Spooky season is upon us, and if you want to revisit the slasher that started it all, the original Friday the 13th is streaming for free on Tubi. The franchise has 12 films in total, and Jesse Hassenger recently put together a list of the best horror movies currently streaming for free — including this one. But the question remains: where can you watch the whole saga?
The series follows Jason Voorhees, the hockey-masked killer who haunts Camp Crystal Lake. He made his first appearance in the 1980 original, directed by Sean S. Cunningham, and has returned to screens 11 times since then, with the last movie premiering in 2009. If you want a deep dive into the history of the franchise, the documentary Crystal Lake Memories runs almost seven hours and covers everything from the first film to the latest. But for those who just want to catch up on the movies themselves, here is how to watch all twelve Friday the 13th films online.
The Original Film That Started It All
The 1980 Friday the 13th is the film that launched the franchise. Directed by Sean S. Cunningham, it stars Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, and a young Kevin Bacon. The plot centers on a group of camp counselors trying to reopen a summer camp called Crystal Lake, which has a grim past, and they are stalked by a mysterious killer.
The film is a cult classic and still holds a respectable 63% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. One of the most memorable elements is the killer: Mrs. Vorhees, Jason’s mother, who takes the role of the stalking force in this first installment. The movie also carries a fun fact tied to its reception: Gene Siskel hated the film so much that he posted Betsy Palmer’s home address in his now infamous Chicago Tribune review of the movie.
From Mother to Son
The second film, Friday the 13th Part 2, arrives in 1981, directed by Steve Miner. It debuts less than a year after the original and is the first film to feature Jason Voorhees as the main antagonist. The plot picks up five years after the events of the first film, with a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake preparing to open, weighed down by the legend of Jason.
The movie includes a notable deleted scene. According to IMDb trivia, “a shot of the infamous double-impalement was cut to avoid an ‘X’ rating, yet a gory still photo of this censored shot appears on the back of the videocassette box.” That detail adds a layer of history to a film that otherwise plays as a straightforward setup for the character who would become the series’ central villain.
The Hockey Mask Arrives
Friday the 13th Part III hit theaters in 1982, and it is the film that changed the face of the franchise. Jason Voorhees stalks a group of friends who’ve just arrived to spend the weekend at a cabin near Crystal Lake. The movie introduces the hockey mask that would become Jason’s signature look, and it also removed E.T. from the number one spot at the box office.
The film currently boasts an unlucky 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the lowest-rated movie in the franchise. It is a curious position for the film that arguably did the most to establish Jason as a horror icon. The hockey mask became the image audiences immediately associated with the character, and the movie’s success helped cement that connection.
The Revival That Refused to Die
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter premiered in 1984. The film sees Jason revive after being pronounced dead and taken to a morgue, escaping from the hospital to stalk a group of friends renting a house in the countryside near Crystal Lake. The title suggests an end, but the franchise had other plans.
The next movie, A New Beginning, debuted in theaters less than a year later. So the final chapter was not really the final chapter. That detail is worth noting because it shows how the franchise kept finding reasons to keep Jason alive.
The film also carries a fun fact about its production. Erich Anderson and Kimberly Beck took Corey Feldman trick-or-treating during the first day of filming, which happened to be October 31, 1983. That detail captures a moment of innocence in a franchise known for violence.
The Worst Films in the Franchise
A New Beginning is one of the worst Friday the 13th films, with a Tomatometer score of 18%. It joins Jason Goes to Hell (16%), Jason Takes Manhattan (11%), and the aforementioned Part III (7%) as the lowest-rated movies of the franchise. The film follows Tommy Jarvis, who, as a child, killed Jason Voorhees, and is sent to a secluded halfway house in the countryside, where the killing of a young man triggers a brutal series of murders in the area.
Corey Feldman has his own story about the film. He wanted to do Friday the 13th: A New Beginning instead of a little film called Goonies. “Unfortunately, Spielberg fucked up all our plans, because he decided he wanted me in a couple of films,” Feldman says in Crystal Lake Memories. “I was forced, quite begrudgingly, to participate in a little film called Goonies, and not participate, as I would have liked, in the full version of Friday the 13th Part 5.”
