Friday the 13th Part 2

By now, everyone knows what to expect from this kind of movie, but what’s surprising is how the low-budget rawness, cheap film stock bubbling over with grain, and washed-out lighting schemes give the film a kind of base in reality.

No one will mistake this for Quality Cinema, and it's marred by a confusing, murky ending. But there are some good thrills along the way.

FRIDAY the 13th Part II will frighten you, at least for moments, although it will be a close-run thing whether it will be fright, nausea or simple distaste that gets to you first. The movie exists for no other purpose than to shock. The plot is an excuse for joining together horrors, all of the sado-masochist kind, and the acting is rudimentary at best. It probably will make a fortune. [4 May 1981, p.C1]

Miner doesn't linger over the multiple throat-slashings and skull-splittings. Comparatively speaking, he seems less bloodthirsty than the directors of Friday the 13th, The Exterminator or Mother's Day, to name only a few competitors of grosser gruesomeness. [13 May 1981, p.B6]

The same covey of kids assemble at a summer camp to meet their predictable fate. Once again, their thespian talents defy assessment, since most hang around just long enough to take off the limited clothes of the American teen-ager and take on the limited role of the bloody victim - both acts performed just once, always in that order. [04 May 1981]

Somehow, this one's even worse than the first. Called a sequel, it's basically the same movie, except that this time a different cast of teenagers gets killed in the usual, very graphic manner.

This movie is a cross between the Mad Slasher and Dead teenager genres; about two dozen movies a year feature a mad killer going berserk, and they're all about as bad as this one.

One of the Series' best movies, with like able and remember able characters.

The Friday the 13th franchise takes a sharp turn with its second installment: Mrs. Voorhees is gone, and her son Jason steps into the role of the antagonist. A deformed recluse living in the woods, Jason makes his debut not with the iconic hockey mask but with a burlap sack over his head. While this raises some narrative inconsistencies—why avenge a mother he never returned to see?—it marks the true birth of the saga’s enduring villain. Written and shot in record time, the film proves to be far stronger than its predecessor. Steve Miner’s direction is more dynamic, the performances more convincing, and the pacing tighter despite a slow start. The kills, while more numerous, remain relatively tame in gore, with blood flowing but little actual viscera. The movie also leans heavily on the trope of stripping characters before killing them, yet it successfully establishes the slasher atmosphere that would define the franchise. The ending remains puzzling: Jason is struck down and left for dead, only to reappear in a shocking final jump scare before the film fades to black. Originally intended to set up a sequel featuring Ginny hunting Jason, this storyline was abandoned after actress Amy Steel declined to return. The result is a film that feels unfinished but still stands well above the original, capturing the essence of early 1980s slashers and solidifying Jason as horror’s next icon.

Friday the 13th Part 2 in my opinion is better than the original. It might not have better effects and the MPAA censored it quite a bit more than the original but it still has a unique charm the original just did not have. This is Jason's first outing as the main antagonist, and he don't a outfit he doesn't wear throughout the rest of the series but it is still somewhat creepy. Cause of the added backstory for the final girl gives her a lot more character death and the overall acting of all present is much better than the original.

A rather base, derivative sequel to the effective (if ham-fisted) first Friday. Part 2 is less bloody, but every bit as violent, with a comically ever-present Jason stalking through the shadows in almost every scene (no matter how distant), seeking hapless teenagers to string up for the vaguest of reasons. Jason isn't quite the icon he'd grow to become in later installments - no hockey mask, clunky coveralls, a tuft of long brown hair - but he does a fair job of mixing up the arsenal and he's usually bathed in shadows so we can give that a pass. There isn't much to root for in the bland cast of victims, which checks off stereotypes like a politically-correct Saturday morning cartoon. Even at an economical eighty-seven minutes, I felt like we were spending a bit too much time with these shallow, repetitive supporting characters. Special points for sending the wheelchair-bound counselor down a steep flight of stairs with a gaping head wound, though. Redundant and formulaic, rambling and aimless, it's a little too comfortable with aping the original where it could be seeking broader pastures.

This movie starts right at the end of the last one. We can count on some flash-backs to help us to relocate events and characters. I found it really cool that it involves same characters, same locations, same roads. Whatsoever the overall spirit and atmosphere of the film almost did not change that much. We can clearly imagine how cheesy this movie will be when we see the title of the movie explode in the most pathetic way possible. Let's pursue on the good points! This 80's atmosphere is amazing. The soundtrack is terrific. It is very often too much with these shrill violins but yeah, I love it. They kind of made an effort when they tried to create characters that were not all gigantic clichés. A lot of them are really likeable and interesting. At least they had some potential. Thanks to the soundscape, the scenes are as intense as they can be silly and boring to create the endless crescendo of events that this film ends up being. Eventually we know a bit more about Jason's life and goals. Now let's switch to the inconvenients. Hard to know where to start. There are way too many vulgar and perverted shots. Nothing but a flat plot can explain so much nudity and voyeurism. There is something really indelicate and uncomfortable about seeing all these young women undressing. I know hormones are playing a rough game at that age but wow I felt like I was watching something like 'American Pie' sometimes! There are a lot of couples at the start and those who are not always find a way to get laid. As I wrote I think some characters had an amazing potential that is absolutely not used. It's a shame. Some people are only defined by their huge sexual appetite. I've said enough about the omnipresent over-sexualization of the characters. But not enough about the average IQ level of this bunch of teenagers. There are several situations in which they are as dumb as a rock. First of all Jason always manages to get surprisingly close to them without they notice it. It's not that discreet though! Nor that fast. However we see him numerous times in this film, surely way too often and randomly. The concepts of space and time are totally distorted as everyone (especially Jason) is able to reach any place in record time. Murders happen so quickly that they become laughable. In conclusion this movie takes back the formula of the first one but with more mistakes and clumsiness. The end (no spoil) is literally the same.