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Fansided

Ranking every Friday the 13th film from worst to best

By Wesley Lara

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 09: Actor Derek Mears arrives at the premiere of Warner Bros.' "Friday the 13th" at the Chinese Theater on February 9, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 09: Actor Derek Mears arrives at the premiere of Warner Bros.' "Friday the 13th" at the Chinese Theater on February 9, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) /
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7. Friday the 13th: Part II (1981)

Directed by Steve Minor

Now we travel from 2009 (10 years ago) to 1981 (38 years ago) to explore the aftermath of the first film’s success. A major box office win for the horror genre, Friday the 13th seemed destined for a sequel, especially with the vague and ominous nature of the film’s ending.

Low and behold, only a year passes before Part II comes down the pike and we get Jason Voorhees making his killer debut, following in the footsteps of his grief-stricken mother as he lays down his own form of revenge on the kids of Camp Crystal Lake.

After the events of the first film, we finally follow Jason as an adult, who is living as a sort of hermit in the woods, waiting until the time is right to reign terror down on unsuspecting kids at Camp Crystal Lake. It’s pretty much Jason Voorhees at his most primitive and while that might not sound too appealing on paper, it’s actually kind of charming to see Jason before he became confined to the rules of the Friday the 13th franchise. He is not being made fun of by everybody nor is he an undead zombie; he’s just a really angry guy hungry to kill and its simple.

The film doesn’t fall into the pit-traps of the more goofier films in the series. We just get to see Jason before his prime murdering people wearing a large bag over his head.

I would argue that the bag is more terrifying than the hockey mask, simply because there’s something so unnerving about a dirty bag covering the face of a man in overalls holding an axe. Part II was obviously not as good as the first film, but it still keeps some of the spirit of the first and that small-scale personality wins me over big time over Jason floating in space.