Best Horror Sequels/Series Part 3

Part three of my sequels posts is going to be all about the Friday the 13th movies....I would think that any self respecting horror fan has seen at least one or two of these....

 

I will start at the beginning. In 1980, Friday the 13th started one of the best horror franchises. Who knew when Jason made his way onto our screens that he would still be around 30 years later!!!The original movie is the best in my opinion and was the only one directed  by the creator Sean S Cunningham. Camp Crystal Lake is being taken over by kids for the summer and the camp staff are young adults who are out for a good time. Unfortunately for them, an accident that happened years ago is going to affect all of their lives. Jason was drowned in the lake and it seems as if he has come back from the dead to kill some people! Friday the 13th Part 2(1981)  was directed by Steve Miner and it continued on from the first movie. Alice(Adrienne King) is recovering from her ordeal that she suffered in the first movie. But, she doesn't have much time left because Jason comes and kills her. This was the first movie to show Jason as the killer after his mother's death. The story is much the same as the first film but this is a decent follow up.

The third movie was also directed by Steve Miner and was called Friday the 13th Part 3(1982). It again follows on from the previous movie. Jason was hurt in Part 2, but he managed to survive. He begins to kill again. The story doesn't vary much from the other two films. This sequel was enjoyable too. Plus it was the first of the franchise to show Jason's trademark hockey mask!It was also in 3-D.The fourth movie in the franchise was called The Final Chapter. This was meant to be the last movie in the series. It carries on from Part 3 and it appears that Jason is not dead after all(what a surprise!) and he goes back to Crystal Lake for more murder and mayhem. Crispin Glover and Corey Feldman starred in this 1984 movie. Not a bad movie, this was enjoyable. The next movie was A New Beginning and this was the fifth movie released in 1985. Jason was supposedly dead from the last movie so he does not appear in this movie as the killer. Danny Steinmann directed this offering. It isn't a great movie, but not a terrible one either.

So, we have arrived at the sixth Friday the 13th movie. This one was named Jason Lives(1986) so you can guess what was going to happen. Jason is brought back to life by electricity and he terrorizes more people. By this time, it was getting a little old and following the same lines as the other movies just got a little irritating. This film was watchable though and I wouldn't discount it. The New Blood(1988) was the 7th movie in the series and it follows the usual formula. Jason is killed yet again in the end of this, but you just knew he would be back! Jason arrived back on the scene in 1989 and this time the movie was titled Jason Takes Manhattan! This was the eight movie in the series. This was`one of the least successful movies in the franchise for good reason. It isn't that great. Resurrecting Jason yet again was a bit silly and it was getting old.

The ninth offering was released in 1993 and it was called Jason Goes To Hell:The Final Friday. This was going to be the final Friday the 13th movie.Jason is killed yet again, but he manages to survive after his spirit is passed from person to person allowing him to sort of live again. He needs to possess a family member to really come back to life. Jason spends the movie trying to get into the body of one of his relatives.He is finally killed and dragged down to hell, but who is there with him???None other than Freddy Krueger!!! But, along came Jason X made in 2001 and this one had Jason in space. This was not a good movie. I didn't like it much. It seemed just more of the same. I don't think that Jason works well out of his comfort zone of Crystal Lake. In 2003 , Freddy Vs Jason arrived and this was good fun. It brought together two of the best horror movie baddies. This was the eleventh in the series.

So, there have been eleven Friday the 13th movies and most of them are good. There are a couple I wouldn't watch again, but that is the way it goes with sequels. There is a remake as you probably know already, but it was so bad and so inferior to the original that it isn't worth talking about. You have plenty of movies to choose from here so get watching!!!