skybrick736 In all fairness to the original Friday the 13th, the enormous success of the franchise really started with the sequel Ft13th Part II. Icon Jason Vorhees makes his first appearance in the sequel and obviously from here on out, Jason goes down into slasher lore as one of the great horror movie characters. Part II is a great film to kick back and collect some 80's nostalgia. However, the film lacks quality writing, has a long-winded recap, a shoddy ode to a Texas Chainsaw Massacre character, and death sequences that are at times poorly executed. Also, Amy Steel, similarly to Adrienne King, didn't showcase a strong screen presence and is not as memorable as other "final girls" in slasher flicks. Aside from its problems, Friday the 13th Part II is an enjoyable film and is followed by a band of horror fans that are a lot more optimistic about the film than I as a viewer.

Pjtaylor-96-138044 While the decision to retroactively resurrect the series' now iconic, somewhat supernatural serial-killer, who was entirely absent from the first picture and actually little more than a background plot device, was invariably a profitable one for the franchise as a whole and the reoccurring 'Jason' character has certainly been captured into the pop-culture zeitgeist, it makes for a questionable concept at best - even though consistency isn't something the series would become known for. Shoehorning in an entirely new mythology messes up the motivations of the prior title. It's a shame, then, that the filmmakers didn't use their newfound villain and his masked mug to their advantage in 'Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981)'. They didn't learn from perhaps the biggest mistake made in the first film, as the killer is still hidden for most of the run-time which restricts what is shown in the worst possible way because there's no reason for it. There's no mystery or suspense built from the omission, as was attempted previously, and the violence is also bizarrely restrained (in reality, due to pressure from the MPAA). This means that the flick can't even claim to have that real visceral edge that the original had, though. Another major problem is the distinct lack of plot. The feature essentially adds up to a bunch of teens going to a camp before a killer kills them all, which feels like it came from a half-written outline that was rushed into production far too early, likely the case considering it hit theatres only the year after the first, even though there are some decent sequences (like the ending) sprinkled throughout the brisk narrative. 5/10

Foreverisacastironmess OK so when this sequel was made, because the first movie had been such an unexpectedly huge hit, they decided to play it safe and basically just did a rehash of the original, but with one important difference...We got the first real appearance of the true star of the macabre show this time, and as special and classic as I'll always find the original to be in its own way, I'm very glad that this movie happened and opened the doors to the blood-splattered roller-coaster of further fun sequels that were to come for quite a number of years. I like this movie's closer connections with Part 1, like Alice's brief return, and the scary desiccated dead head of Mrs. Voorhies and how Jason has it on a creepy shrine, and old Crazy Ralph, who really must have been insane because he failed to predict his own doom this time around! It was great to see the late Betsy Palmer again, if only as an apparition in Jason's twisted mind. The opening prologue is so unnervingly eerie with Alice alone in the middle of the night and finding her worst fears realised as she finds an old friend hiding out in the fridge... I always hated when they'd kill off the surviving characters of previous movies like that, it makes their struggles feel so pointless. At least he had the good manners to take the kettle off the hot stove afterwards.. People complain about how Jason could have possibly located her, but maybe she was closer to Crystal Lake than we thought, she did say that she was trying to get over her trauma? I didn't feel much for the victims except for Amy Steel and the scrawny red-headed hobgoblin comedian because he was highly annoying, but at least he was something! I so dearly wanted to see him gruesomely get bumped off but surprisingly he never was. It's so random how he and a bunch of other nameless camper trainees just stay at the bar and out of the rest of the movie. I didn't like the Paul character because he was too much of a cocky douche and to me not particularly likable at all. And I hated the stupid little cutesy frou-frou dog with the ribbon in its hair named Muffin. The creature's only purpose was to turn up alive and well at the confusing end so you'll think everything's all sunshine and buttercups. I repeat: the dog's name was Muffin! I love Amy Steel as Ginny, she was really cool and beautiful and she was one of the best final girls in horror movies ever. She was a very different kind of heroine than Adrienne King was, a little more fly and tomboyish but she had a strong charisma about her, and she was a fighter who thought quick on her feet, she kicks Jason in the balls and briefly goes after him with a freaking chainsaw! I liked the way she was somewhat sympathetic to Jason and his mother and how she uses what she knows to her advantage at the end when she buys herself some time by putting on the filthy blue sweater of Jason's mother and fooling him into believing that she's her. I find that whole tense moment to be one of the all time great scenes of the Friday the 13th movies. The kills are decent but I don't think they're as gory or effective as the ones that Tom Savini put together for the first film. The best ones are when it first reveals the old dirty baghead version of Jason and it focuses on his hand in the foreground holding the knife as he closes in on the terrified girl who's too scared to even try and run... There's the killing of the couple humping in bed which brings a ghastly new meaning to the term "double penetration!" Then there's also the death of the handsome guy in the wheelchair which feels especially cruel and brutal just because he was a little more vulnerable than everybody else, and it was almost as if they had him in that chair to begin with just so that they could have the awesome shot of him tumbling down the long stairs with the machete still stuck in his head.. (It was so worth it!) I love the potato sack Jason, he looks so ridiculous, he's like an adorable little rabid hobo! He's a far cry from the great movie maniac he would become, as he's still alive and isn't all that hulking or super-strong or even that threatening, but he's not without a certain bit of that vital Jason stalkyness. And I can accept Jason's mysterious return as an adult, although his not drowning as a freakish child does devalue the original movie's impact and does technically mean that Mrs. Voorhees was killing for absolutely nothing.. But you know, jeez, we got the adult Jason that the generations of fans connected with in a major way and that kicked the series into high gear, moving on! I really wish that at the very end when it focuses on the head of Pamela Voorhees, which I find quite a chilling image, that they'd have gone ahead and had the head open its eyes and smile at the audience like they were planning to before some genius decided that it would've been silly.. But I think it would have made the ending even better and would have confirmed that something dark and supernatural was already at work with Jason and the Crystal Lake woods. An entertaining solid sequel and a good chapter in a great series. The grim fun in those deep dark spooky woods was only just beginning....

guillevillar For me, Friday the 13th part two is the best part of all. It combines a very creepy theme by Harry Manfredini -which, by the way, is in my opinion the best horror theme up to today - with violent killings and some good scares like Jason covered with a white sheet approaching his victim like a ghost, or trying to suddenly catch a victim thru the window glass. Also, the fact that they decided to show Jason's dwelling as gory as it was, is very original and creepy. And over all, it creates a chilling gory climate of suspense without being grotesque or showing the insides of the victims. Of course, up to today's standards, this movie would be seen like an almost naive flick, but it still remains kinda classy and slick thanks to the actors, the music and the director, Steve Miner. One of the most shocking scenes, for me as a teenager, was when Jason drives his spear thru a couple that had just had sex. That image stayed with me for a long time!R.I.P. Betsy Palmer