Happy Friday the 13th!!

Sounds like a fun time!

I just cannot let the day go by without wishing everyone a happy Friday the 13th. It is that special day when we all think about our favorite hockey masked undead serial killer. Whenever this day rears its head on the calendar I always wonder which film am I going to watch this year? Will I make it a double feature? It always seems like it comes down to my favorite installment of the slice n dice franchise, Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981).

Part 2 was my first real F13 experience. I believe, if memory serves correct, that I saw the first one on television in all it's edited for t.v. glory. It's possible that I did before seeing part 2 on HBO at a friends house when it debuted. I could be mistaken BUT I do know that I was very excited to see it! I was actually nervous about watching it. I mean here was a movie that was going to feature people being slaughtered by some guy with a pillowcase on his head and a pitchfork (basically what I saw from the trailer on t.v.). Would I be able to stomach the gory exploits? I soon myself at ease as the movie began and I relived the ending to the first film. BAM! There goes Pamela Voorhees's head flying and blood is spurting out and I'm spellbound.....that....was.....SOOOO COOL!!

I was hooked! I was in it until the end credits rolled. From the ice pick to the head of Alice (Adrienne King), to the skinny dip scene with Terry (Kirsten Baker), to the big POW ending with Jason busting through the window to get Ginny (Amy Steel), I was in like Flint! The movie had a huge impact on me and truly started me on my path of slasher filmology (is that even a word?).

At the age of 11, this was my favorite scene.....still is!

Friday the 13th Part 2 features my favorite incarnation of Jason Voorhees. "Sackhead Jason", as he would become known, is the definitive back woods killer. The old sack with one hole cut out for vision, the dirty coveralls, the makeshift shack in the woods...c'mon he has it all. Even a toilet in the shack! Those woods were his domain and you didn't dare walk into them....unless you were some brain dead horny teenager looking for kicks who didn't know about the legend. Well Part 2 had plenty of them which meant Jason had plenty to do!

Avon calling!

Part 2 also has some of my favorite kill scenes. Undoubtedly the best is probably the fate of wheelchair bound Mark (Tom McBride). Would Jason really deliver a machete to the face of paraplegic?  That answer is yes, yes he would. If you are about to partake in some kind of sexual activity, Jason was going to be there to make sure you didn't get to enjoy it. Just ask Jeff (Bill Randolph) and Sandra (Marta Kober) who get double impalement with a spear right at the climax of their love making (a scene borrowed from Mario Bava's "Bay of Blood" [1971]).

Poor Mark....not quite the face time he wanted.

Mario Bava would have been proud.

The character of Ginny is also one of my favorite "final girl" characters in the franchise. She is smart, resourceful and tough. She plays in some mind games with Jason in the final moments of the film where she dresses herself in Mrs. Voorhees old sweater (the one in which she died) and almost lures Jason into what might have been only a two part series of films. Of course Jason doesn't fall for it at the last minute.....I think we have all seen this one.

The look of Jason sans the sack is also one of my favorite. The makeup done by Carl Fullerton is an incredible update to Tom Savini's deformed child makeup from the first film. It really shows a very accurate aging process to what Jason should look like five years after his mother sliced n diced her way through Camp Crystal Lake.

Ginny takes no sh*t!

To make my love for this movie even better, I had the opportunity to meet Alice, Ginny and Jason a few years ago at a local convention. All three were great to talk to and seemed to really enjoy the fact that they were in this film and that fans appreciated their characters and their contribution to the horror genre.

So happy Friday the 13th to you all! Enjoy the day
and remember do not go into the woods.....it's got a
death curse!!

Adrienne King and myself.

Amy Steel and her uber cool hockey mask pendant.

The "Real Jason" Mr. Steve Dash!