Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
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A group of camp counselors faces a vengeful stalker at a training camp near the infamous Crystal Lake.
The story
Two months after the murders at Camp Crystal Lake, sole survivor Alice Hardy is recovering from her traumatic experience. In 1984, Paul Holt opens a school for camp counselors on the shore of Crystal Lake. The camp is attended by various trainees who learn the legend of Jason Voorhees, a boy who drowned in 1957, sending his vengeful mother Pamela on killing sprees. Paul reassures everyone that Jason is dead and the area is off-limits. However, an unknown assailant begins picking off the counselors one by one, leading to a night of terror as the group realizes the legend may be real.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Two months after the murders at Camp Crystal Lake, sole survivor Alice Hardy is recovering from her traumatic experience. In her apartment, she finds the severed head of Pamela Voorhees and is murdered with an ice pick. In 1984, Paul Holt opens a school for camp counselors on the shore of Crystal Lake. During a campfire, Paul tells the legend of Jason Voorhees, a boy who drowned in 1957, whose mother Pamela went on killing sprees until Alice killed her in self-defense. Paul claims Jason is dead, but a man in a mask scares the group. That night, Crazy Ralph is garroted, and a man in a burlap sack mask kills Deputy Winslow. At the camp, the assailant kills several counselors, including Scott, Terry, and the pair Jeff and Sandra. Ginny Field and Paul return to find the place in disarray. Ginny finds an altar with Pamela's head and realizes Jason Voorhees is the killer. She puts on Pamela's sweater to try and psychologically trick him into thinking she is his mother. The ruse fails when Jason sees the head. Paul is incapacitated, and Ginny manages to wound Jason with a machete. They believe he is dead, but an unmasked Jason bursts through a window and grabs Ginny, leaving her fate unknown.
- First release year
- 1981
- Runtime (minutes)
- 87
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Steve Miner
- Writers
- Ron Kurz · writer
- Cast and characters
- Adrienne King · Alice Hardy; Amy Steel · Ginny Field; John Furey · Paul Holt; Betsy Palmer · Pamela Voorhees; Walt Gorney · Crazy Ralph
- Genres
- slasher; horror
- Themes
- vengeance; urban legends; survival
- Tone and mood
- violent; scary; bloody
- Premise and plot tags
- slasher; sequel; campground; stalker
- Franchise connections
- Friday the 13th
- Content notes
- nudity
- Reception
- The film received negative reviews and was less financially successful than the first film, though it is considered an iconic entry in the series for introducing Jason Voorhees as the main antagonist.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 26 · scale: 100 · review count: 100
- Production trivia
- The film was originally intended to be an anthology film based on the Friday the 13th superstition.; The use of the burlap sack hood worn by Jason bears similarity to that used by the villain in the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown.; The film was originally supposed to end with Pamela Voorhees' head opening her eyes and smiling towards the camera, but this was removed for being too 'unserious.'
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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