Blu-ray Review: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

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Jean-Luc Godard famously said that the only two things you needed to make a movie were a girl and a gun. Horror movies basically work the same way with the vital switch of replacing the gun with any sharp implement that will cause enough blood and guts to try and make viewers lose their lunch. Yet, weaponry aside-- it's still definitely all about the girl.

In other words, the scream, stab, and bleed franchise consistently offers women the most work outside of the rom-com genre save for the fact that the requirements usually consist of a double-D chest, the ability to let out a deafening scream, shampoo commercial hair, and an illogical fondness for going topless while checking out a mysterious noise, wandering into a lake despite the fact that your friends have vanished, etc.

When done right, the genre can deliver a smash success out of John Carpenter's revolutionary independent film Halloween which put Jamie Lee Curtis on the map and ushered in a whole new "golden age" of horror with its many rip-offs including the one that managed to become a never-ending box office ATM machine that started simply with the ultimate title of Friday the 13th which I was stunned to discover earned more money at the box office that year than Dressed to Kill and The Shining.

Additionally it spawened nearly a dozen sequels, a remake, a television series, and a rabid cult following that helped make Friday the 13th one of the biggest movie franchises of the '80s and solidified Paramount's status as the premiere source of entertainment for the decade (it's astounding when you analyze their output in terms of hits and contemporary classics over the course of ten years).

Naturally and even though it was totally illogical-- when the first one became an overnight sensation, those involved knew the demand was there for a sequel. However, they'd killed off not only 99.9% of their entire cast of protagonists-- a.k.a. horny teens (including Kevin Bacon) as well as the villain in a dynamite twist that revealed it wasn't a male serial killer but the otherwise unassuming sweater adorned, sweet looking mother driven psychotic over the loss of her son.



Yet, aside from beheading Betsy Palmer's Mrs. Voorhees whose "kill her mommy, kill her," still sends shivers down my spine... the door was unconsciously left open when the filmmakers decided to out-do Brian DePalma's Carrie in terms of a final fright.

And that they did-- both to their pleasure and chagrin (as a number of participants from the first film didn't take part in the second or most sequels) by creating one of the longest and still most effective horror movie finale twists of all time. Vividly seared in my mindscape-- when I think of Friday the 13th-- instead of Jason and the hockey mask, I always see the lovely Adrienne King. King's Alice-- the sole survivor of the carnage and the woman who slayed Mrs. Voorhees paddles away until she succumbs to exhaustion in a canoe in the middle of Crystal Lake only to awaken to a strange creature under the sea popping up and pulling her under the water with him.

When she inquires about "the little boy" and is told that no one had been found, the filmmakers led us to believe it was all a hallucination in her frightened head but because the film was returning and they needed a new villain, screenwriter Ron Kurz took the "legend of Jason" and set it into motion in the sequel by presenting viewers with the idea that he'd possibly been a "feral" wild-child living in the woods and solely dependent on his psychotic but fiercely protective mother.

In order to not rock the canoe any further, Mrs. Voorhees was replaced by the menacing and disfigured Jason as the damn near invincible baddie who slices and dices his way (in a burlap sack primarily before the iconic hockey mask was introduced in Part 3) in what feels essentially like a retread of the first movie.



However, in order to avoid completely ripping off their own material, a few changes were made as King returns for a dynamite opener that you just know probably inspired Scream and Final Destination as it begins ominously with the foreboding sense that she'll be killed yet it's the "how" and "when" that makes this horror prologue work better than most of the other pieces of the entire film.

Likewise, switching it up from Camp Crystal Lake-- this time the place otherwise known as Camp Blood is now a Counselor Training Center. And although you wouldn't imagine that people would still return to a site filled with so much carnage, there's another randy group of young adults all too willing to visit, despite the obligatory warning not to go near there since as we realize following the opener, five years have passed since the events of the first movie.

As a franchise expert notes in one of the Blu-ray's extras-- the filmmakers themselves acknowledged that they were basically remaking the first one but now with better technology and a bigger budget which allowed them to do so in a way that they hoped would make it "bloodier, scarier, slicker," and much faster than its predecessor with crisper camera work and deaths that become far more elaborate as the idea of booby-traps are worked in to frightening effect.

