The so-bad-it's-good horror movies, exploring the already well-worn tropes.

With Jason being such a recognizable and iconic villain, Friday the 13th has had many rip-offs since its creation. But one movie came to be considered almost a spoof of itself, making fun of all the typical tropes of the films. Unfortunately for it, many took the movie seriously at the movie's release, which dramatically affected audience opinions of the franchise's trajectory. It wasn't until two years later that Jason returned to the screen in Freddy vs. Jason, this time having to have an even stronger gimmick to entice audiences to return.

Jason X Isn't Like Any Other Friday The 13th Movie (& Nearly Killed The Franchise)

The Movie Alters Jason Like Never Before

Jason X recycles the same villainous plotlines of the rest of the series but with a gimmick, adding that Kane Hodder's Jason Vorhees is now a cyborg instead of an undead serial killer. In the movie, Jason is cryogenically frozen for 445 years and wakes on a spaceship in 2455. The concept was a turn for the series that it was ridiculed by many audiences at the time, deterring dedicated franchise fans. The project was a major departure from the typical that no more direct sequels to the film were made.

The next Friday the 13th Film to come out after Jason X was Freddy vs. Jason, in 2003.

Jason X has a mere 20% on Rotten Tomatoes and received mostly negative reviews at the time of its release. This is in contrast to the original movie, which is also the franchise's highest-rated installment, at 66% on Rotten Tomatoes. Jason X underperformed at the box office, grossing only $17 million on an $11 million budget. Since its initial release, Jason X has received a bit of a reassessment, especially from newer audiences, who are now assessing the franchise as a whole re-watchable series instead of in timed-released installments to see in theaters.

How Jason X Turned Into A Friday The 13th Comedy Sequel

The Movie Added Jokes And Comical Kills

When it was originally released, Jason X was taken more seriously, following the intense themes of the other movies. However, at its heart, Jason X is comical, poking fun at the absurd direction the franchise took over the past 21 years. Jason's kills have become wildly more inventive and almost humorous, such as a character having her face frozen and smashed. There are also more overt jokes, which became a staple of later-era slasher films, who understood that many of the tropes now had to be subverted to be entertaining.

There were also more overt jokes and blatant line reads that the Jason X writing and filmmaking were more aware of the slasher movie tropes. Jason X had to stand out since the genre was so diluted with other slasher content. The movie was willing to break the standard conventions, adding jokes that would be out of place in the other movies. The Friday the 13th franchise had become too self-aware at this point and couldn't help but poke fun at themselves, forever changing the tone of the beloved original series.