The hit Friday the 13th franchise has become a celebrated mainstay for horror fans. The menace of the main killer Jason Voorhees has made him a frequent star of most Halloween movie marathons. Fans love the hockey mask-wearing killer for his ferocity and drive to kill anyone who crosses his path at Camp Crystal Lake.
Jason Voorhees didn't draw viewers in over the years with just his silent charm. He’s impressed fans in almost every Friday the 13th movie due to a high kill count that has included some brutal and bloody on-screen deaths. Jason’s kills range from creative and cunning to savage and gory, though a few have stood out to fans over the years as his best kills.
This article contains spoilers for each film entry and discussions of murder and violence.
10 Jason Trapped Scott With A Snare Before Slicing His Throat
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
While most of Jason Voorhees's later kills focused on surprise and ferocity, his first appearance revealed he used traps and strategy as well. Scott worked at the counselor training center on Crystal Lake. He was a prankster and stole the clothes of his romantic interest Terry while she was skinny dipping in the lake.
While running away from her, Scott tripped on a ground snare that hung him upside down. Terry left to find a knife to cut him down, but Jason got to Scott first. He slit his throat with a knife and left him hanging for his friends to find. Jason rarely set traps for his victims, but this kill still demonstrated why he is one of the horror's most competent slashers.
9 Voorhees Sliced Andy In Half With A Machete From Above
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Jason came into his own in Part III, as he finally acquired the hockey mask that would become his signature look. Part III attempted to capitalize on the popularity of 3D technology, leading to a few interesting kills. Jason fired a speargun right at the viewers to kill Vera and he popped an eye out of Rick’s head in 3D. However, the best kill barely focused on the 3D angle.
Andy showcased his skill at walking on his hands while upside down earlier in the movie. After getting intimate with his girlfriend Debbie, Andy walked out on his hands to get a beer. He encountered Jason, who brought his machete down on Andy’s groin, slicing him in half from above. It was a brutal kill that was made even worse when Jason posed the mutilated body.
8 Jason Cut Coroner Axel's Throat With A Bone Saw
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
While Jason appeared to die after a vicious axe wound to the head in Part III, he returned in one of horror's best slasher sequels. Paramedics took Jason's body to the local hospital in The Final Chapter. It was kept in cold storage and prepared for an autopsy by the coroner, Axel Burns.
Jason’s body remained in the morgue, though Axel’s attempts to seduce his coworker woke the masked killer. He moved silently while Axel watched a workout program on television. Jason sliced Axel’s throat with a bone saw before he twisted his head completely around, snapping Axel's neck and gruesomely ending his life.
7 He Brutally Murdered A Group Of Corporate Paintballers
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Jason was accidentally brought back to life by an older Tommy Jarvis in Part V: Jason Lives. Jarvis killed Jason in The Final Chapter, though he inadvertently made his old enemy even more powerful. Jason displayed this early by punching clear through Tommy’s friend Allen. He also showcased his new strength when he killed the town sheriff by folding him in half.
However, Voorhees also took out an entire squad of corporate paintballers in the woods. He threw one so hard into a tree he left a bloody red smiley face on the bark. He tore off another’s arm to claim his machete, which he then used to decapitate three paintballers with one swing. He then took out two more on a bike at the same time to prove he was back with a vengeance.
6 Judy Died When Jason Smashed Her Into A Tree
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
In almost every Friday the 13th movie, Jason stayed close to Crystal Lake and threatened campers of all kinds. While Jason set his sights on a few people visiting cabins The New Blood, he also targeted a couple that was camping in the woods. He quietly killed Judy’s boyfriend after she headed to the tent to get ready for bed.
Jason ripped through the tent with his machete, scaring Judy further into her sleeping bag. Jason grabbed the sleeping bag and dragged her out of the tent as she tried to escape. He then slammed her violently against a tree, killing her. It was a brutal death that sequels like Jason X and the rebooted Friday the 13th would reimagine.
5 Jason Punched Boxer Julius Gaw's Head Clean Off
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Fans criticized 1989’s Jason Takes Manhattan for hardly taking place in the titular city. Jason spent most of the film killing off students aboard a ship on their way to Manhattan. Julius Gaw was a successful high school boxer who survived the massacre on the ship. He was one of the few students who actually made it to Manhattan with Jason.
Julius Gaw banked on his skills when he faced Jason on the rooftops of Manhattan. He put up an impressive fight and delivered punch after punch to Jason. Unfortunately, he tired himself out trying to injure the masked killer. Jason finally threw a single punch and knocked Julius Gaw’s head right off his body to fall to the streets below.
4 He Split Deborah In Half With A Broken Signpost
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
The only ‘90s entry in the Friday the 13th franchise sent Jason to hell, though he crawled his way back up. Jason possessed other people and carried out his vicious murders through proxies for most of the film. Jason’s possessed killer located a trio camping in the woods. The director added the scene after complaints to include more familiar Friday the 13th kills.
After killing the couple's friend off-screen, he picked up a broken signpost and moved toward the tent. He stabbed the post through Deborah’s body from outside the tent, covering her boyfriend in blood. The unrated cut revealed more of this gory scene, as Jason ripped the post up through her body to violently split her in half. The unrated cut's incredible effects greatly improved the kill.
3 Jason Froze Adrienne's Head In Liquid Nitrogen
Jason X (2002)
The franchise headed to new territory in 2002 with Jason X. A salvage crew in the year 2455 found Jason hundreds of years after he had been cryogenically frozen. They brought him aboard their spaceship and hoped to learn more about the legendary killer through an autopsy. This was not the smartest decision to make in a slasher movie, because Jason was definitely not dead.
Adrienne was a university assistant who was preparing for Jason’s autopsy when he woke up. Jason surprised her and they briefly struggled before he moved her over to a tank of liquid nitrogen. Jason shoved her head into the tank which instantly froze solid, killing her. He then smashed her face into bloody frozen crystals before moving on to a series of increasingly ridiculous kills.
2 Jason Killed Freddy Krueger With His Own Bladed Glove
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
The stars of two of the best slasher movie franchises met up in 2003’s highly-anticipated Freddy vs. Jason. The deadly villains started to work together after Freddy Krueger manipulated Jason Voorhees through his dreams. He sent Friday the 13th’s main killer to Krueger’s hometown of Springwood to remind them of his unending threat.
However, Freddy and Jason soon turned on each other when they began competing for victims. The titular fight carried them from Springwood to Camp Crystal Lake. Both villains delivered fatal blows in their final battle. However, Jason ended the fight by stabbing Freddy Krueger’s own bladed arm through his torso before the film's hero Lori Campbell decapitated him.
1 Jason Impaled Trent On A Towtruck As It Sped Away
Friday the 13th (2009)
Jason Voorhees returned in 2009’s Friday the 13th reboot, which upped the ante and delivered some of the most disturbing movie kills. He even revisited some classic kills with a dark new edge. Jason's iconic sleeping bag kill from The New Blood was taken to a new level when he burned a camper alive by hanging her above a fire in her sleeping bag.
However, one of the best kills of the movie was also one of the most rewarding as it took out the film’s bully. Trent Sutton was hosting a party at his family’s cabin on Crystal Lake. Jason tore his way through the group and Trent ran away in fear. He was almost saved by a passing tow truck. However, Jason stabbed Trent and mounted him on a passing tow truck as it sped away in fear.