If there’s one thing the Friday the 13th franchise is known for, it’s killing off characters in record numbers, but which version has a higher body count, 1980’s original or the 2009 remake? Beloved by fans of cheesy horror and slasher historians everywhere, 1980’s Friday the 13th was a pivotal film in guaranteeing the enduring popularity of the sub-genre. One of the first massive slasher successes post-Halloween, the film is a surprisingly subdued murder mystery whodunit that draws influence from Giallo movies.
The infamous masked madman Jason Voorhees barely even appears in the original Friday the 13th, although the same can’t be said for the film’s 2009 remake. A re-do in name only, this grim Platinum Dunes flick epitomizes much of what horror fans hated about 2000s movie remakes. Gritty, grey, and gruesome, it’s a humorless addition to the franchise, but one which is undeniably packed with admittedly impressive gore. So how do these two movies, different in everything but title, compare when it comes to the all-important body count?
The 2009 Friday the 13th remake soundly beats out the original in terms of onscreen death, boasting a total of 14 kills where the original racks up a still pretty respectable 10. So, while the newer film is the winner, it’s not by the frankly absurd margin that Rob Zombie’s gorier Halloween remake beat the body count of John Carpenter’s reserved original film. The two films have near-identical runtimes, but the original has a murder mystery plot to set up the action, whereas the reboot chooses to jump straight into the kills instead. In fact, the 2009 Friday the 13th reboot establishes its much more violent atmosphere by delivering the first five deaths in the movie within the opening twenty minutes.
To be fair to Sean S Cunningham’s 1980 Friday the 13th, once the murders start, the movie moves at quite a clip even by modern standards. Before this, though, the original Friday the 13th features some pretty shameless padding, such as a long sequence of a hitchhiker wandering through a quiet town in real-time, a scene which would make cinema verite fans proud, and put a lot of audiences to sleep. In contrast, the gorier remake immediately opens with a slew of slashing, decapitating the first film’s killer, Mrs. Voorhees, before the credits even begin.
But sometimes less is more, and 1980’s original film is more fondly remembered by critics than a lot of Friday the 13th‘s more over-the-top, comedic sequels and his later, darker reimagining. It’s easy to see why, as the first film’s mystery is an involved set-up even if Mrs. Voorhees is an absurd killer reveal; the killer’s hidden identity makes the movie a more suspenseful ride. It’s hardly fair to compare the two, as 2009’s remake uses the unkillable horror institution of Jason to its full advantage, and the character wasn’t around for the first film. However, despite his ability to dispatch teens in short order, a higher body count is about the only area where 2009’s Friday the 13th remake improves over the original 1980 movie.
