May 2025 marks the 45th anniversary of the release of the 1980 slasher Friday the 13th. In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I’d break down the most important 45 minutes of footage from across the entire franchise that was spawned on that day nearly half a century ago. Some of these clips are historic, helping to shape the franchise. Some are shining examples of the franchise at its best and worst. And some are just a hell of a lot of fun. Because if you’re not having fun during a Friday the 13th movie marathon, something has gone terribly wrong.
Note: If the video I share is longer than the clip I’m pointing to, specific timecodes will be included in a parenthetical at the beginning of the paragraph.
Ch-Ch-Ch Ha-Ha-Ha Begins (6 seconds, Friday the 13th 1980)
(1:12 to 1:18) Less than two minutes into the movie, you get to hear composer Harry Manfredini’s magnum opus for the first time. The atonal “ch-ch-ch ha-ha-ha” would come to define the soundscape of the franchise, more than any other individual piece of music.
Also, purists will tell you that it’s “ki-ki-ki ma-ma-ma,” because Manfredini put reverb on those syllables from “kill her, mommy” in order to create the sound. But when you’re mimicking it or writing it out, you gotta go with how it sounds, people, not where it started!
Annie’s Death (19 seconds, Friday the 13th 1980)
(1:18 to 1:37) Although two random counselors were killed in the opening sequence of the movie, their deaths are relatively bloodless. Annie is the first main character to be killed during the movie proper, and Tom Savini’s gross slit-throat prosthetic gets center stage here, pulling the rug out from under the first-time viewer who might have assumed we were getting a classy slasher like Halloween in addition to hinting at the carnage that is to come.
Crazy Ralph Rides His Bike (8 seconds, Friday the 13th 1980)
(0:31 to 0:39)
I mean, look at that posture. Impeccable!
Jack’s Death (44 seconds, Friday the 13th 1980)
While Annie’s death raises the curtain of Friday the 13th, Jack’s is the showstopper. From its unique weapon choice and (frankly, impossible) geography, to the geyser of blood that ensues, it is a sequence that drew up the template for the creative, jaw-dropping kills to come in future installments.
Mrs. Voorhees’ Monologue (1 minute & 59 seconds, Friday the 13th 1980)
(0:20 to 2:19) In addition to being impeccably delivered by a deliciously over-the-top Betsy Palmer, Mrs. Voorhees’ killer reveal moment introduces the character of Jason, who is – spoiler alert – going to turn out to be pretty important.
Mrs. Voorhees’ Death (38 seconds, Friday the 13th 1980)
(1:02 to 1:40) This decapitation is another important element of Jason’s backstory, but it’s also just a hella cool Tom Savini moment.
Jason’s Debut (22 seconds, Friday the 13th 1980)
(1:25 to 1:47) Jason arriving on the scene as a zombie child threw a wrench in continuity from square one, but it is important for multiple reasons. First, it provided the movie with an iconic last-minute jump scare that sent audiences out into the streets, singing the movie’s praises and building word of mouth. Second, it’s the first proper appearance of Jason, and that kind of history simply can’t be ignored.
Jason’s Adult Debut (21 seconds, Friday the 13th Part 2)
(0:00 to 0:21) Jason making his first appearance as a grown man (played in this moment by costume designer Ellen Lutter) might be a bit ignominious. He steps in a puddle, and that’s pretty much it. But that step in a puddle marks the glorious debut of a character who was about to become synonymous with the slasher genre.
Alice’s Death (31 seconds, Friday the 13th Part 2)
(6:15 to 6:46) Not only does Alice’s death promise that nobody is safe in this new installment, it marks the first and only time that a final girl from a Friday the 13th installment would appear in its sequel.
Paul Gives It To Us Straight About Jason (2 minutes & 12 seconds, Friday the 13th Part 2)
In addition to being an eerie scene-setting moment, Paul’s campfire story about Jason Voorhees provides audiences with the only real attempt at an explanation that they’re going to get about why the dead zombie kid from the last movie is now a very much alive, homicidal adult.
Mark’s Death (55 seconds, Friday the 13th Part 2)
How do you one-up a kill like the one that put an arrow through Kevin Bacon’s neck? Here’s one way.
Ginny’s Dress-Up Act (1 minute & 3 seconds, Friday the 13th Part 2)
(0:00 to 1:03) In addition to showcasing the cleverness of one of the franchise’s best final girls (and cementing the fact that the franchise will consistently embrace the final girl trope), the moment where Ginny dresses up as Jason’s mother had a huge ripple effect on the slasher genre at large and would be ripped off time and again, including in the finale of the Canadian slasher Humongous, which debuted just 13 months later.
The Disco Theme (1 minute & 52 seconds, Friday the 13th Part III)
Is this the second most important piece of music that Harry Manfredini contributed to the franchise? I think there are other contenders, but I’m not gonna come right out and say no.
Jason Gets His Hockey Mask (19 seconds, Friday the 13th Part III)
(3:00 to 3:19) Here it is, the moment that changed Friday the 13th forever. It didn’t seem like it at the time, really. It was just a cool look that he stole from that loser, Shelly. But the hockey mask became synonymous with Jason so instantaneously that it was featured on the poster for this movie’s immediate sequel. Mind you, the poster doesn’t even feature Jason. Just the mask.
Rick’s Death (40 seconds, Friday the 13th Part III)
Just like the disco theme, this moment highlights the fact that Friday the 13th wasn’t afraid to go a little wacky, even in the early installments that didn’t feature overt supernatural elements.
Crispin Glover Dances (31 seconds, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter)
I mean, this would be one of the most important moments of any franchise. If this happened in The Godfather Part III, more people would rank it higher. Just saying.
