Friday The 13th Part II (1981)

FRIDAY THE 13^TH PART II (1981)

Dir: Steve Miner

"I don't want to scare anyone, but I'm going to give it to you straight about Jason. His body was never recovered from the lake after he drowned. And if you listen to the old timers in town, they'll tell you he's still out there...”

The opening of Part II is infuriating. Our final girl from the first film is the first to be killed off. We learn that it’s only been two months since tragedy befell Camp Crystal Lake, and Alice Hardy is trying to get on with her life. The trauma is very present, and she’s trying to work through it with painting. Her lover, Steve Christy, is dead along with a group of new friends. She decapitated a murderer. And she was pulled into the lake by a deformed boy. Alice is doing her best under the circumstances. Instead of forcing her to go back to the camp in a plot point that would be reused throughout horror – most notably with Ripley in Aliens (1986), Steve Miner and writer Ron Kurz decided to include a Hitchcock flourish. Kill off your star, and your audience will throw their expectations out the window.

But here’s the problem with that. Now, I can’t go back to 1981 when this film was released and try to understand audience expectations. All I can assume is that a typical viewer would think the new killer would be the boy from the lake. So, the moment a foot steps through a puddle and we see that the film is following Alice, we know that if she is going to die it will be due to the boy from the lake. Instead of a Hitchcock flourish, this scene is pure revenge. Jason has tracked down the killer of his mother and has placed his mother’s decapitated head inside her killer’s fridge. He makes sure she is reminded of what she has done before he enacts his justice.

Most viewers catch on to the thrill of Jason’s kills later into the series. Meaning, Jason becomes the star and must kill a new stable of vice-ridden teens. But it is in the first scene of Part II that we are already thrust into Jason’s perspective, and we never leave through the rest of the series. Of course, this lends itself into horror theory. One theory states: we are given the permission to do heinous things through the eyes the of the killer, then transform into the final girl to punish that horrible side of us.

If we view the rest of Part II from Jason’s perspective then we have a boy who has grown into a young adult that has been living on his own in the woods since he found justice for the death of his mom, and he likes to spy on others. It has been quiet for five years since the death of Alice. But it is either when Jason sees Jeff and Sandra trespassing into his territory or when the prophet of doom trespasses, that sets him on his killing spree. From Part II, this spree continues until the end of Part IV as the continuity is over the course a few weeks, if that. Those meddling kids. Should have just left him alone. Or gone drinking.

One of my favorite realizations in Part II is that the councilors who choose to go out and get sh*tfaced are safe. This includes the African American councilors. While the black councilors do not get more than a few seconds of screentime, they are there. And more importantly in the annuls of horror films, they survive. This flock of survivalists are led by, what Cabin In The Woods (2011) would deem The Fool, Ted. Head councilor trainers Paul and Ginny leave Ted in charge. Ted is told to wrap it up and get all the councilors back to camp. Instead, Ted, inquires about after-hours bars. They are far from sober, far from returning to camp, and far from Jason’s reach. Later in the series, academics would liken Jason to a Reagan-era response to decency. If Jason senses vice, he must destroy it. Anyone caught with sex or drugs on the mind must be punished. This is even used to comedic effect in later sequels. However, with Part II, getting drunk with locals saved lives. That’s the PSA I get from the film now.

I’m realizing there’s too much to say about the Friday the 13^th series. I want to talk about how Ginny is one of the best final girls. Because in one moment she pisses herself seeing a rat but, in another moment, she uses psychology to really mindf*ck Jason. Vulnerable and intelligent as most horror audiences feel. Alone with the big bad scary thing on the screen. Our emotions heightened. Anything can happen. We can get so scared we piss ourselves or squeeze the life out of the loved one next to us, or jump from our seat, but we’re smart enough to scream at the character when they’re being stupid. But, Ginny, you are never that. You make decisions we would all make in your situation. Then you want to talk about that cobbled together ending. Where is Paul? Where the f*ck is Paul? I mean, I only care that Ginny survived, her deuteragonist sidekick isn’t as important. But to give us that normal Friday fade to white and no Paul? I mean he is still the guy that tried to subtly shame Ginny for having her period by scrawling, "Beware of Bears" on her mirror. And maybe he deserves no ending. Maybe Paul, being the smarmy guy who opens his training center right on the property line of Camp Crystal Lake gets a fade to white and nothing else. Ultimately, he is the one responsible for all the deaths in… possibly the rest of the series. Let me think that one through. Then I’ll let you go.

Paul opens training camp, his councilors trespass, Jason begins killing spree, and this spree lasts until Tommy Jarvis kills him. Roy dons Jason’s mask to kill as revenge for the death of his son. Tommy revives Jason in an accidental Frankenstein moment which continues Jason’s rampage through the rest of the series. Yeah, that’s a lot of death you’re responsible for sir. A fade to white is sufficient.