Best Friday the 13th film.

[Deathfeast]

I voted for the first one.
It's definitely the best one in my opinion.   

you cant go wrong with the first one. so many people i talk to still do not know who was the killer in the first.

[Torgo]

you cant go wrong with the first one. so many people i talk to still do not know who was the killer in the first.

Drew didn't know in the first Scream and look where that got her (and her boyfriend for that matter.)

[SaintMort]

I vote the first one but I really liked Jason Goes to Hell as well... the 5th and Manhattan were terrible

[Dennis]

I went with Jason X, saw the original when it first came out, thought it was great, started watching the sequels as they came out but after 1 or 2 they became boring so I stopped watching, then I saw Jason X on cable and I loved it, actually watched 3 times in a month, the whole idea of the unstoppable killer revived in the future was one I found irresistible,Lexa Doig and Lisa Ryder were fun to watch too.

[Jack]

It was a toss-up betwen part 2 and Jason X, but I had to go with 2 just because it was more "classic" I guess.  But I loved Jason X also.  I basically like parts 2 - 5, 6 was okay, and they kind of went downhill from there until 10.

[D-Man]

Without a doubt, the first film was the best of the whole bunch...but what a lot of people don't realize is that Friday the 13th was actually inspired by an old Mario Bava film from Italy called "Bay of Blood".  It not only features full frontal nudity, but also an impressive amount of violence for a film made in it's era.  It also features an ending that makes your jaw drop in disbelief. 

[Shadow]

Without a doubt, the first film was the best of the whole bunch...but what a lot of people don't realize is that Friday the 13th was actually inspired by an old Mario Bava film from Italy called "Bay of Blood".  It not only features full frontal nudity, but also an impressive amount of violence for a film made in it's era.  It also features an ending that makes your jaw drop in disbelief. 

Ah yes, Bay of Blood aka Twitch of the Death Nerve. Sadly out of print or I'd add it to my collection in a heartbeat. And yes, that ending was quite...unexpected.

[Jordan]

What's this? No love is given to John Carl Buechler's entry in the Friday the 13th series? (Namely Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood.) I enjoy that one because Jason takes on a telepath and gets f*cked up big time. Definitely the best-looking zombie Jason in the entire series! Part 6 gets an honorable mention mainly because Alice Cooper made the film's theme song that plays during the end credits. LOL! "He's back! THe man behind the mask, and he's out of control!" 

[D-Man]

I already have Bay of Blood in my collection.  My late father was able to tape it off cable a few years ago (I think it was on IFC).

[Joe]

im gonna go with part 6 (triple decapitation, one of my fav kills) with parts 2 and 3 tagging along behind it.

[clockworkcanary]

Uh, didn't we already have a poll on this not too long ago, started by clockworkcanary?

Again, I voted for part 2.

Yeah mine was "worst" friday flicks though - this poll is kinda the opposite of mine.

I liked part 4 the best - the final chapter - it was the pinnacle of the series - the most ironed-out formula and had some better characterizations (Tommy, Bear Hunter, and Crispon's character).  Jason was also one brutal killing machine in this one.

Part 2 comes in a close second.

[Mr Greasemonkey]

I liked part 4 the best - the final chapter - it was the pinnacle of the series - the most ironed-out formula and had some better characterizations (Tommy, Bear Hunter, and Crispon's character).  Jason was also one brutal killing machine in this one.

I completely agree.  Part 4 had the most in-depth characters and an amazing actor (ie Crispin Glover).  Two of the best lines from the series:

"You're a dead f**k!"
"HEY, TED, where the hell is the corkscrew?"

[clockworkcanary]

Oh...one other thing I forgot about Part 4: spaz dancing!  I bet Crispon totally libbed that scene too.

Maybe I should elaborate on my likes/dislikes of the Friday series since I've watched most of them many times and have written reviews for most of them.

In order from greater to lesser:

The Better
Part 4: Final Chapter - Best characters; meanest Jason
Part 2: Best Final Girl; Jason is the creepiest
Freddy vs Jason: good dorky fun

The Mediocre
Part 1: Most suspense (back in the day anyway -kinda a null point now though)
Part 6: Rise Zombie Jason, Arise!  A bit too much comedy though
Part 7: Jason vs Nerf Metal Carrie
Jason X: new approach for sure but watered down and copies Alien premise too much

The Suck
Part 3: poor atmosphere, annoying characters, and (another) batsh!t ending
Part 9: New approach but it sh!tcans/rewrites the backstory
Part 8: 85% on a boat ride, 10% in Canada, and another batsh!t ending
Part 5: high body count and new approach but sloppy storytelling and terrible editing

[Torgo]

"HEY, TED, where the hell is the corkscrew?"

     

[Texdar]

I went with part two.  Always found it to be the creepiest.