Five years after
the horrible bloodbath at Camp Crystal Lake, all that remains is the legend
of Jason Voorhees and his demented mother, who had murdered seven camp
counselors. At a nearby summer camp, the new counselors are concerned about
the warnings to stay away from the infamous site. Carefree, the young people
roam the area, not sensing the ominous lurking presence. One by one, they
are attacked and brutally slaughtered. Suspense and screams abound in this
compelling chiller.
"Jason Voorhees is only a legend!"
- Paul (Camp Counselor) |
In 1980, Sean S. Cunningham's, Friday The 13th was a massive hit
at box-office records. The film was widely praised for its horrifying make-up
effects, created by the infamous Tom Savini. But fans craved for more,
and they meant to have more.
In 1981, director Steve Miner gave the fans more with, Friday The 13th
Part 2. The film starts off in August of 1980, just two months after
the massacre Mrs. Voorhees brought to Camp Crystal Lake that June of 1980.
Alice (again played by Adrienne King) has been struggling with the horrifying
memories of that brutal massacre that occurred two months ago. She awakes
from the terrifying dreams and realizes that she is safe at home. Alice
is living on her own, trying to piece her life back together. After a brief
phone-conversation with her mother, Alice goes off to take a shower. She
finishes her shower, only to hear a noise coming from her kitchen. She
goes into the kitchen and grabs an ice pick from the counter. She heads
over to the kitchen window, where a cat jumps in. She puts a teakettle
on the stove and heads over to the fridge to get the cat some milk. Instead
of grabbing the milk, Alice screams in horror when she finds Mrs. Voorhees'
head in her fridge. Behind her, is a full-grown...Jason Voorhees (played
by Warrington Gillette). He grabs Alice and stabs her in the temple with
the ice pick.
Five years pass after Alice's demise. Paul Holt (played by John Fury) has
opened a summer camp, just next to Camp Crystal Lake. He has hired a large
batch of counselors, including Jeff (played by Bill Randolph), Sandra (played
by Marta Kober), Ted (played by Stuart Charno), Mark (played by the late
Tom McBride), Scott (played by Russell Todd), Vicky (played by Lauren-Marie
Taylor), Terri (played by Kirsten Baker), and Ginny Fields (played by Amy
Steel), Paul's girlfriend and assistant head counselor.
Everyone arrives safely, but Ginny arrives a little late, due to her car
not being in the best of shape. That night, Paul has a little fun with
everybody when he reveals the legend of Jason Voorhees, and reveals what
happened at Camp Crystal Lake five years ago, where Ted comes out dressed
like a dead Viking. That's when Paul informs everyone that Jason is supposedly
dead, Mrs. Voorhees was killed by Alice, and Camp Crystal Lake is off limits.
The next day, while jogging, Terri's little dog, Muffin, meets Jason, where
later that day, Jeff and Sandra go off into Camp Crystal Lake and find
a supposed mangled dog. Before they even have the chance to really figure
out what it is they're looking at, they are snagged by a cop. The cop has
a few words with Paul and then goes on his way, but only to find Jason
running around Camp Crystal Lake. The cop chases him deep into the camp
and finds a broken-down cabin. He enters the cabin and enters the far-back
side of the cabin. What he sees is shocking, but before he can make more
comments on what he is seeing, Jason kills him off.
That night, while Ginny, Paul, and the rest of the counselors go off to
party, Scott, Terri, Vicky, Jeff, Sandra, & Mark stay behind to watch
the camp. During their watch out, Terri goes for a little skinny dip. Scott
jokes around by grabbing Terri's clothes, but he gets caught in a rope
trap. As Terri goes to get a knife to cut the rope, Scott is then killed
off, followed by Terri. Vicky and Mark make plans to sleep with each other,
so Vicky goes off to grab a few things, where Mark is left by himself,
where he is then killed. After Mark is killed, Jason kills both Jeff and
Sandra through double impaling.
Vicky returns and searches the whole main cabin
for Mark. She enters Jeff and Sandra's room and finds the two of them dead,
where she finds Jason, wearing a burlap sac over his head. She does not
have chance to run, for she is killed off.
Paul and Ginny return to find Jason waiting for them. Paul is knocked unconscious,
while Ginny battles Jason by herself. She runs into the cabin where the
cop was last seen and finds what the cop had found: Mrs. Voorhees' gray
sweater and Mrs. Voorhees' rotting head. Ginny grabs the sweater, puts
it on, and acts out as Mrs. Voorhees, but Jason knows better. Soon, Paul
enters, where Ginny and Paul seemingly kill Jason. As they head back to
Ginny's cabin, they find Muffin, Terri's dog, safe and sound. As Ginny
goes to pick up Muffin, Jason comes busting through the window, grabbing
Ginny. Ginny awakes the next morning, and finds that they paramedics are
taking her to the hospital, where she'll be safe.
Now, I do remember telling you that camping is out of the question. So,
put away your camping gear. But while you are waiting, watch Friday
The 13th: Part 2 if you enjoyed the first.
 |  |  | 
- This
film has one of the longest pre-credit sequences in cinematic history,
nearly 15 minutes in some versions.
- The
killer in this film is dressed to look exactly the same as the killer from The
Town That Dreaded Sundown.
- The
odd, abrupt ending in which Paul apparently disappears was not originally
scripted, but was a result of actor John Furey quitting the production
before his concluding scenes were filmed (in the following sequel it is
made clear that Ginny was the sole survivor).
- A
shot of the infamous double-impalement was cut to avoid an "X" rating,
yet a still of this censored shot appears on the back of the videocassette
box.
- The
lead character Ginny Field was named after Virginia Field, who was the
production designer on both the first two Friday the 13th films.
- Throughout the final scene, the mummified head of Mrs. Voorhees
is noticeably an actress wearing makeup rather than a fake head. The final
shot is a close-up of the head, ending in a freeze frame before the credits
roll. Originally this shot ended with Mrs. Voorhees opening her eyes and
smiling, but at the last minute Steve Miner decided this effect was hokey
and cheapened the movie's impact.
- During the climactic fight between Jason and Ginny, Jason raises
the mattock to block Ginny's machete swing. Amy Steel said that during
the first take, the timing was wrong and she accidentally hit Warrington
Gillette's finger, causing him to have to go to the emergency room. After
his finger was stiched up, he returned to set that night and insisted they
complete the scene.
     
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