Movie Review: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

It's 5 years after the massacre at Camp Crystal Lake when Mrs. Voorhees lost her head, and quite literally too, and murdered a group of counselors trying to re-open the summer camp where her son Jason died by drowning over 20 years previously. Or did he?

A new group of counselors is setting up shop at the summer camp next door to the now mythical Camp Blood. Campfire tales abound about what happened to young Jason as his body was apparently never found, and what he might be like if he did survive. Well questions will be answered as someone is stalking the counselors.

Released just short of a year after the first Friday the 13th movie and several months before Halloween 2, they were in a hurry to take advantage of not only the success of the first film but also the burgeoning slasher craze they set off. Amazingly with that short of a turnaround they aren't lacking anything in this follow up.

In an unusual twist in sequels, this is actually better than the first film. Right off the bat what it has going for it is a more threatening killer. Mrs. Voorhees was just too ridiculous of a killer in the first one to believe she did all of that. The Jason character is a natural extension of the first film and bringing him into the series kicks off a litany of sequels for which this film is responsible.

Part 2 connects with the viewer more in not only having some actual characters on screen compared to the cardboard cutouts they used in the first film but in working more of the summer camp experience into the story. The campfire story, swimming at the beach and a hike through the woods are just some of the story elements that will strike a chord with anyone who as been to summer camp. Many of the elements that became staples with the rest of the sequels including the late night skinny dip are here as well.

And as I mentioned, the more threatening presence that Jason is. Early on he stalks, like any good psycho/slasher kinda guy does (it's in the rulebook), but is not fully revealed in costume until later. But the moment Jason is shown in full attire, mask included, is an unforgettable and scream inducing moment.

Better characters, more tension, more connection with the audience, a more threatening killer, and arm clenching scare scenes make for an all around better movie and one of the more, if not the most, influential slasher films on future slashers to be made.

I do recommend this film.

Get Friday the 13th Part 2 on DVD, Blu-ray or Instant Video

Check out: That Handheld Game in Friday the 13th Part 2

Movie Night: Let's Get Harry (1986)

Harry (Mark Harmon) is an engineer on loan to Colombia building a water plant when during a visit from a U.S. diplomat for the unveiling rebels attack and kidnap the diplomat and Harry. News of the kidnapping reach his brothers and the U.S. government's insistence that they do not make deals with terrorists leads the brothers to organize their own rescue mission.

Despite director Stuart Rosenburg having hidden behind the pseudonym of Alan Smithee* suggesting this might be a dud I found this to actually be entertaining. Yes, it's a ridiculous premise of a seasoned soldier of fortune accepting a job to take green troops into a dangerous rescue mission, but then we don't watch action movies for their logic.

*Alan Smithee was a pseudonym directors would hide behind if they were dissatisfied with the outcome of a film, usually claiming it was out of their control, as a way not to be associated with it. The use of the pseudonym seems at least a little gutless to me as the actors are front and center in a film no matter how bad the film is in the end result. The pseudonym originally came into being for a legitimate reason for a film that was directed by two different directors and neither wanted to take full credit for another director's work; and interestingly that film was praised by critics as was its new director Alan Smithee.

With a recognizable cast that includes Robert Duvall, Gary Busey, and Glenn Frey in main roles, Elpidia Carrillo in a supporting role, plus Jerry Hardin and David Hess in bit parts it is not lacking in talent. It is actually one of the better of the pure mercenary movies; independent soldiers rather than commandos.

Certainly it is not the best of the pure mercenary movies, The Wild Geese and The Dogs of War occupy those spots, but beyond those most mercenary movies are duplicitous and not very good and Let's Get Harry is at the least a notch above those by not going the usual route of a mercenary film and having some plot twists along the way, as well some decent pacing.

Let's Get Harry is hosted on Internet Archive. You can stream it here.

If you would prefer to download it, here is a direct link to the mp4 file (444 Mb).

Movie Review: First Family (1980)

Who says you have to be competent to be President of the United States? Well certainly nobody today. Perhaps the only job with fewer qualifications than being a movie reviewer.

On any average day President Link has to deal with the First Lady's drinking problem and his 28 year old sex-starved daughter's attempts to get laid while chasing White House staffers. The Unites States and other countries are courting an African country's vote in the UN, but Link has the advantage that the one person who can speak the language is a professor in the United States who is promptly 'volunteered' into the service of the White House. But something is up as the President has a secret meeting (not so fictional any more) with the African country's leader, with a negotiation that could make him a hero or a scoundrel.

What do you get when you combine the talents of Bob Newhart, Harvey Korman, Gilda Radner, Madeline Kahn, Austin Pendleton, Richard Benjamin, Rip Torn and Fred Willard into a movie written and directed by Buck Henry? Apparently confused.

For sure there are funny moments and a semblance of a plot, but ultimately no real idea where it's wanting to go. The final act in this seems like an afterthought, and after some reading up on it, it was as the studio, and test audience, was not happy with the original ending.

It's 1980 and absurdist racial humor abounds in this as the focus of the plot is on a fictional African country. It's very much 1970s era Saturday Night Live in its attempts at mocking social attitudes toward race, well intentioned it may have been, with a misfire at socially conscious humor that today just comes off as racist.

I cannot give it a recommendation. If I were scoring it I would give it a 2 1/2 out of 5. There's entertainment to be found.. if you have nothing better to do.

I had originally intended this as a Movie Night post with a link to the movie. In writing an intro I got carried away and wrote a review. You can stream this from Internet Archive here. If you would prefer to download it, here is a direct link to the mp4 file (597mb).