Every ‘Friday the 13th’ Film, Ranked
By Jeremy Dick
8. Friday the 13th Part II
Friday the 13th Part II – Paramount
When Friday the 13th became a success at the box office in 1980, a follow-up was immediately set in motion to be released as quickly as the next year. With the killer in the first film, Pamela Voorhees, beheaded and dead for good, Friday the 13th Part II focused on her son Jason continuing her murders on the Crystal Lake campgrounds in her absence. Believed to have drowned as a child, which is what sparked Pamela’s killing spree, Jason apparently survived and is now killing anyone who ventures too closely into his territory.
Part II is notable of course for kickstarting the pop culture phenomenon of Jason Voorhees, even if he didn’t get his trademark hockey mask until the next movie. This was when we first saw Jason killing teenagers in brutal fashion, and the Crystal Lake setting remains just as creepy as it was in the prior film.
The major problem with the sequel was that it was a little too similar to the original movie, and for some viewers, it came across like an unimaginative rehash. It almost felt like the same exact movie, only swapping out Mrs. Voorhees for Jason in a burlap sack and giving him a new set of camp counselors to kill.
Next: Number 7