Review of Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) by Foreverfinalgir — 15 Dec 2021

Friday the 13th Part 2 is, in my opinion, a decent sequel in this franchise. It happens to be my favorite. We get Amy Steele as Ginny, who I think is the best final girl in this franchise. She is down to earth, but is able to kick butt when needed.

PLOT.

I told the others, they didn’t believe me. You’re all doomed. You’re all doomed.-Crazy Ralph.

Five years after the first movie, a campground near Crystal Lake reopens with unsuspecting counselors dying because of an unknown killer. Paul (John Furey) is in charge of the counselors and Ginny (Amy Steel) as his assistant and girlfriend. Well, actually old Crazy Ralph tried to warn them just like the previous counselors, but to no avail. It seems, Mrs. Voorhees son Jason isn’t dead and wants revenge after seeing Alice kill his mother.

MY THOUGHTS.

As a sequel I think I actually like this one better than the original. I also really like Ginny (Amy Steel) as the final girl. I think she is one of my favorite final girls in a series and I wish she would have been in more Friday movies.

The kills in this one are pretty good. One of the best in this movie is Mark’s (Tom McBride) death. The machete to the head and then him in his wheelchair falling down the stairs is very memorable. Another kill is the couple who dies after sex. Similar to the Kevin Bacon kill, but this time the couple is impaled together with a spear. One issue is that they leave it up in the air if Paul dies or not. Some believe he does, while others don’t. Paul’s body is not shown with the other bodies, so it’s not known if he dies.

I like how they gave us closure with Alice at the beginning of the movie. We normally don’t get to see what happens. I also like the introduction of Jason Voorhees, with a sack over his head instead of the mask (just like the killer in the Town that Dreaded Sundown). Though, it doesn’t make sense how Jason is able to dial a phone to call Alice.

As far as acting, I think most ranged from ok to mediocre, with a few exceptions. I think Amy Steel was the stand out. The others were the typical characters that just want to have sex and end up dying. I did like the humor with Ted (Stuart Charno). He was the group clown. I believe most of the clowns in the movies die, but in this case he survives since he stays at the bar instead of going back to the camp.

During filming of the first take of her death scene, Adrienne King was injured when the prop ice pick failed to retract as it was pushed into her temple.

There is a popular internet debate concerning the fate of Paul. In the opening scene of Part III, there is the suggestion that he does indeed survive the events of Part II. During the opening scene of Part III, there is a news broadcast that says there were eight victims. Now assuming all bodies were actually found, there were eight on screen deaths in Part II: Terry, Crazy Ralph, Sandra, Mark, Jeff, Vickie, Scott, and the cop. This would imply that Paul does survive. Alice from the original film is not murdered at the camp, so she may not be included in the news broadcast’s body count, but Paul says she “went missing,” so her body may be on the grounds somewhere.

If you want to see my other Friday the 13th reviews, click here: Friday the 13th Franchise.

Let’s get into the rankings:

Kills/Blood/Gore: 4/5.

Sex/Nudity: 1/5.

Scare factor: 4/5.

Enjoyment factor: 5/5.

My Rank: 3.5/5.

IMDB: 6.1/10.

Rotten Tomatoes: critics: 2.7/10 audience: 4.8/10.

Letterboxd: 3.