Friday, February 8, 2013

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (1981)

Now we're starting to get somewhere.  After the kinda slow (but still mandatory) Part 1 the series finally gets to the good stuff in Part 2 with some pretty cool kills, nudity, counselor hijinks and most importantly: Jason!!!

Five years after the events in Part 1, some genius starts up a counselor training program next door to the still closed Camp Crystal Lake.  It doesn't take long for Jason to show up and start kicking ass...with a hammer, a machete, a butcher knife, whatever...he doesn't give a damn.  That's really about it.  The characters are all likeable, but I was especially fond of Terry who blessed my childhood with those short shorts and a brief nude scene.  You also got the wheelchair guy who's post-death roll down the stairs has become legendary and the two lovers stabbed through with the spear.

I've seen some people list the body count as 10, but I think it's actually 9.  First, let's remove Alice from the equation since she wasn't actually killed during the lake massacre, so now we are down to 8.  Some people include Paul, but I believe that the window scene at the end was actually a dream.  That's backed up by the opening scene of Part 3 (showing Jason still at the shed) and the news report in Part 3 saying there were 8 murders.  Simple enough.

One of the better early 80's slashers.  There's even a moment that made me think of RASHOMON.  Recommended.

Part 1 - Friday the 13th (1980)
Part 3 - Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Part 4 - Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Part 5 - Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Part 6 - Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Part 7 - Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Part 8 - Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Part 9 - The Final Friday: Jason Goes to Hell (1993)
Part 10 - Jason X (2001)
Freddy vs Jason (2003)
Remake - Friday the 13th (2009)