While most of the characters are interchangeable and don't make much of an impression in the slightest, the character of Ginny played by Amy Steel is a much stronger one than King's Alice as she takes the time to psychoanalyze Jason (asking her cohorts in a bar to think hypothetically with the idea that it was all real instead of a legend) and engages in a terrifically tense cat-and-mouse chase in the last portion of the film that does indeed surpass the original one.



Although they will never top King's shock with the flipped canoe as audiences first met Jason and the second is essentially only interesting for its development of Jason as we see the early workings of the character who has come a very long way from the guy we first saw just by his dark shoes-- the moonlit showdown between Ginny and Jason is excellent.

With Harry Manfredini's instantly recognizable and incredible horror score of "chh chh chh ahh ahh ahh" working overtime, Ginny tries to break down his insanity in one admittedly cheesy but creative sequence where she impersonates his mother. Thus she proves to be a far more intellectually capable horror heroine than we're usually dealt with repetitions of women holding tiny knives and hiding under beds or in closets (all of which is done here as well at one point or another).

Featuring all of the extras given the high definition treatment, although "Inside 'Crystal Lake Memories'" which interviews the expert who literally wrote the book on the franchise is the only worthwhile one-- overall, it's an intriguing variation of the same film as the first one that's perhaps less novel, less filled with the genuine shock of the first (with the canoe and killer as a middle aged mother) but technically superior and boasting a great role for Amy Steel as Ginny.

While there's no hiding the age of the picture, Paramount did a tremendous job with this remastered Blu-ray that encapsulates the same effect and heightened surround sound of the DVD release earlier in the year via the studio's Deluxe Edition but sharpening it up considerably for the move to 1080 pixels. Although of course, you can watch the film in 5.1 surround or Dolby TrueHD-- as a purist, I loved viewing it in the retro mono sound which-- together with the enhanced picture made me feel as though I was seeing the film back in the theatre in 1981.

Blu-ray Review: Friday the 13th (1980) -- Uncut Version

The Original Slices
Its Way Onto Blu-ray

Related Reviews:
Friday the 13th Part 2
Friday the 13th Part 3 - 3D

And to think all the filmmakers had originally wanted was to make a family movie about soccer! However, when producer and director Sean S. Cunningham and writer Victor Miller couldn't score a goal when it came to finding a distributor for their soccer movie, they moved to the hottest trend in the late '70s-- the horror movie (in the tradition of The Exorcist, Carrie, Jaws, and Halloween among others).

Aspiring to essentially rip-off the largely successful John Carpenter independent shocker Halloween, Cunningham-- who already had the title in mind-- boldly took out an ad in Variety announcing Friday the 13th with absolutely no idea what the film was going to be about and without one page of the script even written.


It turns out that it was a bluff that paid off-- screenwriter Victor Miller did his homework by watching horror films to understand the basic ingredients and started with a primal idea to address what had scared him as a child since overall, a horror film's purpose is to make one comfortable with fears and conquer them.

Originally deciding that the underlying subtext of their film would be "bad stuff happens, let's look at it, and it'll become less scary," as they note in one of the many Blu-ray's behind-the-scenes featurettes--soon the sort of campfire tale approach was adopted complete with the lessons garnered from Halloween.

Employing the same formula for what they thought would ultimately be a low budget drive-in style shocker with as Cunningham states "de minimis kind of moviemaking" that abandoned any idea of a character study in lieu of the "single minded purpose" of scaring the audience silly with their own cinematic campfire tale--it seems as though everyone involved with arguably the most successful slasher franchise in history had absolutely no idea how popular it was going to become nearly overnight as audiences lined up around the block following the premiere and more films cropped up to copy its success.

As Betsy Palmer a.k.a. the film's shocking villainess Mrs. Voorhees noted, when she was originally offered the role, she turned it down upon hearing the genre with the firm dismissal upon the script read-through that is was a "piece of shit" and "nobody would go see it."

America's sweetheart on Broadway and from the I've Got a Secret game show-- Palmer was the ideal choice to pull the wool over audience's eyes and scare the living daylights out of viewers with her grand entrance late into the movie and when the actress realized she needed a new car in real, she eventually gave into the film and it's all the better for it.

