realizes rumors of Jason's return are true when the undead slasher murders two of his officers and moves on to target Garris' daughter Megan (Jennifer Cooke) next. In order to save his offspring, Garris attacks Jason and uses everything from tree branches to rocks to buy her time to escape from the area. Though Garris is ultimately successful in saving his daughter, Jason uses his enhanced strength to painfully fold the sheriff in half with his bare hands, killing him on the spot.
5. Jeff and Sandra's skewered love
The original "Friday the 13th" film revealed Jason apparently drowned in Crystal Lake as a child while two camp counselors were having sex instead of looking after him. Since then, Jason has seemingly held a special grudge against couples in the midst of copulation, attacking them with a heightened level of brutality. The first couple to have their romantic interlude lethally interrupted by Jason in the franchise are Jeff Dunsberry (Bill Randolph) and Sandra Dier (Marta Kober) in "Friday the 13th Part 2."
Oblivious to the fact that Jason has begun massacring their friends at Camp Crystal Lake, Jeff and Sandra sneak off and get intimate, while Jason moves to claim them as his next victims. As the duo get horizontal, Jason stabs through them both with a spear, which pierces the bed and becomes embedded in the bedroom floor beneath. This murderous trend soon became a noticeable staple throughout the franchise, while Sandra's death would motivate her brother Rob (E. Erich Anderson) to hunt Jason in "The Final Chapter."
4. Andy's fatal handstand split
In many ways, "Friday the 13th Part III" was a defining installment for the franchise, working beyond its 3D its trappings to include memorable moments like one of the most ridiculously painful kills in the history of the series.
When goofy Andy (Jeffrey Rogers) finds himself setting up one of the film's most ludicrous ominous moments, viewers know he isn't long for this world. Sure enough, Andy finds himself on the wrong end of Jason's blade in one of the worst ways imaginable. The manner with which he is dispatched is enough to make any man wince.
After having sex with his girlfriend Debbie (Tracie Savage), Andy decides to go downstairs for a refreshing beer and, in an unprovoked move, begins walking on his hands towards the stairs. As Andy holds his celebratory handstand, Jason enters the cabin and takes the opportunity to split Andy in half. Given Andy's position, he is most certainly, gruesomely struck down crotch-first by the machete before Jason turns his attention to Debbie and moves upstairs, leaving the halved Andy behind.
3. Julius' lethal boxing defeat
Despite its title, "Jason Takes Manhattan" only takes place in the New York City borough for its final act, as the masked killer stalks his prey through the big city. The highlight of Jason's New York adventure has him going against amateur teenage boxer Julius Gaw (V.C. Dupree) on a Manhattan rooftop. Julius had previously been established at the beginning of the 1989 film as a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, yet hen he faces Jason in the big city, he quickly discovers Jason's right hooks are as impressive as his right slashes.
Pursuing Julius across the city, Jason finally corners him on a rooftop, where Julius pummels the slasher with a flurry of punches. Jason stoically takes the blows, then waits for Julius to exhaust himself before responding with a single uppercut, knocking Julius' head clean off his body. The boxer's friends later find his decapitated head in the streets below before Jason springs a trap, adding to his big city body count.
2. Trey's bedroom spinal snap
After a tease at the end of "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday," fans were treated to an eagerly-anticipated crossover between "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street," with 2003's "Freddy vs. Jason." The movie opens with both Jason and Freddy in hell, with Jason manipulated by Freddy to target the citizens of Springwood and inadvertently bring Freddy back to nightmarish power. Jason's first victim in the film is Trey Cooper (Jesse Hutch), an obnoxious boyfriend to Gibb Smith (Katharine Isabelle), who suffers a particularly painful death.
After Trey and Gibb have sex one evening, Gibb leaves him to take a shower and Jason strikes the vulnerable misogynist while he reclines in bed. As Trey lies alone facedown, Jason stabs him multiple times in the back before folding the bed in half, brutally snapping Trey's spine in the process. Trey's vicious murder kicks off the events of "Freddy vs. Jason," setting the stage for the slasher showdown at the centerpiece of a modern monster mash.
1. Judith's sleeping bag slam
Of all the gruesome ways Jason has dispatched his victims, one stands out from all the others — by ferociously slamming someone in a sleeping bag against a tree until they've been beaten to death. Instantly memorable and referenced throughout the franchise's history, the killing technique didn't appear until "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood." That 1988 film marked the debut of fan-favorite actor Kane Hodder as Jason, who brought a particular physical presence and brutality to the scene.
Freed from his watery grave at the bottom of Crystal Lake, Jason resumes his killing spree, targeting those living around or visiting the lake. Camping couple Dan Carter (Michael Schroeder) and Judith Williams (Debora Kessler) are among Jason's victims, with Jason hoisting Judith while she recoils in her sleeping bag, slamming it multiple times into a nearby tree and killing her. This kill would be directly referenced in "Jason X," and is even available as a finishing move in "Friday the 13th: The Game," cementing its fan-favorite status.