All 12 Friday the 13th movies are available on streaming right now, and here’s where you can watch the entire legendary slasher franchise. Starting in 1980 with the eponymous debut film, the Friday the 13th movie series helped put slashers on the map. Though it was hardly the first, it became the gold standard for ongoing hack-and-slash horror.
With his signature hockey mask and murderous disdain for teenagers, Jason Voorhees instantly became an ’80s pop culture phenomenon. Along with other stalwarts like Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers, Jason has certainly been carved onto the Mount Rushmore of slasher villains. He’s been off the screen for nearly two decades, but he could return at any moment.
The Friday the 13th movies are notoriously inconsistent, with some offering soaring highs while others offer humorous lows. Despite that, the 12-film series is endlessly entertaining, and there’s a reason that a dozen movies have been made over the course of four and a half decades. If you’re hoping to binge Friday the 13th, here’s where you need to go.
Friday the 13th (1980) – Paramount+ & Peacock
The movie that started it all is actually available to stream in two places. Friday the 13th set the standard for the summer camp slasher, and spawned a legion of imitators throughout the 1980s. Though it was trying to capitalize on the success of Halloween, Sean S. Cunningham’s chilling little flick found new ways to scare.
Friday the 13th is currently available on both Paramount+ and Peacock, with the former being the studio that produced the original run of movies. Though it was quaint compared to where the franchise would go in the coming years, the debut film is perhaps the scariest and most atmospheric of the lot.
Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981) – Paramount+ & Peacock
Released nearly a year to the day after its predecessor, Friday the 13th Part 2 is where the franchise found its footing. It’s noteworthy for introducing Jason, though he wears a sack on his head instead of his signature hockey mask. It’s spooky and fun, and deserves a lot of credit for guaranteeing the series would continue.
Part 2 features some truly memorable kills, and is one of the Friday the 13th movies that can’t be skipped. It streams on both Paramount+ and Peacock, so there are options for those looking to watch the whole series. The sequel might have made less money than the first, but it’s now a fan-favorite.
Friday The 13th Part III (1982) – Paramount+ & Peacock
Despite introducing a 3D gimmick, Friday the 13th Part III is one of the weakest movies in the franchise. Jason dons his hockey mask for the first time, but little else of note comes out of the third film. The ensemble is noticeably weaker than before, and almost nothing happens outside an occasional kill from Jason.
Despite streaming on both Paramount+ and Peacock, there is nowhere to stream Friday the 13th Part III with its original 3D effects. Some home video releases feature the 3D version, but it does little to improve the overall experience. Of the early installments, Part III is the most forgettable.
Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) – Paramount+
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter would remain an apt title for one year, before a fifth movie followed. There’s a clear switch between the third and fourth film, and The Final Chapter sets the tone for the second half of the Paramount era. It introduces interesting ideas to the sagging series, and is a vast improvement over Part III.
The Final Chapter begins the Tommy Jarvis trilogy, the only character arc to be found in Friday the 13th besides Jason himself. Speaking of the brute, the fourth film’s Jason assumes a truly monstrous aspect, bordering on supernatural for the first time. It isn’t a great movie in a conventional sense, but it is a terrific Friday the 13th film.
Friday The 13th: A New Beginning (1985) – Paramount+
After “killing” Jason in The Final Chapter, the producers needed a clever way to keep their slasher money train rolling. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning returns the franchise to its mystery slasher roots, but it eschews the creepy tone of the original in favor of screwball humor. The fifth movie is a divisive entry, though it has its fans.
Streaming only on Paramount+, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning isn’t necessarily a must-watch part of the series. It’s the middle piece of the Tommy Jarvis trilogy, and it’s sandwiched between two stellar horror flicks. It deserves credit for trying something new, but it was arguably a huge misfire.
Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) – Paramount+
Dropping the mystery altogether, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives resurrects the unstoppable killer and turns him into a supernatural slaying machine. Jason is now an undead zombie, which opens the door for even more gruesome kills and impossible feats from the hockey-masked icon. There’s a self-aware cheekiness to Jason Lives that just works.
The Tommy Jarvis trilogy ends with a bang as he takes on his long-time nemesis one more time. It returns to the classic camp setting but adds new wrinkles of danger and thrills to keep things from growing stale. Besides the first, Jason Lives might just be the crown jewel of the entire Friday the 13th franchise.
Friday The 13the Part VII: The New Blood (1988) – Paramount+
Jason Lives was a tough act to follow, so Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood was destined to be a bit disappointing. Jason is accidentally freed from the watery depths by a young woman with telekinetic powers. The seventh film adds another layer of weirdness, but is a bog-standard slasher film underneath.
Kane Hodder debuts as Jason, and steals the show. The climactic final battle is worth the price of admission alone, but the film sadly doesn’t live up to its ending. It has a wealth of ideas, but it ultimately fails to take advantage of them effectively. The New Blood isn’t required viewing, but it is available to Paramount+ subscribers.
Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) – Paramount+
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan should really be called: “Jason spends a lot of time on a boat, and only gets to Manhattan for the last third of the movie.” The final installment in the Paramount era of the Friday the 13th series, Part VIII scrapes the bottom of the barrel.
Die-hard Jason fans should probably watch the eighth film so that they can round out their formal education, but it has little appeal for anybody else. The kills aren’t all that interesting, and it isn’t so ridiculous that it has comedic value. It falls in a cynical middle ground that isn’t much fun to watch.
Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993) – Rent Or Buy On Digital Platforms
Passing the baton from Paramount to New Line Cinema, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday came after the longest break in the franchise’s history. Instead of a simple story involving Jason hacking his way through coeds, Jason Goes to Hell is a strange supernatural horror story concerning Jason’s evil soul.
New Line fumbled the ball, and The Final Friday is nothing but an oddity. The most memorable part of the movie is how it sets up a battle between Jason and Freddy. It isn’t available to stream right now, though it can be rented or purchased on digital platforms like Apple TV and Google Play.
Jason X (2001) – Rent Or Buy On Digital Platforms
A lot of long-running horror franchises have gone to space, and Jason X takes the machete-wielding maniac to the final frontier. Despite its sci-fi setting, the tenth Friday the 13th movie features a somewhat standard approach to the slasher elements of its story. It’s goofy, but it clearly understands why fans like the series.
All the New Line Cinema Jason movies are only available for purchase or rental, and Jason X deserves to be sought out. It isn’t cinematic art by any means, but it’s an overlooked little horror gem from the Aughts that hearkens back to a simpler time in the genre’s history.
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