SLASHER FILMS - Jason X (2001)

Every genre has cliches, but how well do the Friday the 13th films follow the slasher film rules?

Jason X (2001) is Friday the 13th...in Space!

The following analysis may contain spoilers for

Jason X (2001)

SLASHER FILMS RULES - Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Every genre has cliches, but has well does the ninth Friday the 13th follow the slasher film rules?

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) is yet another Friday the 13th film.

The following analysis may contain spoilers for

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

SLASHER FILM RULES - Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Every genre has cliches, but how well does a Friday the 13th film follow the Slasher film rules?

In Friday the 13th Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) travels by ship to New York.

The following analysis may contain spoilers for

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN (1988)

SLASHER FILM RULES - Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

Every genre has cliches, but how well does a Friday the 13th film follow the Slasher film rules?

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) in which a girl with special powers accidentally frees Jason.

The following analysis may contain spoilers for

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD (1988)

SLASHER FILM RULES - Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)

Every genre has cliches, but how well do the Friday the Thirteenth films follow the Slasher film rules?

Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986) Tommy Jarvis accidentally brings Jason Vorhees back from the dead, leading to the usual fun and games.

The following analysis may contain spoilers for

JASON LIVES: FRIDAY THE 13TH PART IV (1986)

SLASHER FILM RULES - Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

Films have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas?  Are the slasher film rules true?

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) the fourth Friday the 13th film.  Does it follow the rules?

SLASHER FILM RULES - Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Films have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas?  Are the slasher film rules true?

"Jason's body's disappeared from the morgue." ~ Rob Dier.

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) is as the name suggests the final ever film in the Friday the 13th franchise.  Unless the title is lying and they make more.  Whatever happens this is the fourth film in the series.  Just assumed I've asked the regular question about it following the slasher film rules.

SLASHER RULES: Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

Films have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas?  Are the slasher film rules true?

Friday the 13th Part III (1982) is a sequel to Part 1 and Part 2 (pretty obvious, huh?) but is it, too, going to follow the slasher film rules?

SLASHER FILM RULES - Analysis

Although I'm calling these Slasher Film Rules, the can apply to a range of horror sub-genres.

Ten films were tested:

• Psycho (1960)
• Night of the Living Dead (1968)
• Halloween (1978)
• Alien (1979)
• Friday the 13th (1980)
• Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
• Scream (1998)
• Wolf Creek (2005)

Of course, these films say nothing about the genre as a whole.  Certainly things can be said about the films, though.  They are usually bigger name films, smaller low-budget or less successful films may rely on the rules more.  They are mostly early films, and may have helped develop the rules rather than following them.  One is a post modern film in which the characters know the rules.  About half may not be purely "slasher" films and may not need to follow the rules.  Most are first films in a series and thus may follow the rules less.

Victims not killed in the narrative (previous victims in Psycho or Wolf Creek for example) are not being counted.  An extreme example of this is Paul Holt in Friday the 13th Part 2 who "disappeared" during a fight with Jason and who will be counted as alive since his death or body was never shown on-screen.  I'm not calling that a definitive answer for what happened to him, but rather, I need to make a call one way of the other.

SLASHER FILM RULES - Friday the 13th Part 2

"Jason's a legend, Ginny.  A legend." ~ Paul Holt.

As the name suggests, Friday the 13th Part 2 is a sequel to the original Friday the 13th.  But does that make the 1981 film more or less likely to follow the slasher film rules?

SLASHER FILM RULES - Friday the 13th.

In 1980 the first of the most successful horror movie franchise was released:  Friday the 13th.  While the highest grossing horror series in the US, it is also the most disliked by critics.  Are both of these things because the series follows or breaks the Slasher Rules?