Happy 50th Post

Wow, 50 posts. Who would have thought? Not me that is for sure. I figured I would have given up on this blog well before this, but I have really enjoyed writing up reviews for movies. I would like to take the time to thank a few people: Bill, for always reading and catching my mistakes even though he isn't really a horror fan; my friends Maffy and Jed for reading and leaving me a reply to read once in a while; and thank you to whoever else might be reading. Thanks for sticking with me for this long.

For my 50th post I wanted to do something kind of special. I couldn't decide on what to do at first. A long time back, I believe in the first 10 posts, I made a list of favorite horror movies. Some were a given to be on there, and others I had to really think about. There are so many horror movies that could have been on there. Since I have never given any of those a review on this blog, I decided I would visit one of those movies for my 50th post. Once I decided on which movie to visit, I honestly felt like I was going to go see an old friend I haven't seen in a long time.

If you are a horror fan then I am sure you have already watched Friday The 13th: Part 2 (1981), so I won't really go into the plot. The plot is pretty simple anyway, with a killer hunting down camp counselors. Enough said. What I wanted to do was explain why this movie made it on my favorites list. It was the first movie that came to mind, when I started to make the list. That is the main reason I decided to visit it again for this post. Why not the first Friday The 13th? Don't get me wrong, it is a classic as far as horror movies go. I liked the fact that the killer was a woman, not something seen in horror movies all that often. The second film (of a very long series of films, 11 and counting) really got my attention, because of one actress: Amy Steel. It also introduced Jason, the most well known slasher killer.


The movie itself is a little silly in places, but Ginny (Amy Steel) is what makes the movie, and even more so towards the end. The effects are pretty good, but the MPAA was waiting for this one and was ready to give it an X rating. So a lot of the effects got left on the cutting room floor. So far none of these have shown up in an uncut movie version. It's hard to say if the material is still around, but then Paramount has never been big on giving fans of this series a lot of extras on their dvds. Most of the dvds have the trailer (if that), and that is all. As much money they have made from this series, you would think they could do better than that.

My favorite death would probably be the machete to the face. The director (Steve Miner) does a great job of making us think that the attack will be from behind, and then suddenly having it come from the front. This was the main reason I watched all the films in this series, I was just wanting to see how Jason would kill the next group of people. Two things about the guy in the wheelchair that gets the machete to the face that bother me are: 1) after he gets the machete his wheelchair goes backwards down some stairs. Either it was a lucky shot or they did something to keep the wheelchair upright, because I would think go backwards and having the "dead" weight in the back would cause it to just flip over; and 2) the woman who was flirting with him before this and left to change comes back and can't seem to find him. So where does she go? Upstairs! Ok so maybe she was just going up there to see if anyone else might still be there so she could ask where the guy she is looking for went, but it still seems a little odd.

Amy Steel has become a fan favorite for a lot of people besides me. Final Girl, Stacie, raves about Amy a lot and for good reason. Amy Steel is a good actress, and lucked into a role that passed her off as sexy and smart. Yes she does run from Jason and she does wet herself (although I think I would have wet myself from almost being killed, instead of having a rat come visit me), but she also fights back when she can. She runs around the corner and hides in a bush, and when Jason comes around the corner she jumps out and nails him with a well placed knee. You just don't see too many people that fight back. Most of the time, they just run away the entire time and only fight back at the very end, if they fight back at all. It is too bad Amy Steel hasn't done a lot of movies. The only other horror movie she did was April Fool's Day. It is another favorite of mine, and not just because Amy Steel is in it. I can't say I really blame Amy for not being in more horror movies. Sometimes an actor or actress gets to be well known for a certain type of role or movie, and has a hard time getting out of that mold that people have put them in.


Friday The 13th: Part 2 has always stuck with me because I consider it a smart slasher movie. I say that mostly because of the ending when Ginny tried to outsmart Jason, by putting on his dead mother's sweater and trying to talk to him like a mother would. It's one thing to fight back against the killer, but it's another thing to try to outwit the killer.

There seems to be some confusion about the end. At the end Jason comes crashing through the window and grabs Ginny, just when you think nothing else will happen. Then we see her being loaded up into an ambulance and asking where Paul is. At the start of the 3rd film we get a recap of the 2nd film, and it shows Jason slinking off , and if I remember correctly, we are told later that Ginny was the only survivor. It is hard to say what actually happened, since continuity has never been much of a strong point for the series. This is hardly the best slasher movie ever, but it is in my heart.