Ultimately, Jason Voorhees feels like the main reason these films have remained popular. RELATED: Modern Zombie Movies Learned The Wrong Lessons From Romero's Movies This sets the film up for its eventual sequels, where Jason takes the reins as the primary antagonist. That is, until the very end when the young boy emerges from the water and grabs Alice, the film's final girl, in a surprise jump scare ending. People are sometimes surprised to learn this, because Friday the 13th is so synonymous with the main killer of the franchise, Jason Voorhees, and he isn't even in the first movie.
At the end of the film, the killer is revealed to be the unhinged mother of the drowned boy. As the group of teens is getting ready for its reopening, they start getting killed off one by one. There was a previous tragedy at the camp, where a boy accidentally drowned and since then the place had been shut down. The first film features a group of camp counselors who are getting ready to work at a summer camp called Camp Crystal Lake. Its big redeeming quality though is so great, it makes up for a lot of the problems. When watching them for the first time, it's kind of confusing as to how they can be so popular because they really are pretty bad. As a whole, the movies are pretty underwhelming in terms of quality. The series is often thought of as a great introductory horror film because of how recognizable it is, but it does suffer from one pretty big problem.
It's hugely financially successful and was even the highest-grossing horror franchise for a long time. The iconic horror franchise, which started in 1980 as a small film intended to cash in on Halloween fame, currently has 12 films including one crossover with A Nightmare on Elm Street and a remake. When one is asked what comes to mind when they think "horror movie," a common answer is Friday the 13th.