Post by slayrrr666 on Dec 14, 2005 13:54:28 GMT -5
"Friday the 13th Part 2" is a worthwhile sequel to the original.
**SPOILERS**
Alice, (Adrienne King) the sole survivor of the first rampage, is killed nearly a month later. It's been five years, and another group of counselors has converged at a spot on the other side of the lake. The leader, Paul, (John Furey) and his assistant Ginny, (Amy Steel) relay the story about Jason to the camp, which effectively scares them about Jason. The next day begins the counselor's training sessions, and Ginny begins feeling uneasy about the woods for some reason. Two of the counselors, Jeff (Bill Randolph) and Sandra, (Marta Kober) head over to look at the camp from the first film, but are caught and returned. This peaks the interest of the others in the camp about the Jason legend. At dinner, Paul announces that the real training is tomorrow and that some of the counselors can go into town. This splits the camp in half. While Paul and Ginny go into town with half of the camp, Vicky (Lauren-Marie Taylor) stays behind with the other half. Terri, (Kirsten Baker) one of the counselors, gets killed while skinny-dipping and Scott, (Russell Todd) is also murdered. Ginny is still worried about the legend of Jason, while Mark, (Tom McBride) Jeff, and Sandra get killed. As a rainstorm closes in, Ginny and Paul return to camp. They find the bodies of the wasted counselors and discover Jason as the culprit. He attacks Paul and stalks Ginny through the forest around the camp.
The Good News: The original film is the greatest slasher film of all time, and the sequel is nearly as good. It uses the exact same formula, and even plot, as the first one, and goes for the body count here as well. We have a knife stabbing, a machete across the face, a slit throat, a hammer to the back of the head, and the infamous double impalement with a long spear. This is nearly as famous as the decapitation at the end of the first one, and like the first one, it has a slam-bang ending. It has to do with Jason again, and it is a real jump. It isn't expected and certainly shocks anyone. This is a great example of a nearly successful sequel. The big improvement is the higher jump number. The one that got me was near the end. After Jason has knocked out Paul, he chases Ginny into another room. She locks the door and after a while, Jason gives up. Ginny eases away from the door and goes slowly to the window. As she grabs the windowsill, Jason breaks through the window and grabs her hand. That was a great scene, as was the opening. Another great jump, as after wandering around for about fifteen minutes, a cat jumps through a window in front of a character. These two scenes, as well as the ending with Jason, were all great jumps. Even as impressive was the suspense in the film. There were many times that we would be following someone, thinking that they would be killed only to have them run into someone else. There were also times where we would be investigating something with a character before a death, and we would be waiting for Jason to pop out and kill them. The original had those moments, but this one did them better. It even had more nudity than the original, which I always approve of. What was better was that it was more than just one brief scene. We get to see one character in the buff, and two more are seen topless. This is a big improvement over the first. This is also the start of the greatest serial killer franchise ever. This is the main reason why I prefer the Jason films to any other serial killer series: with the exception of maybe Freddy Kruegar, Jason is the most skilled person when dealing with utensils capable of death. Jason knows how to handle any piece of weaponry dealt to him.
The Bad News: I want this blazed into your skull: the wool bag Jason uses to cover his face is the stupidest ever mask worn by a killer. It has no real purpose and doesn't make him look very scary. All it does is simply point out that he is mentally disabled and this proves it. I also wanted to see a different plot line than the first one, but unfortunately, it's true. It sets up nothing from the first film, only repeats it and places it in another camp with Jason now doing the killing. It wasn't exactly original.
The Final Verdict: It may have the exact same plot, but this is still a very entertaining film. It is one of the better slasher films and could be the best sequel to an original classic film. Slasher fans will want to check this one out, as will fans of the series.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, a Sex Scene, and drug use
