It’s all but a remake of the first film, but on a little bigger budget and with a little less gore. The kill scenes here are quick. A stunned expression, about .03 seconds of blood, and then cut to the next scene. I blame the old ladies of the MPAA for that. At the time, they were taking a stand against the teen meat screamers and probably paying special attention to a high profile film such as this.
In any case, this is an entertaining dumbbell slasher that fulfills the formula to a tee.
The aggressively flirty pussyhound guy? He’s so dead.
The sexpot girl with the nice ass and who wears short shorts that would get her arrested in at least fourteen countries? Jason can’t wait to kill her.
The guy in the wheelchair? Dead as a chicken sandwich.
The stupid young couple who decide to sneak off to the forbidden part of the camp (the place where the murders in the first film happened)? You’ll never see anyone more dead.
The smart, sensitive girl who never flaunts her body and is about to go to grad school? I think she’s gonna make it. What do you think?
The makers of these movies hadn’t yet figured out to give Jason a hockey mask, so at this point he’s wearing an overturned burlap sack on his head just like the old real-life never-caught Texarkana “Phantom Killer” from the 1940s, as depicted in the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown. He’s also a lot bigger and stronger here than the wiry ectomorph in the first movie.
The critics massacred this one like Jason slicing up a horny teen, but the kids packed the theaters. Followed by a sequel, of course.