Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

This follows on from the original film, and is listed as 5 years later, you get the recap of the first film at the start which as I had just finished watching the first film it was a waste on me. They take the ending of the first film and run with it which is really strange and the real flaws in the series start as they try to get continuity but in the story there is no real need continuity needed and trying to make it work just makes it silly.

So in watching this film and knowing that the continuity is nonsense I am reviewing it from a slasher point and without the first film. So I looked at it from the fact that there are a group of teens in woods being stalked and killed in cool ways.

It is okay as it introduces Jason as a killer and they discuss him and wonder what it must be like and they give him a back ground I have to say that it is dull and is exposition that is not needed. They do cover some excellent points as they have the boy in the Wheelchair and you think well their is a survivor.

Overall this film is not great, there are some cool bits in it and it is the start of the Jason series and he does get better, it is 3 stars for me as it is better than some of the following sequels but not as good as the others.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Firstly I have seen this film several times now and this was the first time I had seen it on the BluRay, the film itself is an awesome classic with the cliches in film that are now almost standard in the slasher genre. The only down side to the BluRay was that it is so clear and excellent quality that the Tom Savini practical effects lose some of their impact as the transfer is so clear, you can see the flaws. This was a disappointment as the practical effects in this film are awesome and seeing them for the first time must have been fantastic.

I love these films as genre and a piece of cinema history, while there are far to many of them they define an era and started a genre. The sequels to this original go to far and in a strange direction and the original film in the series set a mark that was hard to beat. The only issue I have with the film and slight spoilers there is that the killer is never seen in the film until the end, so as a murder mystery which some people regard this, it is hard to go with as the killer is unseen.

I would recommend that as a film fan you see the original anyway, the sequels can probably be missed but the original is a 5 star film that is worth watching, also you get to see a young Kevin Bacon which is pretty cool.