Friday The 13th Part Two (not as many machetes as the first one)

Another review from our favorite guest reviewer James the Worthy Critic (aka John Stamos).

Friday the 13th 2 begins much the same way as the first one. A girl is brutally murdered by a faceless killer and leaves it up to the viewers to decide if the perpetrator is none other than Jason Voorhees, back from his watery grave for revenge? Well, unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last 20 years you know the killer IS Jason and this is the movie where he takes his rightful place in the hearts of horror movie aficionados worldwide.

Friday 2 was Paramount's big follow up to their sleeper hit of the same name the year before. After the success of Friday 1, Paramount realized they had a cash cow on their hands and quickly gave the green light to director Steve Miner to make a sequel. This film takes place 5 years after the tragic events of the first. Crystal Lake is open again (albeit a few miles away from the crime scene of "Camp Blood") for business. We meet several new, pretty young people who are ripe for the slaying and represent every cliché thinkable. But god you have to love these films! They're so bad that they're good. Watching a Jason movie is like watching a car wreck. You just can't seem to look away.

Curiously, Jason appears in this movie wearing a burlap sack rather than the hockey mask we have come to love over the years. He doesn't get that until the third installment. I think the burlap sack sort of adds a hokeyness to this film; some much needed levity. There are some brutal kills in this outing, particularly the one involving the poor kid in the wheelchair (OUCH!). Aestically, the movie looks good and the new DVD does a wonderful job in restoring quality. I remember having this movie on VHS and it literally looked like it was filmed from a personal camcorder. I wish they had not killed off the character of "Crazy Ralph". I really enjoyed watching him warn the characters about going to Crystal Lake. All his death did was add another body to Jason's overall tab. One burning question I have is when the police officer goes into the woods to pursue Jason. He leaves his car parked right in the middle of the road. Wouldn't the police have organized some sort of search mission for him? The car was there for several hours at least! Maybe Jason got them, too.

The acting in this movie is definitely a notch lower than in the first one. The only person who did a good job was the guy who played Jason. Perhaps it was because his face wasn't shown :). I'm giving this movie a 5/10. Average installment in the series, but it is brutal, nostalgic and important in the franchise because it marks the debut of Mr. Voorhees.