Sunday 7 September 2014

Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981) - Jason returns!

(WARNING REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)
I watched this film with a question. Will we finally see the face of Jason or will the franchise continue with concealing this thrilling killer? About halfway into the film, people were still being killed by someone who was recording in first person until about the last 20 minutes of the film. Yes, we finally saw Jason himself! So about three quarters into the film, we came across the initial appearance of him. Just a guy wearing casual clothes, with some sort of cloth mask over his head. I was thrilled to finally see him, and watching the second film for so long. I was very impressed with the ending in the film in particular.
Yes, I agree that the ending the first film was incredible in the introduction of a huge horror franchise, but come on, the last 15 minutes to this film was awesome. I loved how Ginny (Amy Steel) went from almost certain death to quickly take on the appearance of Mrs Voorhees and control little Jason into believing she was his mother, I really thought this idea was exceptional as it provided a different conclusion to a film where you would just expect everyone to die in the end. However, after a few times saying "You're work is done now Jason", unfortunately Ginny moved out the way a little which allowed Jason to see his mothers head sitting on the table, which obviously told him he had been fooled.
Aside my favourite features in the film, I believe the plot was very similar to the previous film except for the fact that the campsite was beside Camp Crystal Lake and not in it. The film was directed by Steve Miner lasting 87 minutes and begins with the ending of the previous movie - After killing Mrs. Voorhees, who was avenging her son Jason's death, Alice Hardy (Audrienne King) can finally sigh with relief. But there is just one problem. Jason never drowned at Camp Crystal Lake and lived in the nearby woods as a hermit all this time. The day that Alice beheaded his mother, Jason (Warrington Gillette) saw everything and his heart filled with thirst for revenge. Two months later, Alice gets stabbed by an ice pick in the temple and disappears. Is Jason behind this? Five years later, a camp next do to Camp Crystal Lake is built and the counsellors start snooping around the old, abandoned camp ruins. This makes Jason very upset, since his shack is next to the remains of Camp Crystal Lake and what is inside the shack shall be kept secret forever. From this moment, Jason begins to recklessly kill the inhabitants at the local campsite in order of vengeance for the death of his mother.
Although the plot was very similar to the previous film, I still really enjoyed it and thought it was a brilliant film. Except for the ending, I prefer the first film by a very small fraction. The only reason for this was since all the deaths were expected since it had a close to identical plot - except for the two main characters of course. In terms of the actual horror but, I probably slightly prefer this film. For the second time watching this, I was amazed at the amount of times I jumped at big jump scares, and felt genuinely scared at frightening scenes.
I loved the final moments of the film also. I was certain that Ginny and Paul were going to survive in the end - however, it was not long until a deformed type of Jason came flying through the window the attack Ginny again; but this time Paul was not to be found to help. In the end, Ginny woke up to the sight of an ambulance taking her away, and once again, there was no sight of Jason to be seen.
Before we actually witnessed the appearance of Jason, I loved how when he was close by it showed us his shadow stopping to the music, and very slowly proceeding. Another key aspect that I think made this film special was when it was showing you Jason's footsteps. This might sound silly, but every time he took a step there was a loud sharp dynamic in the background which had us jumping (don't deny it!).

Anyway although I preferred the first film, I must say that this film was truly a masterpiece and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Many gory deaths, a good few twists, and plenty of eerie moments and jumps within the film that made it a successful horror slasher for me. Brilliant film, must-watch guys!

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