Delayed Reaction: Friday the 13th: Part 2

Premise: It turns out Jason is actually killing young people this time.

 

Part 2s of horror franchises are interesting. They don’t normally make the first movie with the idea of a sequel. The sequel only comes once the first movie proves successful enough to warrant it. At that point, the filmmakers or producers have to deconstruct the first film to figure out what made it work. Unlike other genres, where it’s a protagonist that holds together sequels, with horror, it tends to be a malevolent force, not necessarily a person even, that holds the franchise together. If you notice, the second movies tend to be the messiest or poorest received sequels. Halloween 2. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2. Paranormal Activity 2. Saw 2. These are all feeling out what does and doesn’t work. A Nightmare on Elm Street realized it needed Heather Langenkamp back for the third movie. Paranormal Activity 3 stepped back and kept it simpler than PA2. Halloween and Saw both took a little longer before figuring out more mythology-heavy formulas that work.

 

Friday the 13^th is interesting since the first movie turns out to be more of a prequel. It’s Jason’s mother that time. Jason doesn’t show up until the stinger at the end of the movie. So part 2 is the first proper Jason movie. And it’s not until the 3^rd movie that they figure out who he is and what he looks like. Part 2 ends up being an in between movie. It cements the basic structure of the movie with the dead teens and a healthy dose of sex. Jason is still pretty feral. I’m not the world’s biggest slasher fan and Friday the 13^th isn’t may favorite flavor of slasher, but for what it is, I enjoyed this installment well enough. I appreciate how the filmmakers were still trying to be a little thoughtful with the story. As fun as a Jason X is, it’s a lazier movie from a story perspective.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don’t Recommend