Friday The 13th Part 2 - 3/5

Although the cult status of the "Friday The 13th" films may never die and the love for the first few seems to be die hard, its hard for me to really buy into these all that much. Respect them, yes I do, but the mixed bag that is the first sequel to the film is tough to get into. "Part 2" does have moments better than the first, but these moments also make the dumb moments even dumber and that isn't a great thing.

Despite the ongoing slaughterfest that happens at Camp Crystal Lake every time some one shows up, a group of counselors decides to hold a training camp next to the now debilitated 'Camp Blood'. Of these young and naive counselors we put our faith in to survive, but the rumors of a still surviving Jason Vorhees wandering the woods start to seem more real once the young men and women start to show up dead. Is it really Jason this time or just another psychotic roaming the woods?

With a new director in the chair and fairly solid (if not logically flawed) story going with it, "Part 2" does have some solid moments. The opening sequence is memorable enough and Miner as a director does his best even with its amateur flaws. Even the character development seems to be heightened from the first, meaning it went from 0 to 1 on a scale of 10, but its improvement. That's what counts.

The problem with "Part 2" is that with its better moments there also comes even dumber moments. For a lot of the film, it retreads ground from the original using similar style and tactics, like POV shots, to achieve its suspense. It also has some poor pacing at times, as the film tries to develop too many characters and occasionally spaces off on tangents. Most of these tangents are used to get the plot moving by separating counselors or various things to get them knocked off, have sex, or generally be dumb and it feels forced too often.

There are some great moments in the film with some more than memorable death sequences, the wheelchair bounding down the stairs for one, but with lackluster acting, poorly developed characters, and a script that starts leaning away from realism "Part 2" is really no better than the first film. It retreads a lot of ground even if it seems to be creating a style for the franchise. Again, I like this movie but far from love it for all its flaws.

BONUS RANT: Isn't nice how our killer takes off the kettle in the opening sequence? Hope he remembered to turn off that burner or the house might go up! Don't want to draw attention like that whistling kettle would have. 

Written By Matt Reifschneider