Friday The 13th Part 2 Review

Before I start the review, I'd like to just say that this is post #500! That's right, 500 posts on Scary Film Review. Thank you everyone that reads, comments, and what not. Thank you. Leave comments, keep reading, subscribe via rss feeds and purchase crap from amazon. Thank you.

Steve Miner directed the second film in the series of Friday the 13th franchise and it was only 1 year after the original was a moderate box office hit. This second film lacked a lot of the things that made the first film so interesting, but developed into an unstoppable force and a new amazing slasher villain, his name, Jason.

The plot of the film takes place 2 months after the end of the first film. The only survivor of the Crystal Lake murders decides to go back near the lake to just have a training session with other like minded peers to help other kids at camp in the summer. Some of the camp counselors start talking about what happened, and out of the blue, we see a new killer emerge.

The film follows a lot of things that are now standard for the slasher movies. We understand the characters on a very light level, we get a variety of stereotypes here. You can forecast who is going to die here, and as soon as the clothes come off, you know that no one is going to survive, at least with any sort of ease.

There is minor gore, there isn't a lot of nudity, although there are some sex scenes, and the killings are ramped up to higher levels than the first, while moving the camera away from what might not be allowed to be shown. This film, if it were edited slightly, would actually be a pg-13 film today, rather than a rated R film.



We get to see the killer's face, although we see him with a bag over his head for the most part. He's not the Jason that you probably imagine today, he was just some guy that was killing teens. The movie moves forward quickly, and it's interesting to note how watchable this film is, despite being 30 years old.

There are some downsides, this film is not perfect. There are some minor flaws in the production, and Jason doesn't look nearly as menacing as he does in his latter career. Despite the visual flaws, the film moves into one of the cooler endings in horror from today or yesterday.

The final scene is one of horror history. Jason catches an unsuspecting cast member through glass and kills them, and it's such a cool moment in cinema. If you were watching it during the night, with full surround sound, you probably would jump. The calmness of the situation, the lack of noise really gets you when Jason's arms push through glass and the blood of the victim is spilled. There is an awesome sequence and throwback to the original ending with Jason's mother jumping out of the water...or maybe that was the 3rd one? I forget.

This film isn't that scary. There are some great scenes in this film, I like it well enough, and it's not necessarily one that many horror movie fans are going to remember outside of the other sequels. I know for me, it's not as great as Jason Lives (Friday the 13th VI), but it's still a quality slasher flick.

I find it odd that Jason doesn't seem as super powerful, and he's not zombie like in his movements. He just seems normal, older, and just random.



The movie really reminded me of the NES video game. I loved the video game, even though I could never seem to get to the final stage and fight Jason's Mom. The game featured a linear pacing left to right and you had to go rescue kids around Crystal Lake. If you haven't played it or haven't bought the game, get it here now!

Alright, Friday the 13th Part 2 is recommended. I enjoyed it as a kid, and I think it's still worth its bearings today. It's not the best in the series, but it's a good sequel, not a great one, a good one. If you haven't seen this one in a while, don't expect the fast pacing of the third in the series, and don't expect the buckets of gore that you saw in Jason Goes To Hell, but it's still a positive step in the series and a good overall horror film, and that's my two cents. You can purchase Friday the 13th Part 2 here.



Lastly, one of the coolest things about Jason now, is the fact that there are some sick action figures available directly from the film! This wasn't around when I was a kid, but now? Oh man.



Jason Action Figure From Friday the 13th Part 2



My personal favorite, Jason Action Figure From Jason Goes To Hell, which is one of my personal favorite films of all time. Oh and if you have a few dimes, the more prominent action figure from Jason Goes To Hell is so rad, it hurts.