The Sixth and Seventh Installments
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives arrived in 1986. Tommy Jarvis exhumes Jason Voorhees to cremate his corpse but inadvertently brings him back to life instead. The newly revived killer seeks revenge, and Tommy may be the only one who can stop him. The film had an impact on the legendary horror movie Scream. Kevin Williamson told Part VI scribe Tom McLoughlin that his extremely meta take on the sixth installment of the franchise had a huge influence on him writing the classic film.
“I came in on a TV series that Kevin Williamson was doing… and at one point he said to me, ‘You know, your movie… had an impact on me in writing Scream,'” McLoughlin told Uproxx back in 2016.
The seventh film, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, premiered in 1988. Jason Voorhees is accidentally freed from his watery prison by a telekinetic teenager, and only she can stop him. The film is not anything to write home about, but it carries a specific anecdote from Kane Hodder’s memoir Unmasked: The True Story of the World’s Most Prolific Cinematic Killer.
Where to Watch the Whole Saga
All twelve Friday the 13th films are available to rent on Amazon, iTunes, and Vudu. The streaming options listed below cover the original films, but the documentaries and the free rentals round out the viewing options.
| Film | Year | Streaming Options |
|---|---|---|
| Friday the 13th (1980) | 1980 | Free on Tubi |
| Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) | 1981 | Rent on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu |
| Friday the 13th Part III (1982) | 1982 | Rent on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu |
| Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) | 1984 | Rent on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu |
| Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) | 1985 | Rent on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu |
| Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) | 1986 | Rent on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu |
| Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) | 1988 | Rent on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu |
Key Facts Box
- Original film: Friday the 13th (1980)
- Director: Sean S. Cunningham
- Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Kevin Bacon
- Tomatometer score: 63%
- Lowest-rated film: Friday the 13th Part III (1982) — 7%
- Last film: Friday the 13th (2009)
- Streaming: Free on Tubi
- Rentals: Amazon, iTunes, Vudu
The Legacy of Jason Voorhees
The hockey mask is now one of the most recognizable images in horror. It took Friday the 13th Part III to establish it, and the franchise has carried it through its sequels and remakes. Jason Voorhees has appeared in pop culture references, from Scream to Halloween costumes, and he remains a figure in the genre.
The franchise has also produced some of the most infamous moments in horror history. The double-impalement scene from Part 2 was cut to avoid an ‘X’ rating, and the fact that the censored shot appears on the videocassette box is a small detail that tells you everything you need to know about the era. The franchise was unapologetic about pushing the boundaries of what could be shown on screen.
The worst films in the franchise are the ones that tried to be something other than what the series does best. Jason Goes to Hell and Jason Takes Manhattan both attempted to move the action away from Crystal Lake and into more urban settings, and neither landed with audiences. The films that stayed in the woods, even when they were bad, were at least consistent.
The Friday the 13th franchise is a strange beast. It has produced some of the worst-reviewed films in horror history, but it has also produced a killer who is now one of the most recognizable figures in the genre. The original film is a cult classic, and the sequels range from competent to terrible.
The franchise has been around for decades, and it shows no signs of slowing down. The films are available to rent on Amazon, iTunes, and Vudu, and the streaming options make it easy to catch up on the series.
If you want to watch all twelve films in order, you can start with the free original on Tubi and move through the rental options from there. The journey will take you through the highs and lows of the franchise, and it will give you a sense of how the series evolved over time.
The worst films are the ones that tried to change the formula. The best films are the ones that stuck to it. That is the lesson of Friday the 13th, and it is a lesson that the franchise has learned and forgotten repeatedly over the years.
The hockey mask will probably still be around when the next film comes out. That is the legacy of Jason Voorhees, and it is a legacy that the franchise has built over decades of films, sequels, and spin-offs.
See the video the story is built around at Decider.
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