It’s that time of the year when the air gets a bit spookier, and the calendar aligns to bring us the ominous Friday the 13th. While for many, this day is synonymous with bad luck, it has gifted the horror genre one of its most iconic figures—Jason Voorhees.
For over four decades, Jason has been on a relentless killing spree, leaving a trail of terror that spans from cabins in the woods to the vastness of space. Engaging in activities like drug use in a secluded cabin or indulging in a bit too much intimacy in the wilderness? Well, according to Jason’s rules, that’s a one-way ticket to the afterlife. Even attempts to escape to Manhattan or explore life in space haven’t been enough to elude the clutches of this notorious slasher.
The infamous hockey mask has become synonymous with Jason Voorhees, a symbol of horror woven into the fabric of Americana. Despite being a fictional movie monster, there’s an odd sense of celebration surrounding this merciless killer. As we take a stroll down the gory memory lane of the Friday the 13th film series, which commenced its blood-soaked journey in 1980, spanning an impressive 43 years, one can’t help but wonder: just how many victims has Jason claimed in each installment?
While previous rankings may have focused on box office success or overall film quality, this time, let’s delve into a more morbid metric—the body count. It’s worth noting that true fans are aware that Jason wasn’t always the sole perpetrator in every movie of the franchise. Fear not, we’ve got that covered too.
So, brace yourself for a trip through the gruesome landscape of Jason Voorhees’ murderous escapades. From the classic gore of the early years to the more recent additions, we present to you a ranking of every Jason movie based on the sheer number of lives he has mercilessly extinguished. And for the hardcore enthusiasts, Shout Factory has unveiled a boxed set containing every movie, complete with deleted scenes from Friday The 13th: Part 2, including the legendary Gore Cut. To add to the thrill, you can find these films available for streaming, with a little spoiler: almost all of them are conveniently accessible on the same streaming service. Happy viewing, if you dare!
12. Friday the 13th (1980)
Streaming on:Max
Coming in at last place is the original Friday the 13th, as Jason Voorhees wasn’t the killer. His mother Pamela was. This movie came along early in the slasher movie genre, just a couple years after Halloween.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 0
Note: Pamela Voorhees killed nine people in case you were curious.
11. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Streaming on:Max
Conceptually, A New Beginning isn’t a terrible idea, as the movie follows Tommy Jarvis–who killed Jason Voorhees years prior. Tommy now lives in a halfway house for mentally ill teenagers. However, Jason has returned and is on a killing spree. Here’s the crazy twist: it’s not Jason committing the murders. It’s a paramedic named Roy doing all the killing, and there are some really bizarre kills here, like eyes being gouged out by garden shears.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 0
Note: Roy killed 17 people.
10. Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981)
Streaming on:Max
The 1981 sequel introduces Jason Voorhees for the first time; however, he has yet to get his signature hockey mask. He instead wears a burlap sack over his head. At this point in the series, there aren’t any over-the-top kills, as the craziest one is someone being strangled with barbed wire.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 9
Note: The count is possibly 10 because it’s up for debate that Paul was killed off-screen, but there’s no way for sure knowing who killed him.
9. Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Streaming on:Max
Of course, Friday the 13th Part III was in 3D, which was all the rage during the ’80s. This movie marks the first time Jason crushed someone’s head, as well as the first time he wears his signature hockey mask.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 12
8. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Streaming on: Max
While the fourth movie is titled The Final Chapter, in no way is it actually the “final chapter” in the series. This Friday the 13th installment features Jason killing someone with a garden claw.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 13
7. Friday the 13th (2009)
Streaming on:Max
The 2009 Friday the 13th reboot packed the first three original films into one, non-stop movie. Jason gets a headshot with a bow and arrow in this one.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 13
6. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Streaming on: Max
Jason has been at the bottom of Camp Crystal laying dormant. In The New Blood, a telekinetic teenager releases him and must find a way to stop him. The most ridiculous kill of the film comes from Jason driving a party horn through a young woman’s eye. This is also the movie that features Jason swinging a sleeping bag–with someone inside–against a tree. It’s easily the most memorable kill in the franchise.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 15
5. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Streaming on: Max
In Jason Takes Manhattan, Voorhees gets on a boat headed to Manhattan with a group of graduating high school students and takes them all out, one by one. Sadly, unlike the title states, he spends very little of the movie actually in New York City. The kills in this movie get more inventive and one of the most ridiculous comes when Jason literally punches someone so hard that their head flies off their body.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 15*
Notes: Count could be as many as 18. There are a couple accidents here as well as a guy who Jason throws into a mirror at a diner, but there’s no confirmed kill there. In addition, there is no way of knowing how many people were killed when the S.S. Lazarus sank.
4. Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)
Streaming on: Max
Jason comes back to life in the sixth film. Tommy Jarvis, from A New Beginning, tries to dispose of Jason’s body but accidentally brings him back to life. While the movie features a lot of machete-hacking mayhem, the best kill comes from an officer getting a metal dart thrown into his skull.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 18
3. Jason X (2001)
Streaming on: Sling
Everything about Jason X is ridiculous. In the 25th century, Jason wakes up on a spaceship and insanity ensues. There are a lot of silly kills in this movie, including a woman’s head getting frozen in liquid nitrogen, then smashed on a countertop.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 21*
Note: There’s no way of knowing how many people died when the Solaris space station exploded.
2. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Streaming on:Max
Freddy vs. Jason pits the two most iconic supernatural killers in horror history–sorry Michael Myers–and they fight to the “death.” There aren’t a lot of inventive kills in this movie; “however, while wielding a flaming machete, Jason does take out a whole bunch of party-goers at a rave, which is quite enjoyable to watch, unless you’re into that whole rave scene.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 22*
Note: Hard to pinpoint how many people Jason killed during the cornfield rave scene.
1. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Streaming on:Max
Jason Goes to Hell not only has a ridiculous plot, but it has the most Jason Voorhees kills in the franchise. The supernatural monster is killed by an FBI special ops team, and his spirit–stay with me–starts possessing people, which ends up with the possessed killing everyone around them. It may not be the body of Voorhees, but his spirit is technically doing the killing. The most ridiculous kill comes when a woman is drowned in a deep fryer.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 25
Note: 10 of the deaths–including a group of civilians that are killed–happen off-screen.
Total kills
Since Jason’s first murder in Friday the 13th: Part II–in 1981–he’s killed 163 people, and even more if you count the people aboard the space station blowing up in Jason X or those who died when the ship sank in Jason Takes Manhattan. Once again, the kills in the first film and A New Beginning don’t count because it wasn’t Jason doing the killing. So while 163 is our total from this list, a few of the murders are up for debate.
Total Jason Voorhees kills: 163