Movie Synopsis/Review: Friday the 13th Part 2
Originally written Oct.30, 2002

The National Network (TNN) played Friday the 13th Part 2 last night, and
since I couldn't find anything better to watch, I left it on.

The movie opened with the only survivor of the first movie trying to get back
to normal life, interspered with flashbacks from her encounter with Pamela
Voorhees, the killer from Friday the 13th.  The music worked to heighten the
tension and make the viewer jump at anything that moved, or preemptively jump
the the viewer thinks someone is hiding around the corner.  Right at the end
of the prologue, we apply one of the cardinal rules of horror movies: "If
it's a cat that's mkaing the noises, the killer is right behind you."  She
gets knifed in the head and then the pre-credit sequence ends and the movie
title and opening credits roll.

Another cardinal rule of horror movies is "Creepy old guys don't lie."
Unfortunately, none of the kids (read: victims) in this movie follow this
rule, and when they all get together a New Jersey wilderness camp right next
to Camp Crystal Lake (or Camp Blood, as it is more commonly known), two of
them, Paul and Ginny, decide to go to the off-limits camp.

The cops haul them in, but the new killer has awakened.  For the most part of
the movie, all we see of the killer are his feet (a very good technique for
enhancing dramatic tension, since it doesn't spoil the effect for the final
battle).  As night falls, one of the cops who found the kids sees somebody
running across the road toward Crystal Lake, and like a good cop, he gets out
of his car and goes after him.  A chase ensues, and the cop finds a
ramshackle shack in the middle of nowhere.  "The creepy house in the woods is
the killer's place" is another rule of horror films, but he goes in,
explores, and the killer hit him in the back of the head with a pick.  He
picked his brain.  The cop picked a bad time to turn away.

After the pun-inducing kill, a carload of the teens at the camp decides to
head into town for one last night getting wasted.  When two return, that
leaves six teens left at the camp.  None of the teens who went out drinking
return for the rest of the film.

One of the girls goes skinny-dipping in the lake, and one of the guys steals
her clothes.  She grabs a towel and goes after him.  He steps in a rope trap
and ends up drangling from a tree by the ankle, so she goes looking for
something to cut down while he hangs around.  After she leaves, the killer
finds him and slits his throat.  She returns with a dinky pocketknife, finds
him dead, and then the killer gets her.  Four teens are left at the camp.

For some reason, the camp has a separate storage area where all the clothing
seems to be located, so one girl goes over to change.  Here is where another
horror film rule is applied: "If you taking off your clothes, you're putting
a bull's-eye on your head."

She isn't knifed right away, as the first person perspective stalks around
the mini-cabin for some time like a deranged peeping Tom, and then she heads
back to the main lodge without incident.  Her boyfriend, a guy in a
wheelchair, is the next victim, since he gets left alone and goes outside to
investigate a strange sound.  He gets a machete in the head and his
wheelchair bounces down a hill.

Two of the remaining four kids decide to head upstairs during this time.
Another horror film rule is "Sex kills."  While they're engaged, the killer
comes up the stairs, grabs a spear, and impales them both.

I seem to have forgotten Paul somewhere in here, since he and Ginny (the
remaining girl) are the only survivors.  Anyway, Ginny goes outside ("Outside
+ alone + after dark = slicing") to look for her dog Muffin.  The killer
attacks, and she runs.  Fortunately, she doesn't trip an a conveniently
placed root, and manages to get inside the lodge, where she finds the impaled
bodies.  She jumps out the window and runs to the other cabin and hides under
a bed.  The killer seems to disappear, but he's standing on a chair, which
breaks before he can get her with a pitchfork.

The killer chases her through the woods until she finds his ramshackle shack,
where she finds a makeshift shrine to Pamela Voorhees, including her severed,
mummified head.  Taking a chance, Ginny puts on Pamela's sweater, grabs a
knife, and when the killer busts down the door, she barks, "Jason!"

The killer is Jason Voorhees, who is wearing a pillowcase over his head with
one eyehole.  He seems to think that his mother has come back, and Ginny
talks to him like a mother, hoping to keep him docile until she can stab him,
but when she raises her knife, Jason sees the head, and he raises his
pickaxe.  Ginny's stab glances off the axe, and Paul rushes in to save her.
While Paul and Jason struggle, Ginny grabs a machete and hacks into Jason's
left shoulder.  He goes down and it looks like it's all over.

At the lodge, Paul and Ginny hear a cratching at the door.  With a great deal
of dramatic tension, Paul opens the door, and Muffin comes in.  It looks like
they're going to have a happy ending, but Jason crashes through the window
behind her and grabs.  The movie ends there.