Post by No Personality on Feb 27, 2010 7:10:01 GMT -5
If the Friday the 13th franchise is the McDonald's of the horror genre (with Halloween being Burger King, inferior but nearly as recognizable, and Nightmare on Elm Street being Wendy's, superior but not as well located), this sequel is their Big Mac. Fattening because the ingredients are overindulgent and flashily gluttonous, but with absolutely zero nutritional value whatsoever. In fact, don't be surprised if this movie's remembered by most 80's movie-fans just because Crispin Glover (Back to the Future) and Corey Feldman (The Lost Boys) are in it. Because we all know true horror movie buffs are rare in the grand scheme of movie discussions and film historians. Most other movie fans pretty much tuned out after the first movie and don't find this franchise very memorable as a whole.
This particular sequel (much moreso than the two preceding it) is obsessed with sex, sleaze, and nudity. And worse yet, with painting sexuality as something oppressive, nasty, and violent. It becomes positively overbearing as characters threaten to kill each other over "girls" (like they're objects and not people) and whine endlessly about not having sex. This is another classic movie where you just want to scream at these people to "SHUT UP!" It's obnoxious how far this movie will go to humiliate a character or try to tease the straight guys in the audience. This kind of movie is very much to blame for the popular stereotype that this genre was about low-grade porn more than great filmmaking, art, and characterization.
As far as gore is concerned- I'm ashamed to say it, but this movie really delivers. It's unfortunate that people think we have to wallow in the ladies' nude wrestling mud pit to get gore this good, but wow. Tom Savini returns after years of insulting the series to do the gore and this is his finest work to date. Savini later hosted the tribute "documentary," His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th- strange thing for someone who resents this franchise to do. But even stranger than that is how he was able to insult Friday the 13th and be proud of something like The Prowler (another Joe Zito skankfest), which couldn't hold a candle to Friday the 13th even in its' most ambitious fantasies!
The characters are basically defined by (and this is typical to Friday the 13th at least after Part II) their sexual experience. Jim (called "Jimbo" as a nickname- though not because he in any way resembles a "bimbo"; that would be too clever for Zito and "screenwriter" - I use the term loosely - Grade-A douchebag Barney Cohen) is played as a nerd because he has a tendancy to become aggressively obsessive (and stalker-ish) with the women he dates. And though he's absolutely gorgeous, adorably vunerable and sensitive, he borders on a doofy loner character. His best friend Ted is the class clown / prankster cliche here because he's a total hornball. He's also the only guy who can't get laid, so of course- he threatens to kill Paul because he dances with the girl he was with earlier in the evening.
On the female side of the out-crowd spectrum, there's Teri- the token prude, twin sister of the slutty Tina. She likes to guzzle down beers with the best of them. But, sex? No way. She'd rather ride her bike home at pitch-black night in the pouring rain (though I don't exactly blame her- by this time her only option was high-as-a-kite dopehead Ted, who is definitely a hot number under normal circumstances but probably smelled worse than fresh puke after smoking those joints). Then there's Sara, the tease. Who won't even strip naked in front of slutty gal-pal Samantha. Of course the movie had to suggest it, though. Again, gotta tease those straight guys. Back then, many horror directors thought only straight guys paid to see horror movies. Like girls and gay guys were totally turned off by fear and violence. But then again, many horror directors aren't interested in making art.
Then you've got your in-crowd: slutty Samantha and her adorable boyfriend Paul (adorable but not nearly as sexy as Jim or Ted, so it doesn't completely make sense that this guy is the guy all the girls want to steal away from Sam), nice guy Doug and nice girl Trish (the only tolerable characters here, though surprisingly they don't end up together), beefy "mysterious stranger" Rob - the type of guy you always wanted but nobody you knew of ever got to put their hands on (I believe the actor who played him became a hit in the soap opera world), and slutty Tina. Uncharacteristic to a Friday the 13th film, the true fiinal heroine is Trish, the one put in the highest number of "She's gonna get it...NOW!" set-ups, and not Sara, the Snow White of this group.
The film separates the characters into 2 groups. One is the "Camp Counselors" group. There is no actual camp in this movie, but you know what I mean. The obvious walking-corpses. The ones who are going to be having sex. The second group is "The Family Unit." Complete with Mother: Mrs. Jarvis, daughter Trish, and horny tween-ager: Tommy, aged around 12. This movie is so damn sleazy, they even turn the kid into a pervert (can we blame Sleepaway Camp, or Little Darlings, for this odious trend? My money's on the latter), spouting lines like "some pack of patutzies, huh?" and jumping on his bed in a highly sexual way. This doesn't even have the campy shock value of a Sleepaway Camp, it's just plain offensive. Nobody is empowered. It's a distraction and a pointless one.
And as though all this weren't bad enough... Jason is horny too! Nearly every time he kills someone, he has to grunt like he's getting off on it. Most notably during the infamous banana scene. Either he's partially getting off or thinks he's a Power Ranger and wants to make a karate sound during every strike. Either way- it's really fucking stupid. Fans of the movie would have you believe it's scarier or more entertaining because it makes Jason more intense. Well, Jason isn't a realistic serial killer. He's a fictional movie character. I frown on almost any attempt to turn a slasher film into an exploitation flick. There are differences between the two, the Friday the 13th series wasn't created for the same audience as I Spit on Your Grave, Maniac, and The New York Ripper were.
This film does have its' moments though. And feels completely different from all 3 Paramount films to come before it and the 4 to come after it. Which- well, it's good to get something different. I never expected (nor necessarily wanted) the original formula to last forever. This sequel in particular benefits from some great daylight scenes (locations that look great in the daylight), especially the scenes with Sara, and the woodland area where Trish's car breaks down. And when none of the "characters" are talking or stripping, Harry Manfredini's score builds up a terrific little creepy alone atmosphere. You feel isolated and the anticipation is great. And, again- the gore. This is a gore lovers treat for sure. Especially the corkscrew and saw / head twist sequences. And Jason inevitably gets it himself pretty bad. Or- good, considering that now I can't stand him anymore.
Useless trivia fact: this movie's video cover was the image for the menu on the Nintendo video game for Friday the 13th (put out in 1989, and comes off even more dated than Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, the last Paramount film also released in 1989).