Jason Meets His (First) End (2 minutes & 32 seconds, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter)
(1:33 to 4:05) Ah what a sweet and innocent time it was in 1984. Jason was dead. It was the final chapter. The nightmare was finally over, right? Right?! In addition to beginning the trend of the franchise ending with Jason’s death and then starting back up again more or less immediately, this sequence is Tom Savin’s victory lap before departing the franchise. What better moment could have represented this than Jason’s face sliding down a machete, am I right?
Damn Enchiladas (1 minute & 45 seconds, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning)
(0:00 to 1:45) The Friday the 13th movies have always been reflective of the culture and trends of the time in which they were made, and this is perhaps the most beautifully bizarre interlude from the most coked-up era of cinema history.
It Was Roy? (42 seconds, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning)
(4:35 to 5:17) And now for the “huh?” heard ‘round the world. When Jason falls onto a bed of spikes (a pretty cool death, honestly), his mask splits open like a melon to reveal… who is that again? Oh yeah, Roy, the weird paramedic from like two earlier scenes in the movie. That’s right, we have a copycat killer on our hands! The resoundingly negative response to this is a major reason why the upcoming movies took on a supernatural twist with a zombie Jason (the popularity of Elm Street also helped).
Jason’s Return (3 minutes & 36 seconds, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI)
(4:53 to 8:29) Jason’s back, y’all. And who should bring him back but Tommy Jarvis, the guy who is perhaps the most important recurring character in the franchise whose last name doesn’t begin with a V.
Cort Has Sex (26 seconds, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI)
(1:25 to 1:51) Even for Jason’s most overtly comic outing, this sequence perfectly highlights how out of touch these filmmakers could sometimes be from even the most basic of human experiences.
Tina Fights Jason (2 minutes & 13 seconds, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood)
We already have a supernatural Jason, so why not throw in a telekinetic final girl? In an installment that was butchered by the MPAA and thus does not have much gore to speak of, the silly but compelling battle at the end of the movie likely went a long way toward ensuring that the franchise would live to slay another day.
Jason Goes On Arsenio Hall (5 minutes & 43 seconds)
Jason’s appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show was the beginning of the end for the big lug. This flop-sweaty talk show moment is as embarrassing for Jason as it is for Arsenio, and it highlights both what a massive phenomenon the franchise was and how little Paramount could figure out what to do with it in the tail end of the 1980s. It makes sense that they sold it off to New Line right after Jason Takes Manhattan (which Jason is promoting here) took in the most diminished of returns at the box office.
Julius’ Death (1 minute & 56 seconds, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
It may not have made the money that Paramount was hoping for, but Jason Takes Manhattan still knew how to have fun when it wanted to.
Jason (Finally) Takes Manhattan (32 seconds, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
(0:36 to 1:08) In one of the scant few moments of the movie that both 1) takes place in Manhattan and 2) was shot in Manhattan, the movie ever-so-briefly lives up to the glory promised by the title and poster. Alas, this wasn’t long enough to win anybody over.
Jason Meets His (Second) End (3 minutes, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
Jason’s second death in the franchise is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. It is thus a fitting end for his original run at Paramount, who fumbled this project in every possible way.
Game Over (5 seconds, Friday the 13th NES Game)
(0:10 to 0:15) I’m sorry to report that you and your friends are dead, but what an honor for your demise to have come at the hands of Jason Voorhees.
Jason Meets His (Third) End (1 minute & 20 seconds, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday)
(1:40 to 3:00) Jason’s third demise came a lot quicker than anybody thought, in the opening sequence of the next movie. Frankly, the surprise SWAT sting is pretty fun, too.
Jason’s Autopsy (1 minute & 41 seconds, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday)
(0:45 to 2:26) Here is the moment where New Line announced exactly what they were going to be up to as the new stewards of the Friday the 13th franchise. Even though I secretly enjoy this movie, it perhaps makes sense why things went off the rails more or less immediately.
Creighton Duke Makes His American Casefile Debut (20 seconds, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday)
Say what you will about the new direction for the franchise, but the world is better off with Creighton Duke in it.
Jason (Finally) Goes to Hell (1 minute & 19 seconds, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday)
(1:15 to 2:34) Never say these movies don’t live up to the promises made by their titles. Eventually.
Adrienne’s Death (27 seconds, Jason X)
(0:25 to 0:52) This kill in Jason’s bizarre spacefaring adventure proves that New Line still had some tricks up their sleeves when it came to having filmmakers craft exciting kills.
The Camp Simulation (30 seconds, Jason X)
Here’s another fun kill (with the nudity cut out for YouTube censorship reasons, because violence is fine but god forbid you see a rogue nipple), but the VR Crystal Lake sequence also brings the franchise full circle in the last of its proper installments.
Jason Raves (2 minutes & 9 seconds, Freddy vs. Jason)
This sequence is proof that you can’t keep Jason Voorhees down. You can send him to hell, send him to space, kill him a half-dozen times, it doesn’t matter. This crossover with the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise proved that this murdering machine just ain’t gonna break.
Nolan & Chelsea’s Deaths (1 minute & 54 seconds, Friday the 13th 2009)
(1:10 to 3:04) In what unfortunately remains the most recent installment, this pair of deaths is probably the best at evoking what the reboot does best. It has a solid shock gag followed by a thrilling cat-and-mouse moment, ending with a sublimely tasteless kill that combines nudity and gore in a single shot. It’s the entire Friday the 13th franchise in a nutshell.
Trent Has Sex (10 seconds, Friday the 13th 2009)
This is the amount of time it takes for Trent to speak the most iconic lines of dialogue in the history of western drama, namely “Your tits are stupendous,” “You got perfect nipple placement, baby,” “These would win in a fucking titty contest,” and “Your tits are fucking just… so juicy, dude.” Shakespeare could never.