Friday the 13th Movies in Order (and Where Crystal Lake Fits)
All 12 Friday the 13th movies in release order, where Freddy vs. Jason and the 2009 reboot fit, and why the Peacock series Crystal Lake goes before the 1980 film.
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Watch them in release order, starting with Friday the 13th (1980) and ending with the 2009 reboot. There are twelve films, and Crystal Lake, the Peacock series that arrived on October 15, is a prequel: in story order it goes before the 1980 film.
The next Friday the 13th is November 13, 2026, which leaves time for all of it.
The original run, 1980 to 1989
Friday the 13th (1980)
Sean S. Cunningham’s film, and the one the rest hang on. Teenagers are getting Camp Crystal Lake ready to reopen and someone is killing them. The killer is Pamela Voorhees, played by Betsy Palmer, not her son. Find it on Achriom.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Steve Miner’s sequel reveals that Jason is alive and fully grown, and he kills a group of teens training as camp counselors. Jason is the killer from here on. Find it on Achriom.
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Miner again, filmed in 3-D. Jason takes a hockey mask from one of his victims to hide his face, which is how the mask enters the series. Find it on Achriom.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Joseph Zito directs. Jason is taken to a morgue, returns to Crystal Lake and goes after Trish and Tommy Jarvis, and Tommy kills him. The title was optimistic. Look it up on Achriom.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Danny Steinmann’s film follows Tommy Jarvis, now at a halfway house. The killer this time is Roy Burns, a copycat who takes on Jason’s persona, so it is the odd one out: the man in the mask is not Jason. Find it on Achriom.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Tom McLoughlin’s film. Tommy accidentally brings Jason back at the cemetery, using a fence piece as a lightning rod, and then has to stop him again. Look it up on Achriom.
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
John Carl Buechler directs. Jason is revived by Tina Shepard, a telekinetic girl trying to bring back her father, whom she caused to drown as a child. The producer Barbara Sachs dubbed it “Jason vs. Carrie,” according to the franchise’s Wikipedia history. Find it on Achriom.
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Rob Hedden’s film sends Jason after a senior class cruise heading for New York. Most of it happens on the ship, because the budget cut the New York scenes, and Vancouver stood in for most of the city. Look it up on Achriom.
The 1993 to 2003 films
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Adam Marcus directs. The FBI sets up a sting that kills Jason, but his “black heart” passes between hosts by possession. His niece, Jessica Kimble, stabs him with a mystical dagger and he is dragged into Hell. Look it up on Achriom.
Jason X (2002)
James Isaac’s film moves the series to the future. A team of students finds Jason’s body more than 400 years after he was frozen, and once he is thawed he comes back as a nanotech cyborg. It was released April 26, 2002. Find it on Achriom.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Ronny Yu’s crossover came out August 15, 2003. Freddy Krueger, weakened and trapped in Hell, resurrects Jason to spread fear, and Jason turns out to be uncontrollable. In story it follows Jason Goes to Hell, while Jason X is set in the future. Look it up on Achriom.
The reboot and the series
Friday the 13th (2009)
Marcus Nispel’s film restarted the series’ continuity, so it works without the others. The producers said they wanted to use pieces from the early films. If you are watching in release order, this is the last stop. Find it on Achriom.
Crystal Lake (2026)
A24’s series for Peacock, created and run by Brad Caleb Kane, with all eight episodes released on October 15, 2026. Linda Cardellini plays Pamela Voorhees, and Callum Vinson plays young Jason. Victor Miller, who wrote the original 1980 film, is among the executive producers (Dread Central).
It is a prequel that explores the events that turned Pamela into a killer. Jason drowned in the town lake almost a year before the story begins, and the show brings in earlier versions of characters from the first film, including Ralph, a recluse in the woods who is linked to the franchise’s Crazy Ralph. That puts it before the 1980 movie in story order. Find it on Achriom.
How to watch them
If you have never seen one
Start with the 1980 film and Part 2, then keep going in release order. Part 2 is where Jason first appears as the killer. After that you can decide how far to go.
If you want the story, not the release dates
Watch Crystal Lake first, then the 1980 film, and carry on through the original run. Freddy vs. Jason follows Jason Goes to Hell in story and Jason X is set in the future, so for continuity rather than release order, move the crossover up to sit right after Jason Goes to Hell. The series is eight episodes, so it is a bigger commitment than a film: close to eight hours, by Dread Central’s count.
If you only have a weekend
The Tommy Jarvis run, The Final Chapter, A New Beginning and Jason Lives, follows one character across three films. Add the 1980 film for the setup and Freddy vs. Jason for the crossover.
Keep the films and the series on one shelf
Twelve films and an eight-episode series is enough that you will lose your place. Achriom tracks films and shows side by side, with eight kinds of media in all, so the movies and Crystal Lake can sit on the same shelf. The shows get season-by-season and episode tracking, and every title can be marked watched, paused or dropped, with start and finish dates and a rewatch count. The free plan has no item limit, and your shelf is private unless you turn on a public profile.
You can also ask it questions about your own shelf in plain words, such as “which Friday the 13th films haven’t I watched?”, and it answers from what you have logged. It works in the app, in ChatGPT, in Claude and in Cursor, and the free plan includes 10 librarian messages a month. If you are comparing apps first, the best movie tracking apps and the best TV show trackers set the options side by side.
If the marathon sends you looking for more, horror books that are better than the movie covers what to read next, and movies you love that were secretly books first goes the other way. For a night when the films are spread over several services, how to track movies across streaming services helps.
Questions people ask
What order should I watch the Friday the 13th movies in?
Release order: Friday the 13th (1980), Part 2, Part III, The Final Chapter, A New Beginning, Jason Lives, The New Blood, Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X, Freddy vs. Jason, then the 2009 Friday the 13th. Crystal Lake, the 2026 Peacock series, is a prequel, so in story order it goes before the 1980 film.
How many Friday the 13th movies are there?
Twelve: the original run of eight films from 1980 to 1989, Jason Goes to Hell in 1993, Jason X in 2002, Freddy vs. Jason in 2003 and the 2009 reboot.
Where does Crystal Lake fit in the Friday the 13th timeline?
Before all of it. Crystal Lake is a prequel to the 1980 film, and all eight episodes came to Peacock on October 15, 2026.
Does Freddy vs. Jason come before or after Jason X?
After, in release order: Jason X came out in 2002 and Freddy vs. Jason in 2003. In story, Freddy vs. Jason follows Jason Goes to Hell, while Jason X is set in the future.
Do I have to watch the Friday the 13th movies in order?
Not strictly, but release order is the simplest way. The Tommy Jarvis run, The Final Chapter, A New Beginning and Jason Lives, follows one character across three films, so keep those three in sequence.
Is the 2009 Friday the 13th a remake or a sequel?
A reboot. It restarted the series’ continuity, so you do not need the earlier films to follow it.
When is the next Friday the 13th?
Friday, November 13, 2026.