Review of Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) by Mr J — 17 Aug 2010

After the success of Friday the 13th, Sean Cunningham wanted the series to be composed of a different Friday the 13th-related horror movie each year. The studio execs thought that it would be a better idea to continue the Chrystal Lake theme and have Jason as the killer. Cunningham was against the idea because Jason was supposed to have drowned and died many years ago, which is why his mother killed all of the counselors in the first movie. So, the execs won, and Cunningham left the project. Another member of the cast named Steve Miner was promoted to director, and this movie marked the start of Jason the killer. The story of his revival is: his body remained dormant in the lake all of those year, but when he saw him mom beheaded, he rose from the lake and started killing all of the people that intruded his territory.

If you have seen the first movie (which you should have if you're reading this), you know what it's about. Teenagers go into the woods of Chrystal Lake and get killed. Not much has changed from the first movie except Jason, equipped with a pillow case and his signature machete, being the killer. A man and his assistant hold a camp counselor training session at no place better than Camp Blood. Many counselors-to be come there knowing people were killed a campsite over and die.

The characters are all pretty much the same as the first one. They are all young adults/ old teenagers. That's pretty much going to be said for almost everyone that dies in the rest of the series. Crazy Ralph, my personal favorite character, is the only person in this movie that isn't a teenager. Once again, he warns the Chrystal Lake-goers that they are doomed. This time, it's more ironic. The only important people in the film are the leaders of the camp. Being wiser than the teens, they are actually able to somewhat defend themselves from the wrath of Jason.

The kills are much more creative in part 2. Some of the better ones include someone choked to death by a garotte and my favorite, a certain wheel chaired counselor being hit in the head by a machete and then falling backwards down a long set of stairs with the machete still in his head. Good stuff. If for some reason that doesn't entertain you, I doubt that you will like this film.

The ending of this film I hated. It reminded me way too much of another film that I saw. At first when I hear the music, I was thinking to myself, "Oh, god. Please don't do it. Please don't... They did it..." I'm sure that they could have put their hundreds of heads together and thought of something original.

Friday the 13th Part 2 is not nearly as good as the first, but the creative kills will entertain fans of the original.