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The Most Ridiculous Moments in the ‘Friday the 13th’ Franchise

The Most Ridiculous Moments in the ‘Friday the 13th’ Franchise

Friday the 13th dominated the slasher movie market in the 80s with Paramount releasing one almost every year. Between 1980 and 1989, Jason Voorhees made a whopping 8 big screen appearances. With that much output, strange things become bound to fall through the cracks. Grab your favorite machete and strap on your hockey mask as we take a look at some of the most bizarre moments in the franchise.

5. Cyborg Jason

Yes, this happened. In the tenth installment of the Friday the 13th saga, 2001’s Jason X, the unstoppable killing machine goes to space. Despite the futuristic setting (Jason gets cryogenically frozen, only to be awakened in the year 2463), the iconic slasher retains his classic look. He stalks scientists aboard an advanced space vessel before being assaulted by a lady cyborg that blows him to bits with advanced weaponry. However, Jason gets reassembled with nanotechnology. This resulted in a cyborg Vorhees dubbed “Uber-Jason”. Of course, the post-Scream Friday the 13th sequel’s tongue-in-cheek, but many fright fans felt this pushed things too far.

4. Jason vs the Pugilist

Friday the 13th part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, is infamous in part because of heavy MPAA censorship sidelining a lot of epic kills. However, one of the death scenes plays out unaltered and still manages to work. The young boxer Julius finds himself trapped on a rooftop, facing the formidable Jason Voorhees. Instead of succumbing to the usual fate of a helpless victim, he defies expectations by putting up his dukes and fighting back against his relentless assailant.

In a fierce battle, Julius unleashes a series of powerful blows on Jason. The behemoth staggers, however, the punches fail to make a significant impact. Exhausted and resigned to his fate, Julius braces himself. Jason delivers a single uppercut, severing his head. In a comical beat, the head tumbles into a nearby garbage container, the lid slamming shut.

3. “He’s Killing Me!”, He Says in a ‘Friday the 13th’ Movie…

1984’s Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter contains one of the most puzzling (and unintentionally hilarious) death scenes of the entire series. Over the course of the film, the character of Rob seems to be a potential rival of Jason. Rob is out to avenge the death of his sister at the hands of Voorhees and seems to be ready for a fight. Eventually, the pair throw down in a basement. However, Rob isn’t much of a fighter. Jason dispatches Rob with ease. As the cinematic slasher takes Rob apart in the shadows, Rob screams, “He’s killing me!” several times. Is he, Rob? Is Jason killing you?

2. The Friday the 13th Kids Have Got the Moves…

In the fourth film, Crispin Glover’s character, Jimmy, slumps onto the dance floor with the intention of impressing one of the new girls in the group. The music flips over to hard rock riffs. Jimmy performs frantic spasms mixed with karate moves. It’s a strange moment, with the other actors in the scene clearly breaking character at the sight.

1. Damn Enchiladas

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, has perhaps the most infamous and strange scene in the entire series. Cool kid Demon (Miguel Nunez Jr) has a moment that brings him down to size. After one too many enchiladas, the leather-clad hipster has to rush to a dingy outhouse to relieve himself. While struggling on the toilet, his girlfriend inexplicably serenades him from the outside. Of course, the pair meet grisly deaths (Demon is still on the toilet, for Pete’s sake!) soon after. Borderline experimental remixes of the scene pop up on YouTube to this day.