10 Movies That Are Basically One Big Apology
8. Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
It's fair to say that the Friday the 13th franchise quickly tumbled in quality following the classic 1980 original, but it hit a new low with the release of the fifth film, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.
The sequel left fans fuming with its climactic reveal, that hockey mask-wearing, machete-wielding murderer Jason Voorhees wasn't the actual killer - it was a copycat playing pretend.
As its title suggests, A New Beginning was an attempt to steer the franchise away from Jason, with Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd) ultimately being implied to carry the torch.
Fan response was so universally negative - reflected by the film's underwhelming commercial performance - that the producers quickly changed tack for the sixth film, Jason Lives.
The sequel not only began by immediately resurrecting Jason, but also adopted a far less-serious tone than its predecessors, practically winking at the audience on occasion while doubling down on the creative kills.
It was the equivalent of telling fans, "We know we goofed, sorry about that." The result was easily the best of all the Friday the 13th sequels, and arguably the strongest film in the entire franchise.