Friday the 13th Part 2 Movie Review

For Many Fans, This First Sequel is the Beginning of the Series

Aug 20, 2009 Brett Hardel

The beginning of the Jason Voorhees reign of terror gives birth to a horror icon - and to a phenomenon.

Five years after six camp counselors were murdered at Camp Crystal Lake by Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), Paul Holt (John Furey) and Ginny Field (Amy Steel) open a counselor training center on the same lake as the now condemned "Camp Blood". Despite local unease and being advised to move to another county, things proceed and Jeff (Bill Randolph), Sandra (Marta Kober), Ted (Stu Charno), Mark (Tom McBride), Vicki (Lauren-Marie Taylor), Terri (Kristen Baker), Scott (Russell Todd) and several others arrive to begin the course.

The Legend of Jason Voorhees Begins

Again complicating things is Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney), expounding on how he tried to warn the ill-fated counselors five years ago. Indeed, Paul's charges are curious about the murders, and during a campfire gathering tells them how survivor Alice Hardy (Adrienne King) disappeared two months after the massacre, and how local legend dictates that Jason Voorhees witnessed his mother's (self-defense) death at the hands of Alice, leaving him deranged and prowling for revenge. After a good laugh, they are told that Jason drowned, Pamela Voorhees is dead, and to stay away from Camp Crystal Lake.

Soon after, Jeff and Sandra are brought back to the camp by a police officer (Jack Marks) for trying to visit the infamous site. Paul again waves away concern from the agitated officer, but Paul tells "the wanderers" that they have to stay at the camp while everyone else goes out to a club that night. Mark, Vicki, Scott, and Terri also elect to stay behind, and on Friday the 13th under another full moon, another stalking presence doesn't stay in the shadows for long...

The Start of a Franchise

After Friday the 13th became a surprise hit upon it's June 1980 release, plans for a sequel crystalized in July. But director Sean S. Cunningham and writer Victor Miller were reluctant to resurrect Jason Voorhees to be the new killer; to their minds Jason had drowned and his appearance at the end of the film was only intended as a dream sequence chair-jumper. Miller was so against the idea he wouldn't participate in the sequel, nor would he later acknowledge it.

Makeup artist Tom Savini didn't care for the concept either, and opted out of returning for the sequel to do The Burning, ironically a Friday the 13th knockoff. (Did anyone think of Jason's father stepping in as the new killer?) Associate producer Steve Miner was, however, interested in the "Jason" storyline as well as directing the sequel, which he would do with Cunningham's support and encouragement. Though Cunningham would decline participation, his wife Susan would return as editor, while he instead directed A Stranger is Watching, which was released in 1982.

Shooting began in September 1980 at KenWood Camp in Kent, Connecticut on a budget of $1,000,000. Released on May 1, 1981, the film grossed $6,429,784 it's opening weekend with a final take of $21,722,776. The MPAA this time demanded more cuts to reduce graphic violence; they had endured a lot of flak and controversy over the original film, not to mention that since then were the shootings of President Reagan and John Lennon, making violence a much more sensitive issue.

So forty-eight seconds of gory special effects wound up on the cutting room floor, and ironically mainstream critics were only slightly kinder this time around, if only in the sense that there was no hysterical lambasting and crusading regarding the violence like the original film a year earlier. Director Steve Miner (who would return to direct Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3-D) told Fangoria magazine that critics didn't understand these movies; they cannot be totally bloodless and be realistic and effective. Miner would have the last laugh as Jason Voorhees would go on for decades, outlasting any critic shaking their finger at him.

The copyright of the article Friday the 13th Part 2 Movie Review in Horror Films is owned by Brett Hardel. Permission to republish Friday the 13th Part 2 Movie Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Alice (Adrienne King) Makes a Startling Discovery.	One Last Campfire.	Terri (Kirsten Baker) is Not a Happy Camper.
Friday the 13th Part 2 Theatrical Poster