Horror fans have been treated to some iconic stories and settings over the decades. Laurie Strode's quiet street is where Michael Myers always returns in the Halloween franchise. Woodsboro couldn't be a creepier small town in Scream. And Camp Crystal Lake is the place where Jason Voorhees experiences horrible bullying in Friday The 13th.
After the original movie came out in 1980, there were 11 more films, including the 2009 remake. There are also videogames and a TV show that aired from 1987 to 1990. While the Friday The 13th movies are considered some of the most popular slashers, and it's fair to say that Jason Voorhees is an incredible villain, the truth is that there is one element that is missing and this is why the franchise isn't as beloved.
The Friday The 13th movies don't have a final girl, and this is a huge problem, as it doesn't give the audience anyone to root for. It would be so different and so much better if the movies had a character like Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott as she would spend years trying to move on from being tormented by Jason Voorhees. She would feel like she could never really escape this nightmare, which would up the fear factor in the franchise and make each movie a can't miss experience. Instead, some loyal fans might have seen every single film, wheres general horror lovers might have just seen a few.
This horror slasher franchise is unique because Jason Voorhees is the character who keeps appearing in all of the movies. But while Jason is a great horror movie villain, this isn't the same as audiences following final girls Sidney Prescott and Laurie Strode from Scream and Halloween. Fans hated the 2009 Friday The 13th remake and it might have been more fun and tolerable if there was a main character who was smart and sympathetic. Instead, fans didn't know who to care about, and since Jason has been in so many movies, it's hard to get excited about seeing him again. And since Jason is an evil killer, fans can't care about him the way that they would a final girl.
The 2003 crossover Freddy vs Jason ties together the worlds of Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street with a confrontation between Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. While the film might be corny, it can still be considered an underrated 2000s horror movie as it's honestly a lot of fun. Arguably, Freddy vs Jason is the best Friday The 13th movie because the main characters are a group of teenagers who at least feel like real people and are fairly easy to root for. Lori Campbell (Monica Keena) is an adorable, charming character who just wants to live a regular high school life and the movie gives fans the exact amount of campy enjoyment that they want from this kind of movie.
While Freddy vs. Jason leans into its silly tone, the rest of the franchise doesn't feel as consistent as some others, and the lack of a final girl could be the reason. The movies really should feature a great main character who the audience can want to see survive. Instead, there are random characters in each film who want to get away from Jason, and how interesting or scary is that?
It would make sense to include a final girl in the Friday The 13th franchise because this would tie all of the movies together. Instead, they all feel kind of random instead of a complete whole. While Alice Hardy (Adrienne King) does survive the first movie and could technically be considered a final girl, she is murdered right away in the sequel that was released in 1981. This is a shame as it would have been great to follow her for many more movies and learn more aout her life. Alice isn't a fully formed character as a result of only being in the first film. Jason X is a science-fiction take on Jason, which feels strange, and the 1993 movie Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday tells fans that Jason died but has now come back to life, which is confusing. It can also be argued that while the legend of Jason at Camp Crystal Lake is a creepy one, it's easy to become tired of hearing about it and this story gets old fast.
Although Jason Voorhees has an iconic mask and he's a good villain, it's hard to say that Friday The 13th really succeeds as a brilliant and fascinating horror franchise when there isn't one character to root for. No matter how entertaining it can be to watch Jason, horror fans love slasher franchises like Scream and Halloween and Final Destination because there are characters who keep coming back.