With the initial success of Friday the 13th the film studio at paramount decided to follow it up with a sequel. Originally the sequel's were conceptualized to be their own story with no relation to the original film. (Sort of what Halloween 3: Season of the Witch turned out to be). Luckily for fans of Jason Vorhees they ultimately decided to go with a direct sequel to the original story.
We then jump forward five years and see a pair of older teenagers as they drive through the similar scenic town that we saw in the previous film. We soon find out that they are on their way to a new summer camp that is opening on the opposite side of the lake from where the events took place in Part 1.
The camp owner, Paul, is training all these counselors to get ready for the summer. His assistant, Ginny, is late on her arrival which makes Paul frustrated. We soon find out that these two are in a romantic relationship. Soon after her arrival night begins to fall. Paul recounts to the counselors the fabled tale of Jason Vorhees and his mother. After giving the counselors a good scare he warns them to stay away from Camp Crystal Lake.
The following evening all of the counselors are just trying to have a good time. This leads to a lot of drinking and sex. Many of the couples are trying to hook up. And as we already know this means death for all these characters. Jason arrives wearing a white sack on his head and begins to slash the teens one by one. Once Paul and Ginny figure out what is going on they are the only ones left. It is left to them to try and fight off Jason and survive until morning.
Consistently I'm impressed with this series and its ability to create a true atmosphere that makes horror film entertaining. The camp is secluded and rainy. The masked murderer is large and frightening. The scary scenes hit all the right notes, making me jump and leaving me on the edge of my seat. This film has all those elements. Even though it doesn't have as much build up and tension as the original, it manages to make up for it in the excitement of the chase. And some of the kill scenes here are lifted directly from Bay of Blood.
One element that makes this film great is watching Jason run after his victims and pop up in random places for the first time in the series. He doesn't have his classic Hockey Mask yet, but the creepy one eyed bag seems to do the job just as well. Mrs. Vorhees was scary in the first film because she seemed sweet but was in fact just plain nuts. Jason is exciting to watch because he is big and intimidating. Alice from the first film didn't stand a chance.
The one big downside to Part 2 is the strange open ending. The film just seems to cut off at the pinnacle of the action and then jump to the morning. We as the audience don't get to see what happened in the final moments the night before. We don't have any idea what has happened to Jason or to Paul. I realize they were trying to leave it ambiguous so they could make a third film. But it just felt too open ended and unsatisfying.
Summing it Up
Deaths: 9
Language: 2
Gore Factor: 3
Sex Factor: 3
Scare Factor: 3
Fun Factor: 4
Overall Rating: 4