Ultimately plot-less and critically panned-- essentially the cult classic centers on "camp blood" or the more official name Camp Crystal Lake that seems to have been plagued with murder and misfortune ever since a young boy drowned there in 1957 and in 1958, two counselors were murdered.

As the years went on, the New Jersey location was always prevented from reopening by horrific goings on but when a new owner and group of determined teenagers decide they're going to fix it up and relaunch it in 1980, shortly upon their arrival-- as the tagline reads-- "they began to die horribly, one... by one."



Eventually leading to a showdown as the sole survivor-- a wonderful Adrienne King (hired for her talent and unbelievable scream) darts in and out of cabins to hide from the villain-- composer Harry Manfredini's atonal, simple and Jaws reminiscent electronic infused score goes into overtime as we can barely sit still watching the heroine try to do anything to survive.

This of course leads to one of the most memorable surprise endings in horror film history as her character Alice drifts peacefully on Camp Crystal Lake in a seemingly idyllic shot that goes on so long that we're always assuming we'll either begin seeing the credits or finally be shocked and just when we've given up hope, a chilling surprise comes up out of the water and a franchise was born with Jason in the villain's role.



Never intended to become a series due to pure logic's sake as to most central figures involved including Palmer, the director, and writer, he was a deceased boy who'd simply drowned-- nonetheless it's that surprise (inserted to outdo the finale of Carrie) that still gets us today and comes through loud and clear in a dazzling transfer to Blu-ray.

Also upping the notch are the loads of extras included on this uncut version to go along with the re-releases of the other restored versions (including Part III in 3-D, despite my disappointment that this was the only one given the Blu-ray treatment). And while Halloween was the superior film and Jason's antics did grow monotonous over the life of the series--despite a few great twists (and I have yet to see the remake)-- Cunningham's film has actually improved with age.

While there are several factors at play for its success and most incredibly its revolutionary take on the extreme antics of the maternal instinct, a great nostalgic feel (especially when seeing Kevin Bacon and others) along with the realization that despite some of the gruesome effects crafted by Dawn of the Dead makeup effects gore wizard Tom Savini, it's far less exploitative than a number of other slasher films out there today in the torture-porn genre. And ultimately it's the indie underdog spirit of the twenty-eight day shoot and $550,000 budget that makes the result all the more incredible.

Managing to excel at the format of telling a simple B-movie story to the best of their ability and managing to give audiences a tremendous sense of both satisfaction as we live vicariously through our heroine as well as unease with that ending that's been forever etched in my memory-- Friday the 13th will never be a work of art, nor will it ever make the pantheon of horror classics such from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho to Wes Craven's brilliant Scream, but it is the little movie that started the great big horror blockbuster trend (for better and worse).

And moreover, thanks to the great featurettes including a "Friday the 13th Reunion" (from September 13, 2008) where Adienne King tells a moving story of her own encounter with real-life terror when she had a stalker within weeks of the release in an era when such an event wasn't taken seriously-- this Blu-ray version helps put a stop to some of the rumors of the series and gives the accounts of those involved firsthand.

Truly a family enterprise as Cunningham notes in an interview that his son Noel Cunningham took the franchise in another direction midway through as the two still have a cutting room over the garage in "the house the Jason built" before Friday the 13th become not just "a brand" but a "dependable blue collar horror film," that never deviated from its original set-up (to the delight of fans and to the distaste of critics). And thanks to this Blu-ray, it's been preserved in its glory to look and sound perhaps even better than the low-budget film did on its May 9th debut in 1980.



And perhaps because it's still raking in the green-- maybe now after all this time-- Cuningham and company can finally make that soccer picture after all... although, let's just hope the main character's name isn't Jason.

(Note: Most Images Courtesy of
Paramount Home Entertainment;
Extra Images from Blu-ray.com)

Waltzing Anna

Sadly, not a movie you can dance to.

Sitting down to write this review, I feel like an elementary school teacher whose most sensitive and well-meaning pupil has just given me a drawing that I don’t quite understand. I admire the intent and can feel the amount of love that went into the picture but the difference is that unfortunately while one can proudly hang such a project on their refrigerator and rave about it to others, when it comes to filmmaking (since we’re supposed to approach the medium at the professional level), the sweetest of intent can’t save a film that’s so woefully clichéd and poorly executed that it's nearly unwatchable.

