Review #336: 'Friday the 13th Part 2' (1981)

After narrowly escaping death in the first film, Alice (Adrienne King) is in recovery when she is murdered by an unknown killer. After dreaming about being dragged into the water by Jason Voorhees at the end of the original, the apparently dead son of mass-murderer Mrs. Voorhees, rumours spread that Jason is out for revenge after seeing his mother decapitated. Five years later, a fresh bunch a naive horny teenagers arrive at the rebuilt Camp Crystal Lake for some relaxation time. Soon enough, murders start occurring and it becomes clear that a masked Jason is indeed out for revenge.

The main problem with the Friday the 13th franchise is that every film seems to be a re-hash of the previous, and this is no exception. The basic premise of an unknown killer stalking clueless teenagers is exactly what happened in the first film, except this time it has a bit of a trump card in Jason (played by Warrington Gillette). Mrs. Voorhees was a rather lame and unrealistic reveal in the climax of the first, and although he is yet to don his iconic hockey mask (here he wears a flour bag with an eye hole), he makes for a much more effective and physically intimidating killer.

But the film doesn't really have any effective or memorable murders, which, let's face it, is why you watch a Friday the 13th film. The only scene worth any mention is the killing of the boy in the wheelchair, which provides an unintentionally hilarious moment that sees him rolling down the stairs backwards after being stabbed. It also has possibly the most annoying horror character in history who not only has the nerve to survive the film after disappearing half way through, but is also ginger. Certainly an improvement of the original, but it's still a rather uninspiring and pedestrian slasher film.


Directed by: Steve Miner
Starring: Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King, Warrington Gillette
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie