Jason X

Did You Know?

• The film's theatrical trailer was released on November 9, 2001.
• Jason X premiered in Spain on November 15, 2001.
• On May 20, 2025, Arrow Films released Jason X in standalone limited edition 4K UHD Blu-ray set.

Plot

In 2008, mass murderer Jason Voorhees is captured by the United States government and held at the Crystal Lake Research Facility. By 2010, after numerous failed attempts to kill him, Rowan LaFontaine suggests placing him in cryogenic stasis. Dr. Wimmer and Sergeant Marcus arrive with soldiers hoping to study Jason's healing ability. Jason breaks free, kills the soldiers and Dr. Wimmer, and is lured into a cryogenic pod. He ruptures the pod with his machete, stabbing Rowan, and cryogenic fluid freezes them both. Around 2455, Earth is so polluted humans have moved to Earth II. On a field trip to Earth I, Professor Brandon Lowe, android KM-14, intern Adrienne Thomas, and students explore the abandoned Crystal Lake Research Facility, finding the frozen Jason and Rowan. They bring them aboard the spaceship Grendel and revive Rowan, leaving Jason in the morgue. Adrienne is ordered to dissect Jason, but Rowan warns of his abilities. Jason awakens and kills Adrienne by freezing her head with liquid nitrogen and smashing it. He kills Stoney and Kinsa, then interrupts a holographic game, breaking Azrael's back and bashing Dallas's skull. He attacks engineer Crutch, but Sergeant Elijah Brodski arrives with soldiers. After Brodski splits up his team, Jason kills them one by one.

Production

By the late 1990s, Freddy vs. Jason was stuck in development, so Jim Isaac and Sean S. Cunningham wanted a new Friday the 13th movie to keep fans interested. Todd Farmer, who also acted in the film as Dallas, came up with the idea after trying out different locations, finally settling on a space slasher story inspired by Alien. David Cronenberg rewrote his own character’s lines. Filming ran from March 6 to May 2000 in Toronto.

Reception

The film earned $13.1 million domestically and $3.8 million abroad, for a global total of $16.9 million. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 20% approval rating from 108 critics, with an average score of 3.8/10. The site’s consensus notes that while Jason travels to the future, the story remains stuck in the past. Metacritic gives it a weighted score of 25 out of 100 from 23 critics, meaning generally unfavorable reviews. CinemaScore audiences gave it a C grade. Roger Ebert awarded it half a star out of four, quoting the line “This sucks on so many levels.” The film fared better in the United Kingdom, where Total Film and Empire offered positive reviews. Empire’s Kim Newman called it wittily scripted, smartly directed, and well-played by an unfamiliar cast. Over time, it has gained a cult following, especially among younger series fans, who appreciate its self-aware humor and creative kills. Adrienne’s death, where her head is frozen in liquid nitrogen and shattered, is often highlighted and was even tested on an episode of MythBusters in 2009.

Other media

Avatar Press released the comic Jason X Special in 2005, picking up right where the movie left off. Brian Pulido wrote it, Sebastian Fumara handled the art, and Mark Sweeney did the coloring. The story introduces a scientist named Kristen who had been listening in on the Grendel's communications. She wanted to study Jason's ability to regenerate so she could save her lover Neil and, eventually, all of humanity. To trick the survivors into bringing Jason to her, she sent a fake rescue signal and broke into their systems, using their own holograms to make them think they were heading to Earth II. This trick got everyone on the Grendel killed. Once Jason was on her ship, Kristen tried to study him, but his new cyborg powers let him take over her technology. When she attempted to transfer his regenerative abilities to Neil, the nanotech in Jason's blood corrupted Neil, and he stabbed her. Kristen's ship then encountered another vessel called the Fun Club. Jason boarded it and started slaughtering the crew, ending that comic.

The next year, in 2006, Avatar Press put out a two-issue mini-series called Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X, written and drawn by Mike Wolfer with colors by Andrew Dalhouse. It was promoted as a showdown between the classic Jason and the cyborg Jason X, and it continues from the previous comic. While Jason X is busy on the Fun Club, the story goes back to the drifting Grendel. A broken medical station there tries to revive the half of Jason's head that KM-14 blew off in the film. Because the nanotech can't rebuild a full body from just 13% of his mass, it scavenges other dead bodies on the ship for raw material. This creates another version of Jason, one that looks like the old one. When scavengers board the Grendel, this old Jason attacks them and takes their shuttle to the Fun Club. There, the two Jasons meet and fight, killing anyone in their way. Each one only has part of the original Jason's mind and memories. The fight ends when Jason X defeats the old Jason, rips out his brain matter, and merges it with his own, restoring his full memories and personality. The ship then crashes on Earth II, and Jason X walks away from the wreckage into a nearby forest.