Is it the number of times you watch them? Is it the body count? Is it the number of autographs you have from the stars of the series ?
I have stated for so long that John Carpenter's Halloween is my favorite movie of all time in any genre of film but I ask you this does that mean Halloween is my favorite franchise ???
(Texas Chainsaw Massacre) These movies all have HUGE fan bases and thats what I love about the horror genre we are the most passionate group of fans and that is a great thing.
I've been thinking about what is truly my FAVORITE slasher series and because Halloween is my favorite movie of all time people assume that Halloween is my favorite series and I guess it used to be but after thinking about it I only watch Halloween & Halloween II a couple times a year and rarely watch the others unless my wife wants to watch them. My wife is a fan of ANOES and we watch that series a couple times a year.
It was while I was watching Friday The 13th that I realized that it's my favorite series for any number of reasons. There really isn't a horrible entry in the series (I understand JGTH is a rough watch but it has it's good points) The continuity in the series is probably the most solid continuity in all of the 80's slasher franchises.
People will site Part V : A New Beginning as a black eye on the series and I disagree because opposite of popular belief A New Beginning was a success at the box office costing 2.2 million dollars to make and grossed 21.9 million that's a successful movie. I actually enjoy A New Beginning for many reasons I like that fact that they didn't make the mistake of making a movie with out Jason. (They had an fake Jason) but "Jason" was a part of the story. I likwe they way the explained the fake Jason because it worked so well.
My favorite movie in the series is of course the original and then Part 2 but after that some of my favorites would surprise many fans. I have done a blog in the past where I rank the films in the series and looking back on it now having seen each of the movies in the series several more times I understand that doing a ranking blog or video is subject to many factors and can change year to year, from month to month well hell from Day to day even.....
I'm alot older and wiser then I was years ago. I look at movies alot differently then I did back then. I really enjoy the fact that they tried a couple of times to take Jason out of Crystal Lake, Jason Takes Manhattan and Jason X are really good installments in the series and I enjoyed them both because they were something new and different and they changed the setting for Jason to do his thing.
Jason Goes To Hell was a good movie in that they tried (alittle too hard) to explain the Voorhees Mythology and on one hand I tip my hat to Adam Marcus for having the balls to do that but on the other I dislike the body switching part of the story. This movie, the story and the unknown Voorhees relations were interesting to me but confusing at the same time. I think adding Elias Voorhees (Jason's father) to the story at this point would've been interesting. I like the fact that Adam Marcus recently talked about the character of Crayon Duke and his backstory which once you know who he is and why he wants to end Jason once and for all the character makes 100% more sense.
I have to say that as an autograph collector Friday The 13th is my part of collection with 33 signatures and counting
(I have one wall in my office dedicated to my F13 collection) That's not a factor as to why Friday The 13th is my favorite series, I feel that Friday The 13th cast and crew are simply more accessible to their fan base and that's amazing to me. When I got into film making I made the choice to always be accessible to fans via social media and when I'm out in public and as I release more films I get more people asking for autographs and to talk about my movies which I love doing. I think alot of the cast from the Friday series understand that these movies have a HUGE worldwide following and they are a part of it and the respect the series for making them famous.
I hope they bring Jason Back for another film (The 13th in the series) make it a masterpiece and then end the series on a high note but if another film comes out and it's a HUGE success then it will force the studio to make more films and honestly as long as they are good films I'm happy to watch them over and over again.
With all that said my favorite franchise may change again in the future but I don't think it will as I watch Friday The 13th more then any other franchise because I'm very much into the story telling and the characters in the series.
STAY HUMBLE, STAY HUNGRY MY FRIENDS :) ki.. ki.. ki.. mi.. mi.. mi..