The Friday the 13th franchise may be trapped in legal limbo, but AMC are letting Jason Voorhees out of hell today with another monster ten movie marathon. The program covers the first nine films in the series and the 2009 remake. Sadly, it doesn’t include Jason X or Freddy vs. Jason, but I guess there are only so many hours in the day, right?
Here’s the full lineup:
- 10am EST – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
- 12pm EST – Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
- 2pm EST – Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
- 4pm EST – Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
- 6pm EST – Friday the 13th (2009)
- 8pm EST – Friday the 13th (1980)
- 10pm EST – Friday the 13th Part 2
- 12am EST – Friday the 13th Part III
- 2am EST – Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
- 4am EST – Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
As you can see, AMC has made the decision not to show them in chronological order. I think their reasoning is to put the more iconic films on in primetime, with some later entries in the series airing in the early morning for diehard slasher fans. This airing sequence also means they’re not expecting anyone to sit through the whole thing, but I think anyone would get sick of Jason mulching teenage victims in increasingly unlikely ways after ten films in a row anyways.
If you’re planning to tune in, my three to avoid are the disappointing 2009 remake, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (which has a ludicrous twist ending that spoils the movie) and, of course, the dreadful Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan.
The best of the bunch are Friday the 13th – Part III (first introduction of the classic hockey mask costume), the original Friday the 13th (even though it doesn’t feature Jason, it’s still great) and the bonkers Crispin Glover-starring Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, which has the best executions in the series.
Here’s hoping that Jason will eventually be released from his legal limbo and we’ll soon see him back on the big screen doing what he does best.