8 Friday the 13th Kills You Never Saw the Full Version Of

Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees is pop culture's GOAT slasher, but his goriest kills were hampered by the MPAA ratings board all throughout the 1980s. Even the unrated editions of the Friday the 13th movies don't fully capture the blood and brutality that each of the movies wanted to deliver, especially at Jason's peak.

As the '80s went on, each Friday the 13th movie was increasingly curtailed in editing, in order to avoid an X-rating.

Subsequently, generations of Jason fans have grown up with the TV edits of the movies, which downplay the gore even further. Let's look at some examples of kills that were undermined throughout Jaso's career.

Alice's Death, Ice Pick To The Temple

Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981)

From Jason Voorhees' very first on-screen kill, cinema's most prolific slasher was already having his scenes cut for being too intense. Friday the 13th Part 2 introduced Jason by having him claim vengeance for his mother by dispatching the first film's final girl, Alice, with an ice pick driven straight into her brain.

The ice pick kill in Friday Part 2's theatrical version lasts just a split second before the camera cuts, and it is completely bloodless. It is a muted version of what was shot in production, prefiguring what ultimately became the Friday the 13 franchise's greatest conflict. Not Jason vs. camp counselors, but filmmakers and special effects artists vs. the MPAA ratings board.

Andy's Death, Cut In Half

Friday The 13th Part III (1982)

Andy's death in Friday the 13th Part III is legitimately one of the most gruesome in franchise history. However, its impact was compromised by edits forced by the MPAA, and TV versions of the film omit the kill's gore almost entirely. In Part III, Jason chops Andy in half, and then hangs his body from the cabin's rafters, with his entrails dangling out.

The true extent of Andy's mutilation is only a "blink-and-miss-it" shot in the R-rated Friday the 13th Part III release. In fact, the kill itself is somewhat confusing in the theatrical film, thanks to the abrupt cut away the moment Jason brings his machete down on Andy's midsection. But in terms of intention, Andy's death sets a high bar.

Rick's Death, Head Crushed

Friday The 13th Part III (1982)

Like Andy's demise, Rick's death showcases Friday The 13th Part III's ambitious special effects. Part III is when the franchise really became about the kills, rather than the suspense. Of course, that also meant the start of the MPAA's increasingly overbearing standards for awarding the films the R-ratings they needed for wide theatrical releases.

Jason memorably crushes Rick's head with his bare hands. Friday The 13th Part III was released in 3D, and Rick's eye shooting out of its socket at the viewer was the pinnacle of the movie's 3D usage. Yet the movie wasn't allowed to linger, or savor the brutal moment; instead, it quickly cuts back to final girl Chris.

Samantha's Death, Stabbed Through An Inflatable Raft

Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Original Friday the 13th special effects coordinator Tom Savini returned to the franchise for Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter, and by many accounts it was just the latest front in his one-man campaign of gore against the MPAA 's censorship. Savini went all-out with The Final Chapter's death and mayhem, but severe edits hampered his work on-screen.

Sam's death is one hardcore example. She's slowly stabbed from below as she floats on Crystal Lake. The knife working its way through the false torso Savini constructed is truly horrifying in the film's unrated cut, especially along with the look of sheer horror on the actress's face. In the theatrical release and subsequent TV edits, though, quick cuts undermine the horror.

Eddie's Death, Head Crushed

Friday The 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

The fifth Friday the 13th infamously replaced Jason Voorhees with a copycat killer. Even though the man under the mask ultimately wasn't actually Jason, A New Beginning did live up to its name in the sense that it continued to up the ante when it came to gore. Consequently, it was the most savagely edited to fit MPAA standards up to that point.

The death of at-risk teen Eddie is New Beginning's most inventive kill. Jason-substitute Roy the Paramedic straps Eddie to a treet, and then tightens the strap until it crushes his victim's head. Unfortunately, the gore of the scene is limited, thanks to ratings restrictions, and as such, it comes across as sillier rather than scarier.

Stan, Katie, & Larry, Triple Decapitation

Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

Jason Lives is unquestionably the best-made Friday the 13th movie. It's also the funniest. And it could have been the bloodiest, but the gore in the final film was significantly reduced from what was originally planned. The triple murder of three unfortunate executives exemplifies this. It's ultimately a relatively bloodless death, which had the potential to be way gnarlier.

Jason Lives came at a time when the studio wanted more kills, and the MPAA wanted less gore. Director Tom McLaughlin compromised by shooting multiple versions of each death scene. Comedy won out over horror in the end; as a result, Part VI feels unlike any other Jason movie, for the better, but its kills are abbreviated versions of what was filmed.

Judy's Death, Sleeping Bag Slammed Against A Tree

Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

The sleeping bag kill from Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is near the top of the list for Jason's most outrageous murders. In the theatrical cut of the movie, it's heavily truncated from what was shot. In the theatrical scene, Jason whacks the sleeping bag against a tree once, and the character Judy falls out dead.

It takes a little more effort, and a lot more horror, in the unrated version of the film. By the time The New Blood hit the scene in 1988, slasher movies had worn out their welcome, at least with the MPAA ratings board. The problems with late '80s slasher movies are entirely the fault of censorship, but it does explain a lot.

Julius' Death, Head Punched Off

Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan

Jason Takes Manhattan was an uninspired end to the '80s for Friday the 13th. Watching the film back now, it's clear that the franchise hit a wall behind-the-scenes. Not just that it ran out of ideas, but it ran out of the will to fight for an R-rating. Jason Takes Manhattan's gore is campy and low-budget compared to its predecessors.

Even then, it was neutered by the MPAA. Take its most absurd moment, for example: when Jason boxes high school kid Julius, ultimately KOing him by knocking his head clean off his body. The kill is not just bloodless, it's downright cartoonish. Yet it's still awkwardly cut to satisfy the MPAA's tight control over the Friday the 13th franchise at its height.

What do you think, Jason fans? What should have been the most hardcore Friday the 13th kill if it weren't for the MPAA?