As I said, the pacing is really off because the script makes poor use of its time. The first 15 minutes of the movie are used for pointless flashbacks and to kill off Alice, the sole survivor of the last film. The rest of the movie plays out like the first Friday, but crammed into a shorter running time. This leads to some very disappointing moments. Jason isn't in this film nearly enough. Mrs. Voorhees was at least present throughout the first film, even if she was off-screen. There's not enough time to even remotely like the characters, either. I had no idea who anyone was throughout the film other than the stereotypes associated with their characters, and I really couldn't have cared less when they died. And if I'm going to harp on any plot holes, I'm going to bringing up the strangest of them. Jason uncharacteristically leaves Crystal Lake at the beginning of the film to kill Alice. This raises the question of how Jason was able to track her down, and how he managed to put a severed head in her fridge without her noticing. Granted, this is a slasher film, and they're not meant to be taken seriously, but this really took me out of the film.
In comparison to the original film, Friday the 13th Part 2 holds up fairly well as a sequel, but it borrows several elements from the first and doesn't feel very original. If anything, this film feels more like one of the numerous knockoffs that had started to show up. The cinematography still has that moving-camera going on, so we're never quite sure if we're watching the characters through Jason's eyes. The story arc is also very similar to that of the original, although the end fight scene is slightly more intense. The scene where Ginny tries to convince Jason that she's Mrs. Voorhees is pretty creepy, but there just aren't enough creepy moments to keep this film as fully afloat as it could have been. There are long stretches in the script where nothing really happens, and I often felt myself starting to get bored. Those first fifteen minutes really offset the rest of the film, and the time spent waiting for the main characters to die just doesn't have the payoff to counteract the wait.
The death scenes are really lacking as well. Jason just kinda meanders about, waywardly killing people, and doesn't get around to killing any of the main characters until more than halfway through the film. There are a few deaths beforehand, but they were all minor characters with less than ten minutes of screen-time. Even when the deaths do occur, they leave much to be desired. Tom Savini didn't do the makeup for this film, and so the deaths here don't have the punch that the first film's did. There's a somewhat entertaining scene where Jason kills a guy in a wheelchair, but that's really the only memorable death in the movie. There's also a pretty goofy scene where Jason double-impales two camp counselors. It could have been a cool effect, but I thought it turned out kinda lame. Even Jason gets a lackluster defeat; he gets hit in the shoulder with a machete. That would probably kill someone, but it just isn't that creative of a way to defeat the villain. The only good part of the film in terms of makeup is the reveal of Jason's face at the end. He looks like a mongoloid version of Hagrid, but it's still a pretty creepy look, and the makeup still holds up today.
Overall, this is pretty standard slasher fare, and a pretty decent sequel. It's not as campy as some of the later installments, and it's not as creepy as the original. We're left with nearly the exact same movie as the first, but crammed into a shorter running time. But despite the shorter length, the film still drags in places, and the buildup to the main character's death doesn't a big enough payoff to justify the wait. It's certainly not a terrible movie, and there are a few entertaining moments, but don't go into the film expecting it to be as good as the original. If you enjoyed the first Friday the 13th, it's worth watching, but the casual viewer should steer clear.
Enjoyment- 3/5
Quality- 2.5/5
IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082418/
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