Logic holes soo big, you could drive a giant pitchfork through them.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Directed By: Steve Miner (House)
The Prologue
So after the success of Friday the 13th, the next year in 1981 the world got Friday the 13th part 2! This time around we’d get our good buddy, Jason as the killer, a role he’d keep moving forward with the 200 more sequels to follow (well, besides one). And while we have Jason, he doesn’t really seem like Jason yet. He has a sack on his head after all, not a hockey mask. But if you can look past some major flaws, you do get one of the best final girls and a cool kill involving a poor guy in a wheelchair!
The Movie
When we last left off Mrs. Voorhees had lost her head and Jason may or may not have jumped out of the lake! Well one quick killing off of poor Alice from the first film (something I really don’t like) and we jump ahead to where another camp is opening up right next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake!! Which if you couldn’t guess, was a big mistake. Because not only is Jason alive and in elephant man mode here with a sack over his head, he’s dealing with the death of his poor mommy by killing people!!
First off let me ramble about Alice at the start of this film. For one, how does Jason know where she lives?? How did he get there because I bet it’s a long walk, especially if it was California where she was from. Don’t forget he apparently also prank calls her before this happens, it just doesn’t add up! I mean for lack of a better word, Jason is retarded. I don’t think he’d have the brain power to do all this and when you really think it over, it hurt the film badly right out of the gate!..There, rant done.
Now, as for the rest of the film it’s a mixed bag to say the least! Jason isn’t the Jason we know and love yet. He’s just a big dumb deformed hillbilly with a sack over his head. He’s still human acting and it holds things down if you’re use to the usual Jason. Also the characters, while a good one here and there, aren’t on the same level as the first film. Off the top of my head I recall the leading girl Ginny, and the guy in the wheelchair being really the only likable or interesting folks here. With the rest just being there to fill the roll of the goofball, the T & A, or some other horror stereotype.
I’ll admit the film has a couple cool moments that we can’t just write off, but the best part of Friday the 13th part 2 is hands down the final girl, Ginny. We have what may very well be THE best final girl the franchise has ever had (without psychic powers). As Ginny uses logic and is very smart in her attempt to survive, something that is lacking 9 times out of 10 when dealing with final girls, especially in this franchise. She also works double time to bring her dull as dirt boyfriend along for the ride.
So besides Ginny and a cool kill here or there, this is in my opinion one of the weaker films in all of the Friday films. Jason isn’t really Jason yet, but he IS the killer here so that marks a historic moment. But the film still at the end of the day comes off weak (When compared to the original and those to come). I mean after poor Alice bites it at the start it takes a good thirty minutes to really get anything going again, and that’s unacceptable with the film not even being that long to start with.
The Conclusion
If I’m disappointed with this in 2010, I can only imagine some reactions in 1981. I like Jason as the killer, but I don’t like this version of Jason very much at all. Sadly, we have another stinker to go before we REALLY start to get into the Jason we all seem to love the most!..So you may want to go ahead and skip to that one, because this one isn’t much to see in my humble opinion. But I just love hockey mask Jason so I’m a little biased.
The Rating (5.5/10)
The Rating (6.5/10) *Updated on 08/01/11
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