For many people, their family can be everything, an eternal bond linked in blood that can help guide and influence their actions and/or beliefs. In 1981, after witnessing the supposed sacrifice that his mother tried to accomplish, and the lengths she went through, a now-grown boy seeks to follow the path. As audiences finally got acquainted with a masked killer named Jason, in Friday the 13th Part 2.

Offering a conclusion to the story of Alice from the first film, as well as a quick refresher on the same events. Five years on, a new breed of councillors fails to heed the warning of Crazy Ralph, and after a death of a family, a young boy now grown seeks vengeance for his mother. Can the remaining teenagers reason with this unstoppable killer? Or will the Voorhees name finally triumph? Audiences from across the globe were introduced to a whole new killer.

A six-minute recap to catch you up on the events of the last film, and briefly on the life of Alice after the credits rolled. As the film time-skips on five years to the then future of 1985, although viewers wouldn’t necessarily notice any major fashion predictions or rapid technological advancements. Unfortunate incidents in real life made Adrienne King reluctant to both return and pursue her promising acting career, so her cameo at the start is a brief send-off for the character. Back to the events of Part 2, the kills are tamer in comparison, which is surprising. Possibly due to the dropping of the P.O.V shots that were common in the first film, or the encroaching clampdown of the rating board. However, as always, some exceptions prove the rule.

Part 2 follows a similar path to the first one, watching youthful councillors get picked off one by one, only this time by a fully grown man-child with a potato sack on his head, to hide his disfigured visage. Yes, the whodunnit nature of the first film is out as we finally get a proper introduction to Jason and his kills. Although the film does delve into the cerebral realm; the psychological motivation that drives Voorhees is a fun inclusion, especially how this manifests in the ending. Mark the paraplegic sports player is a positive inclusion, yet for those who considered the first film a dramatic leap in expectations, Part 2 feels like a welcome return. 

Friday the 13th  Part 2 delivers on the sequel’s premise by offering the same, yet more of it, gradually refining the formula to the recognisable slasher staple it has always been. Setting the film 5 years on and amongst the depilated remains of the old Crystal Lake Camp still retains its eerie charm. As a slasher staple during the heyday of the genre, Friday the 13th is a legacy, that has barely started yet.

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