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Friday the 13th: Part 2


Director: Steve Miner (1981)
Starring: Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King, Kirsten Baker
Find it online: IMDB, Amazon UK, Amazon US

Still no hockey mask. Jason spends the movie in Hillbilly mode, wearing dungarees and a white burlap sack on his head throughout. Despite the fact that it takes place not too long after the original movie, Part 2 has Jason Voorhees all growed up. He's massive as you'd recognize Jason, but not yet played by Kane Hodder.

The big man may have arrived, but the movie feels like little more than a rehash of both the original and every other summer camp slasher you've ever seen. Aside from the killer in parts 1-2 and Jason's outfit, these first three Fridays are basically interchangeable. It wouldn't be until Part 4 that the series hit its stride, before delivering slicker, top notch action in Parts 6 & 7 (and, to a lesser extent Jason Takes Manhattan). Jason's more human stages are fun but lack the later episodes' dynamism and eccentricity. Re-watching these earlier movies, one can't help but think it a wise move that the '09 remake opted to condense Voorhees & Son's early adventures into forty five minutes.

Part 2 quickly does away with the earlier movie's survivor, and then skips to a new group of youths five years later. You'll be hard pressed to remember any of them after five minutes, although you can rest assured that the girls are all hot, the guys horny and there's at least one annoying character amongst the number whose death you'll be sure to cheer. There's also the prerequisite appearance from a local crazy (aptly named "Crazy Ralph") to warn the lot of their impending doom. As usual, the kills are really the only bits worth watching. Mildly forgettable as the rest of the movie might be, the final scenes have their merits and the Final Gal's method of outwitting Jason is an interesting one.

Next up: More interchangeable youths die, and Jason finally gets his mask.

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