Jason has taken many, many victims throughout the Friday The 13th series but here are the best final girls who took him down. The surprise success of John Carpenter’s Halloween in 1978 led to a period of low-budget slasher movies in the 1980s, with Friday The 13th being one of the first. The original followed a group of camp counselors being picked off by an unseen killer. It’s eventually revealed Pamala Voorhees is behind the murders, having been driven insane by the death of son Jason while counselors weren’t paying attention.
Friday The 13th was a big hit for Paramount, leading to calls for a sequel. The issue there was Pamela got decapitated by the end of the movie, and while there was talk of the sequel having a completely original story, it was decided to make grown-up Jason the killer instead. This made little sense in terms of logic but Friday The 13th Part 2 was another hit and fans loved Jason. Paramount produced a further six sequels, fittingly coming to an end in 1989. Jason has returned numerous times since then, including crossover Freddy Vs Jason and Friday The 13th: The Game.
A key element of any slasher movie is the final girl, who is embodied by the likes of Halloween’s Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) or A Nightmare On Elm Street’s Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp). They are typically the strong, resourceful final survivor who is forced to take on the killer alone in the climax. Jason has faced a lot of final girls, but here are the best.
Tina Shepard - Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood
The original concept for Friday The 13th Part VII would have pit Jason against Freddy Krueger, but Paramount couldn’t reach an agreement with New Line. Instead, the movie essentially became Freddy Vs Carrie, with Jason fighting a troubled telekinetic teenager named Tina (Lar Park Lincoln).
Of course, the concept is ludicrous, but its a lot of fun seeing Jason being presented with a new foe who gives him a rough battle. Tina’s also suffered through a fair amount of trauma - including Jason killing her mother - so she’s earned some righteous payback. Given the whole telekinetic powers thing though, she has something of an unfair advantage over other final girls.
Chris Higgins - Friday The 13th Part III
Chris (Dana Kimmell) reveals in Friday The 13th Part III that she encountered Jason - though she never learns his actual name during the story - during an ill-defined attack in her past. This history comes into play in the final act, as she spends 20 minutes alone outsmarting him, which includes hanging him and hitting him in the head with an ax. This final showdown between them is one of the best of the series, with Chris displaying amazing resourcefulness and bravery - despite clearly being terrified the entire time.
Ginny Field - Friday The 13th Part 2
After Jason brutally murders the previous movie’s final girl Alice in the opening scenes of Friday The 13th Part 2, Ginny (Amy Steel) is the first true survivor of the series. She’s also become a real fan favorite, due to her sheer likeability and her quick thinking when it came to facing Jason.
After fighting him off, she comes to his rundown shack and discovers his shrine to the decapitated head of his mother. Ginny - an aspiring child psychologist - then dons Pamala’s trademark sweater, which confuses Jason long enough for her to land a lethal blow with a machete. Sadly, Ginny never returned to the Friday The 13th franchise, but it often considered one of the best final girls.
Next: Friday The 13th: How Many People Has Jason Killed In All Movies?
