Hatchets, matches and dispatches.

And as promised here's part 2!



#11 - Friday the 13th Part 2 - 1981

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

Hmm, well this is a curious one. It's a film that almost gets it right, not that it was every destined to be a classic mind you. But as far as slasher films go, it has a lot going for it.

The film opens with the survivor of the last film, Alice, having a nightmare (And handily recapping the first film for us). When she wakes she has a shower, hears a noise and encounters the now standard 'fake scare'. Which in reality was someone blatantly throwing a poor cat through the window (According to the credits the Humane society were on set, but they couldn't have been looking when they shot this). Alice opens the fridge, sees the head of Mrs Vorhees inside and then gets an Icepick through the head.

Cue credits. Credits that literally explode on the screen. This film means business.

Anyway there's no use running down the rest of the plot, you know what happens. I do believe this film is the last time we have camp counselors getting bumped off though, the others just feature horny teens. Not that this film is short of horny teens, but they're taking charge of minors here too. So they're responsible horny teens.

This film does like to take its time though. Not that I minded too much. It's nice to see the film makers at least make some kind of effort to create such inconsequential things like plot and character. You can argue whether they're actually successful in doing so, but at least they tried it. So you have your usual stock characters here, and a guy in a wheelchair (Which lets face it, was just an effort on the makers part to make you feel something when he gets offed. Which he does, in quite spectacular fashion).

Aside from the opening, the first kill actually comes over 30 minutes in. Sadly though it's the aforementioned Crazy Ralph who bizarrely warns the teens of their impending doom and then takes to stalking them. It's sad they off him so soon in the series as surely there was plenty more fuel to get out of the Ralphster. But alas it was not to be. So long Crazy Ralph, we hardly knew thee.

The biggest failing of the film is in the Deaths. It's not the fault of the film makers though. The story goes as this. The MPAA were caught somewhat off guard when the original film was released, and were accused of far too lenient on the film. So a year later when this came around they were ready, scissors in hand. As a result the deaths are cut drastically short, with the bare minimal of bloodletting shown on screen. Oddly enough they also cut the recap of the Mrs Vorhees decapitation that was shown in full in the original film.

That aside, there's some neat things about the film. Jason is treated differently here than he is in the later films. He's just a guy with a sack on his head, looking exactly like the killer in the (Sadly still not widely released 'The Town that Dreaded Sundown'). He has yet to become the supernatural superman he goes on to become. The film alludes to the idea that he's been living in the woods all his life, trapping and killing what comes his way. Just like his Mother killed the Teens in his name, he seems to be killing these Teens in the name of his Mother. If you really want to think about it you can wonder if Mrs Vorhees was aware of her sons existence as he was clearly aware of hers.

Aside from that he makes mistakes, he's a little messy in his kills and he's occasionally clumsy. It's not something you see all that often in these films and it's an altogether welcome addition. There's some other nice touches too, such as half the teens surviving because they go out partying and just miss all the killing, including one guy who's A) A Ginger, and B) The practical joker of the group. Watching it, even after seeing it once or twice, you're still damn sure he's going to get killed. Yet the last we see of him he's downing some bottles of Beer and partying.

There is one overall confusing element to the film, mainly the climax. It feels as if there's a huge chunk missing, and rather than ending on an ambiguous note it just comes across as rushed. Personally I think our two heroes (Paul Holt, the only character given a last name. And Ginny, though I don't remember anyone saying her name) kill Jason in a scene that was removed so that they could keep churning the films out. Basically the climax runs as this:

Ginny and Paul have just come from an encounter with Jason, with Ginny running a machete through our sack headed killer. They go back to their Cabin where there's a noise at the door. Paul opens it and it's a dog that had gone missing earlier on in the film. The dog runs to Ginny who's sat in front of a window when suddenly Jason comes crashing through, unmasked, and grabs her. Then we cut to Ginny being carted away in an Ambulance, asking where Paul is. The End. See what I mean? Some have gone on to say that the scene with Jason coming through the Window is a dream, alluding to the end of the first film. But then the final scene still makes no sense. Ginny and Paul escape somewhat unscathed. So what the hell happens to Paul? Ah I hate it when films make me think, particularly when there's no answer.

Anyway, tomorrow I might finish up with another Ft13th number. Though I'll skip part 3 with all its 3D goodness and go right to part 4.

Until then...