Friday the 13th 2 (1981)

This 1981 sequel was a sure thing after the financial success of the first film, and the full title of the film should probably read Friday the 13th 2: More Of The Same. Or, more accurately,Friday the 13th 2: More Of The Same, Just Not As Good. Typically lauded by fans as either one of the worst or the best entries in the series, it's hard to deny that even by 1981 the slasher formula was getting stale and tired. The crop of copycat films that the original inspired were released in such a huge amount by those looking to cash in, and Friday 2 feels sorta the same way, an attempt to cash in on the original before there was nothing left for the taking.

Taking place five years after the original film, a new summer camp has opened across from the infamous "Camp Blood" of the first film. Seems the murders committed by Mrs. Voorhees are now something of a legend around the Crystal Lake area, as is her son Jason who may "still be out there" watching and waiting to get revenge for his mother's death. Jason and the audience doesn't have to wait long, as a group of fresh faced counselors show up just in time eager to complete their "counselor training" in smoking pot, having sex, and getting slaughtered in various "inventive" manners.

Part two is, of course, notable for one main reason, that being Jason's first starring role in the series. Apparently, Jason has been living undetected in a shack out in the woods of Crystal Lake for the past five years. Undetected even though it's in walking distance by everyone in the movie, but undetected nonetheless. He's become sort of a local urban legend/bogeyman along the lines of "he's waiting to avenge his mother's death" and, like Sasquatch, plenty of locals have claimed to have "seen" him skulking around Crystal Lake, looking for fresh victims. Now, how a deformed retard such as Jason has been able to survive on weeds and rodent for five years and grow up to be a strong, full grown man is anyone's guess. But, survive he has, and he's very, very pissed.

Always the perennial momma's boy, Jason has kept his mothers severed head from the first film, as it sits in his cabin on a makeshift altar amongst candles, etc. Part 2 would be the last of the sequels to really play up the "mother fixation" angle, but I appreciate the attempt by the filmmakers to explain why Jason does what he does. Jason is also a really different breed compared to what would follow in the series. Since he's not really "undead" yet, he's actually sorta human and appears much more vulnerable than in the years to follow. He's actually succeptable to various blows, and get's knocked around quite a bit. He even falls off a chair at one point, waiting for Amy Steel's character of Ginny to come out from under a bed. Guess it takes lot's of practice to become an expert psycho killer. There's even a scene where I actually felt sorry for the guy, as Ginny attacks him with a running chainsaw he sorta flails his arms like a scared little kid, which, I suppose, he actually is. Appearance wise, this is the "pre-hockey mask" days, as Jason's wardrobe consists of some coveralls/jeans and he covers his ugly mug with the ever fashionable "white sack over the head" look, which would become all the rage amongst serial killers in "81". This film also starts the "get a peek at Jason's ugly mug", in which invariably by the end of every film Jason's mask will be removed and the audience can collectively go "eww, that be one ugly sonofabitch!" While Jason's visage would change with every film, let's just say that the bag over the head is there for a reason.

Aside from Mr. Voorhee's, the film itself "is what it is". Unlike the first Friday where we had a small group of relatively likable counselors, here we get a larger batch of fodder for Jason to kill, and all are uninteresting/annoying. Every character does the "horror cliche 101" by doing the most stupid shit possible to ensure their deaths. Ever get the incredible urge to walk alone at night in an isolated woods and go skinny dipping in a strange lake? No? Well....they do here. Amy Steel steals the show as lead surviving "good girl" Ginny, and she would go on to become many fan-boy's favorite heroine in the series. She's sorta spunky and pretty, and gives old Jason a pretty good run for his money. Everyone else however is your typical Jason fodder, and you'll cheer their deaths believe you me. Oh, one last thing, I'm glad the filmmakers brought back "Crazy Ralph", the cliche harbinger of doom character you always get, but jeez...did you have to kill the old guy?

Speaking of deaths,the gore effects are a bit of a letdown as the cocksuckers over at the MPAA really had a field day here with practically all the gore being cut from the final print. After the controversy of the first film, I think the MPAA felt that they had to "make up" so to speak, and this one was severely censored. We get some strangulation's, knives to the throat, a double impalement lifted right from Mario Bava's Bay of Blood and the like. The best kill scene involves a handicapped character getting whacked in the face with a machete as his corpse and chair going flying down a set of outside stairs...that was pretty nifty,and the guy actually stays in his chair, which is even more amazing. Still, I think if the MPAA had left things alone and let the blood fly, fan's would have been a little more appreciative of this one.

Aside from the positives, such as Amy Steel's performance, the whole "Jason Shack With Mommy's Head", the Harry Manfredini score and a few kills here and there, it's all rather routine, even by 1982. Director Steve Miner would return with my personal favorite, Part 3, but I think all involved had good intentions to live up to the first film. They just fell a little flat with a formula that really is sorta hard to change without alienating fans and the formula of the first film. Again, it is what it is.