Friday the 13th - Part II (1981)

Director: Steve Miner

Cast: Adrienne King, Amy Steel, John Furey, Betsy Palmer

Have I Seen it Before: I dunno… Maybe?

Did I Like It: At the end of my review of Friday the 13th (1980) I lamented the prospect of watching the rest of the series. How much can they wring out of a willfully pale imitation of the Halloween series?

I’m sort of heartened as I finish the first sequel, if for no other reason than the adventures of Jason Voorhees are to the horror canon as Star Trek: Voyager is to the Star Trek canon.

Let me finish.

Voyager really isn’t all that bad, but it does have its challenges, but even during those long stretches where the show doesn’t seem the least bit interested in being an engaging series, it is wonderful white noise. I got an entire paper for grad school—with citations and the whole deal—while this movie was playing itself out.

That has to have some kind of value, right?

That certainly sounds like damning the thing with the faintest of all possible praise, and I’m even having a hard time arguing against that conclusion. There just isn’t a lot of “here”, here. Betsy Palmer returns for a spell to be be Jason’s (Steve Daskewisz) hallucinations of his mother, although it would have been even better if the best actor of the series (sorry, Kevin Bacon) had decided to play the severed head of her former character, but that probably would have been too much to ask from a franchise that doesn’t yet realize it is going to have to be far, far weirder than this to survive.

But, really? A burlap sack is the best they could do as they launch their marquee maniac into our cinematic hearts? Here’s hoping that they come up with something a little bit better for the next movie.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Director: Sean S. Cunningham

Cast: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Kevin Bacon

Have I Seen it Before: Sure… Probably? iTunes had a sale on all 8 of the films in the series released by Paramount Pictures (before the property was sold to New Line, making Freddy vs. Jason (2003) sort of inevitable.

Did I Like It: No one alive and/or aware on any level over the last 45 years will try to tell you this is a good movie. Avowed fans of the series—an odd bunch, one can only imagine—would even view this one as something of an aberration, as everything they claim to like about the series doesn’t even start to enter into the mix until Part III (1982).

It is, fundamentally, an imitation of far better movies, imitating the sounds, but not the language in those better films. Almost nothing in this film isn’t trying to make the same kind of money that Halloween (1978) harnessed, without endeavoring to make an actual movie in the process.

And yet, of all the lame imitations of movies that exist, this one at least has the advantage of being a cut above those rest. The score is not bad (although it gets a lot more schmaltzy in the film’s final minutes; did we really need a love theme?), owing more to Bernard Hermann scores (Psycho) and less like the synth tracks of John Carpenter.

Betsy Palmer chews the scenery at just the right level, but her performance may only be that good when stacked up against the barely animate cardboard cutouts which surround her.

So, did I hate it? No. But I can’t say I’m all that thrilled with the prospect of being compelled to watch seven more of these? Not quite.

Also, why does she take that canoe out at the end of the film, other than to give us that final shot? Doesn’t make a damn bit of sense… Granted, it was all a dream, but that has its own problems.