Movie Review: FRIDAY THE 13TH: PART II (1981)

Salutations my screechers, screamers, and scary dreamers,

Tonight’s tale of terror entitled “Friday the 13th Part Two” concerns a crazed killer croaking camp counselors.

We open with a recap of the first part, which admittedly is not a very creative start, and then we begin with our film proper with a sackclothed figure playing our chopper. The plot itself could have been great but it ends up suffering a dismal fate of feeling like something we have already seen and cribbing too much from “Halloween”. Though the main story may be mundane our heroine was actually given a brain so instead of a stereotypical screaming shrew we are given a lead who reasons things through. Her reliance on logic made me actually care so the rest of the plot was easier to bear.

The music is this movie’s biggest charm with a steady pace that is sure to disarm and then when the mood is suitably tense it pounces leaving us with little defense. Without the soundtrack this picture would be a bore as it wholly relies upon the score which to me is a tad unfair since they utilize it for nearly every scare. They even cued up the music for the spring loaded cat a scare that I think always falls flat. Luckily the soundtrack is pretty good so it does not bother me as much as it should that we end up listening to it more as I really do enjoy the score.

I feel I must comment on style as I have not done so in quite a while and this picture plays a clever game that quickly earned it my acclaim. As my horror allegiants are already aware first person is not new to slasher fare but here they made it feel slightly new by occasionally obscuring our point of view. These moments play on our sense of dread and help us see a bit into the killer’s head which could feel like a cheap gag if we not for the stifling burlap bag.

As any good slasher fan knows, the emphasis is murder tableaus so I suppose they deserve some notation before I close out my evaluation. This series has gained a reputation for showing brutal evisceration but in this chapter they never show penetration which leaves it up to our imagination. While the piercing is not shown the level of violence is made known by showing us the after effect so it still remains bloody in that respect.

Story/Concept: 1
Direction/Style: 2
Scares: 1
Atmosphere: 1
Rewatchability: 1
Total: 6/10

In conclusion, the ground here is well tread but they still manage some moments of dread and the area where this really succeeds is that our heroine is smarter than most female leads.

Stick to the shadows my fine friends.