When it comes to horror icons, few are as instantly recognisable as Jason Voorhees. The hockey-masked slasher has been slicing his way through pop culture for over 40 years, leaving a bloody trail across New Jersey campgrounds, New York City alleyways, and — somehow — the cold depths of outer space. With more kills than any other cinematic killer in history, Jason’s reputation isn’t just built on body count. It’s his creativity that keeps fans coming back. From machetes to liquid nitrogen, sleeping bags to tree belts, Jason will use anything — and anyone — to get the job done. The Friday the 13th films have never been about deep plots or Oscar-worthy acting. They’ve been about over-the-top, gory, and often darkly hilarious kills that make audiences squirm, cheer, and sometimes laugh out loud. Here are the ten best kills from the Friday the 13th franchise — in all their bloody glory.
Julius – Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Part VIII is infamous for misleading fans — Jason spends most of the film on a boat rather than terrorising Manhattan. But once he finally reaches the city, we get one of the franchise’s most entertaining kills.
Trapped on a rooftop, Julius decides the best way to fight Jason is to box him. For over a minute, the camera follows Julius landing punch after punch, sweat flying, knuckles bloodied, hands blistering — but Jason doesn’t even flinch. Completely gassed, Julius drops his guard, and Jason responds with a single, devastating punch that knocks Julius’s head clean off. The severed head bounces off the rooftop edge before plummeting into a dumpster below.
Behind the scenes: The fight was choreographed to last over a minute to showcase Julius’s stamina. Kane Hodder suggested the one-punch decapitation ending for maximum shock. The scene was filmed in Vancouver using a dummy head filled with fake blood and slime to give it weight when it hit the dumpster.
Trey – Freddy vs. Jason
The long-awaited crossover between horror’s biggest slashers had mixed reviews, but it gave us some top-tier kills — and Trey’s demise is a perfect example.
From the moment we meet him, Trey is the stereotypical obnoxious horror boyfriend: rude, arrogant, and dismissive of everyone else. After a bedroom scene with Gibb, Jason storms in, stabbing Trey repeatedly in the back with his trademark brutality. But the real punch comes when Jason folds the bed in half — with Trey still on it — snapping him clean in two.
Behind the scenes: The kill was filmed using a breakaway mattress reinforced with hidden hinges. The effect took several takes to perfect, as the crew wanted the “snap” to be visible without looking like a staged prop collapse. The concept originated in early Friday the 13th Part VII drafts but was cut due to MPAA censorship.
Mark – Friday the 13th Part 2
Before the hockey mask, Jason was still finding his style — and Mark’s death is one of the standouts from his early career.
Mark, a wheelchair-bound counsellor, is set up as a charming, likeable character with a budding romance with Vickie. That makes his death all the more cruel. While waiting outside for Vickie, Jason appears from the shadows and slams a machete into his face. The impact sends Mark hurtling backwards down what feels like the longest outdoor staircase in horror history.
Behind the scenes: The stunt was performed by a trained wheelchair stuntman and shot in a single continuous take. The stairs were specially built to ensure the fall looked long and dangerous without actually injuring the performer.
Adrienne – Jason X
When Jason goes to space, things get… strange. But amid the sci-fi silliness lies one of the series’ most inventive kills.
Medical student Adrienne is alone in the lab, performing an autopsy on what she thinks is Jason’s lifeless body. Of course, he wakes up. Grabbing her, Jason plunges her head into a vat of liquid nitrogen, instantly freezing her face into a ghostly, frost-covered mask. He then smashes her head against a counter, shattering it into icy fragments.
Behind the scenes: Multiple liquid nitrogen effects were tested, including practical frost makeup and breakable ice molds. The final smash was done with a hollow, sugar-glass head sprayed to look frozen. It remains one of the most talked-about kills in horror fan circles.
Jack – Friday the 13th (1980)
The original Friday was more whodunnit than body-count showcase, but Jack’s death (famously played by Kevin Bacon) set the tone for what was to come.
After a romantic cabin scene, Jack lies back on a bunk bed for a smoke, unaware a killer is hiding beneath him. A hand grabs his forehead, pinning him down, as an arrow is driven up through the mattress and into his throat.
Behind the scenes: The prosthetic chest piece was glued directly to Bacon’s neck while he lay on the bed, making breathing difficult. When the blood pump failed mid-shot, special effects legend Tom Savini quickly blew into the tube to push the fake blood out — the take seen in the final film.
Eddie – Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning
Part V took the risky step of replacing Jason with an imposter killer, but Eddie’s death still holds a special place in franchise history.
After finding his girlfriend’s corpse in the woods, Eddie stumbles back against a tree, only for “Jason” to slip a leather belt around his head. Using a stick, the killer twists the belt tighter and tighter until Eddie’s skull is crushed against the tree.
Behind the scenes: This tense, drawn-out kill was inspired by a garrotting scene in The Godfather. It was filmed in daylight and later tinted to look like night during post-production.
Jason Voorhees – Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Yes, the killer himself makes the list — because sometimes the best Friday kill… is Jason’s own.
Tommy Jarvis, the child protagonist of Part IV, takes the fight to Jason in the film’s intense climax. After managing to unmask him, revealing his grotesque face, Tommy buries a machete into Jason’s cheek. As Jason collapses, the blade slides deeper through his head in a grotesque, unbroken shot.
Behind the scenes: The sliding machete effect was achieved by filming in reverse with a special prosthetic head sculpted by Tom Savini’s team. Actor Ted White described the sequence as physically exhausting due to the heavy makeup and long shooting day.
Sissy – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
Sissy, a camp counsellor, makes the fatal mistake of underestimating Jason’s return.
Hearing a noise outside her cabin, she assumes it’s a friend playing a prank and leans out the window to pour a drink on them. Instead, Jason grabs her, yanking her out of the cabin in one smooth motion, and twists her head 180 degrees until her neck snaps.
Behind the scenes: The original cut of this death was much longer and gorier, but the MPAA forced heavy edits. The uncut footage is now believed to be lost.
Andy – Friday the 13th Part III
Andy’s kill is one of the most remembered in the franchise, partly thanks to the film’s 3D gimmick.
After a round of bedroom fun with Debbie, Andy entertains himself by walking on his hands through the cabin. Unfortunately for him, Jason is waiting with a machete. From Andy’s inverted perspective, the killer swings the blade down between his legs, cutting him in half.
Behind the scenes: Actor Jeffrey Rogers performed the handstand himself. Two separate shots were filmed — one for the walk, one for the kill — to work around the bulky 3D camera rigs of the era.
Sheriff Garris – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
Sheriff Garris stands out as one of the rare sympathetic authority figures in the franchise — which makes his fate even more gutting.
After failing to take Jason down with firearms, Garris hides in the woods. But when Jason turns his attention to Garris’s daughter, the sheriff emerges to protect her. Jason grabs him, bending him backwards at an impossible angle until his spine snaps.
Behind the scenes: The kill was added late in the script to give Megan’s character greater emotional stakes. The moment was storyboarded in detail, but the practical method used to achieve the extreme bend has never been officially documented.
Final Thoughts
Jason Voorhees has given horror fans over four decades of blood-soaked creativity. Whether it’s an ice-shattering head smash, a single rooftop punch, or a slow, crushing belt twist, each kill combines brutality with showmanship — making Jason an immortal horror legend.