Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

Written by CinemaSerf on November 10, 2022

You'd have thought that after the antics of "Jason" first time around, the last thing anyone with a brain would want to do is open a new camp next door to that site! Well, yes - a mere five years later that's precisely what happens. A camp for trainee counsellors is established and it isn't long before there are a few too many meals going begging at the end of the day. Could "Jason" have survived? Is he back on his murderous trail again? Well sadly, that is the extent of the jeopardy here as the story now falls rather neatly into some rather predictable tram lines with a before, middle and ending - except the latter is clearly just a comma, rather than a full stop. The jump moments might have been more effective had the cast been more convincing, but all the yelling and hysteria - even in the dark and eerie woods - fails to engender any sense of peril, It's just annoying and the score from Harry Manfredi doesn't really help much either. Betsy Palmer reprises her role as "Mrs Voorhees" as does Adrienne King as "Alice" but they don't really add much and by the midpoint I was bored. This is just a sequel nobody really needed.