Rating: C+

Originally there was talk of making Friday the 13th an anthology series where each movie would feature another freaky happening on the titular “holiday.” But after the success of the first film, associate producer of the first movie Steve Miner, who went on to direct a number of decent horror movies like Halloween H20 and Lake Placid, took the director’s chair. Instead, they decided to run with the shock gag at the end of the first film that Jason was still alive. 

Part II came out a year later, but the story picks up five years later (this would put us in 1984, though everyone still looks like they’re fresh out the 70s). It opens with the surviving Alice still trying to get over the incident before she gets stalked and killed by a mysterious man (spoiler alert: it’s Jason). It seems like originally there was a larger plot for actress Adrienne King, but in real life was stalked by a crazed fan following the success of Friday the 13th, which discouraged her from wanting to act much in the sequel. 

From there, we get essentially the same movie as the first one with a new group of counselors on the first night of a counselor’s training camp (I guess they were too afraid to show Jason terrorizing children). There’s a much bigger cast including two people of color who get no lines (a first for the series) and a guy in a wheelchair (not sure if he was actually disabled or not).

They also threw twice as much money at the film this time around. It’s filmed in a similar style, but the sets are better, there’s more kills shown on screen, and a lot more sex. Definitely follows the bigger, the better sequel philosophy. 

In regards to sex and drug usage, while everyone still gets killed, this one still has this very liberated 70s vibe. All the women are shown to be in control of their sexuality and are the ones who instigate sex in the film. They also present this idea that everyone from teenagers to responsible adults smoke marijuana and that’s perfectly fine. It’s important to remember this one was filmed before Reagan was present and before the AIDS crisis. 

A lot of the same character stereotypes are here like the practical joker and the responsible camp owner, and Crazy Ralph returns, but the characters have slightly more depth to them this time around. They play around a bit with who is going to be the final girl, it actually ends up being a couple, and revealing if the killer is really Jason or just some lunatic. 

They hide Jason until the very end and when they reveal him it’s a total bummer. He’s this hillbilly-looking guy who wears a sack over his head, wields a pitchfork and other tools, and is not particularly menacing (in the next film he’s in the hockey mask) until his sack gets ripped off to reveal a deformed mutant face. What I do like is they try to show him as this resourceful woodsman trapper who’s built a cottage from scraps he found, it includes a shrine to his mother’s decapitated head, and sets up traps in the woods for people and animals. This was an idea explored further in the remake. 

Mostly the movie follows the same beats as the long movie down to a final shock for the audience (and a super incoherent ending). Still, it’s pretty entertaining. 

-James P.

Next up Jason finally gets his iconic look…in 3D! 

Jason Body Count: 9 (also implied he killed a dog and could have killed one other person)

The first Jason was played by Warrington Gillette who from what I can tell is just a random guy. Steve Daskewisz is also listed as Jason’s stunt double. He appears to also just be some dude.