Written By: Karla Cortes
Edited BY: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Steve Miner
Producer: Steve Miner
Writer: Ron Kruz
Music: Harry Manfredini
Date Released: April 30, 1981
Cast:
Adrienne King as Alice Hardy
Amy Steel as Ginny Field
Steve Daskewisz as Jason Voorhees
John Furey as Paul Holt
Stu Charno as Ted
Lauren-Marie Taylor as Vickie
Marta Kober as Sandra Dier
Tom McBride as Mark
Kristen Barker as Terry
Russell Todd as Scott
Walt Gorney as Crazy Ralph
Bill Randolph as Jeff
Rating = 2/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Paul Holt (John Furey) hosts a counselor training camp next to Camp Crystal Lake five years after the incident that left multiple counselors murdered at the hand of Pamela Voorhees. The camp is attended by many councilors in training including sweethearts Jeff and Sandra, wheelchair-bound Mark, prankster Ted, jokester Scott, good-natured Vickie, model-like Terry, and Paul’s second hand in command Ginny. One night, the group of counselors decides to split off, half go to a nearby bar for a few rounds while the rest stay behind at their own devices. Soon, they all start to figure out first hand that the presumed myth of the serial killer Jason Voorhees is far more real than they thought.
Gore Factor
Much like the first Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) doesn’t have much gore. Each counselor is killed in gruesome ways but the editing of the film still leaves much of the blood and guts to the audience’s imagination. Not much has improved in the makeup department either, for the latex and fake blood is still noticeable within each death. From Mark’s face being struck with a machete to Sandra and Jeff being speared to death, the editing takes away much of the on-screen gore and is left to the audience’s imagination.
The Grave Review
Although the film was written and directed by different people, Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) was not much different than the first Friday the 13th. The concept was merely the same where a group of naive teenage counselors decide to ignore all of the warnings about Camp Crystal Lake thus leading to their deadly fate as they are picked off one by one in gruesome ways. This time, Jason Voorhees had more of a roll and the audience finally got to see what he looks like underneath the pillowcase. Take in mind, the hockey mask has yet to make its appearance in Part 2. The only new kill was the old geezer Crazy Ralph which was an unfortunate kill next to Marks to say the least.
The acting is still poor, the jump scares remain predictable, and the editing/production is still low budget. It was actually noted that Part 2 was supposed to be part of an anthology series based on superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th. But since the original film gained traction with its ending, the film’s distributors decided to continue the Camp Crystal Lake story. To this day, Cunningham and Miller hate the idea of Jason being the killer. It should be noted that the ending was supposed to be a dream sequence thus making no sense for Jason to have been continued as a real living killer. As mentioned in the review of the first movie, it is important to take note that the Friday the 13th franchise isn’t really supposed to be scary but more so entertaining. Part two was entertaining, but nothing new or exciting was brought to the table other than Jason’s unveil.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Review gives Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) two graves out of five graves.
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