Such is the case of Waltzing Anna, which wears its heart on its DVD cover, proudly and nobly proclaiming the truism that “love is the best medicine.” However, you know the film is in trouble early on (in the credit sequence that in fact doubles as a prologue) when the film’s themes are announced by a supporting character loudly to both the lead actor in case he’s forgotten the script he helped write, as well as the audience just in case we can’t be bothered to pay attention to the simplistic plot.

Best suited to a sitcom-styled public service announcement or short film rather than a feature length film which hits DVD shelves on October 14, directors Doug Bollinger and Bx Giongrete’s earnest yet painfully awkward work begins strongly with a premise that seems to have borrowed heavily from the first season of television’s Northern Exposure, the Michael J. Fox comedy Doc Hollywood, and vintage Frank Capra.

Except this time around, we aren’t following the affable Mr. Deeds nor Mr. Smith but co-writer/producer and star Robert Capelli Jr.’s Dr. Charlie Keegan, a Harvard-educated, unethical and shady doctor who is quickly busted for getting rich off running unnecessary tests on his elderly patients and padding his pockets with proceeds from our corporate insurance systems. Although he assumes he’ll be in the clear since it’s his word against his dementia-ridden patients’, the medical board has a decidedly different idea, banishing Keegan for six months to work at a nursing home in upstate New York or else his license will be revoked for good.

Given the current tragic state of our health care system and a majority of Americans who are uninsured or extremely under-insured, held ransom when they’re ill with co-pays and red tape which was chronicled in Michael Moore’s brilliant documentary, Sicko, initially it seemed there was a lot to like about Waltzing Anna just for the premise alone. And while it will definitely strike a chord on that level, unfortunately, the film wanders into ridiculous and predictable territory as the excruciatingly miscast Capelli (whose hair resembles Chris Farley’s after a freak-out in Tommy Boy) rudely scoffs at the idea of changing diapers or working with the overly eccentric and never believable residents of Shady Pines.

Of course, it turns out Shady Pines is just as shady as its name implies when Capelli finds himself striking an amoral alliance with its administrator—a former used-car salesman who plies the same sleazy techniques to his new trade in trying to rake in as much dough as possible. However, staying true to his friend’s announcement over the credits that he needed to heal himself, our selfish doc is surprised to find himself growing a conscience when he becomes emotionally invested in the lives of two patients (wonderfully played by Betsy Palmer and Pat Hingle) and develops an increasing attraction to Shady’s saintly and sole saving grace in the form of the beautiful young Nurse Jill (You Don’t Mess With the Zohan’s Emmanuelle Chriqui).

About as surprising as a Hallmark card and as subtle as a brick through a window, Waltzing Anna begs you to love it and I kept hoping something in the film would sweep me up in its worthwhile tale which is extremely timely given the state of our nation. Yet, much to my dismay aside from a great supporting cast who are included in interviews on the DVD and the charms of Chriqui (whose chemistry with Capelli is even worse than the one she’d shared with Sandler’s Zohan), mostly you wish that the filmmakers had turned this into a much shorter cinematic call to action they could send to senators in place of petitions and letters. Instead—and while far more high quality than a refrigerator drawing-- ultimately Anna simply preaches to the choir of those who not only agree and are completely on their side (like this reviewer) but wholeheartedly wish they would’ve put their talents to better use.

Whether it would’ve been staying with the admittedly SNL-movie-styled beginning to make it a great Sandler-esque or Will Ferrell underdog comedy about a jerk who must reform or simply excelling at making it a beautiful work of nostalgic sentiment, by moving uneasily between low-level comedy (and we’re talking really low) and discovering one’s inner hero, it’s never quite sure the type of film it wants to be. In fact this is even evidenced in the film’s trailer which is the only other special feature included on the disc, which can also be viewed here.

In the end, all we know is-- we’ve not only seen bits and pieces of Waltzing Anna done better before, but like the referenced drawing, we’re not quite sure exactly what it wanted to be. Still, we admire its existence all the same-- even if unlike the drawing, we can’t recommend the film in the least. Note: for a much better film that involves similar themes, be sure to look for the delightful Irish sleeper How About You (from author Maeve Binchy) which-- following its success in the film festival circuit-- will be appearing in theatres in limited release beginning next month.