Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violence, gore, sex, drinking/drugs in slasher sequel.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
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Friday the 13th Part 2
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 8 parent reviews
Based on 23 kid reviews
Kids say the sequel is entertaining, introducing a young Jason Voorhees as he stalks camp counselors, with some praise for its suspense and kills, although the level of gore is less than in the original. Critics note an awkward pacing and the presence of adult content such as nudity and profanity, leading to mixed recommendations on its suitability for younger audiences.
- entertaining sequel
- adult content
- less gore
- awkward pacing
- strong violence
- character development
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
In FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2, a fun-loving group of carefree teens arrive to attend counselor training camp near Crystal Lake. On the first night, while sitting around a campfire, Paul (John Furey), who's in charge of training the teens, tells them about the murders that happened five years before in a nearby camp—and the rumors that Jason Voorhees (Warrington Gillette), the boy who was thought to have drowned in the 1950s and whose death was being avenged by his mother in the recent killings, still stalks the surrounding woods, killing anyone who crosses his path. Paul concludes the tale by assuring them that the area is now safe. Paul takes some of the counselors into town for a night of fun. The ones who stay behind start to get murdered in the woods or in their beds. When Paul returns to the camp with his assistant, Ginny (Amy Steel), Jason appears and chases them into the woods. It's Ginny who learns the secret of Jason's identity, but she'll need to outsmart Jason to survive and put a stop to the killing.
Is It Any Good?
When people think of bad sequels in movie franchises that wore out their welcome and insulted everyone's intelligence, the Friday the 13th franchise wins the prize. That said, Friday the 13th Part 2 is still early enough in what would be 12 increasingly ridiculous sequels to have a somewhat coherent storyline rooted in at least a tiny bit of logical suspension of disbelief. The gratuitous sex and violence were typical of the times, when Hollywood churned out so many horror or "party" movies to appeal to the teen market of the early 1980s, and there's a kind of period charm to it amid scenes of bloody murder by assorted implements.
There is a story, or at least a premise, that occasionally shows up in the movie, but this is essentially a textbook example of a slasher horror movie, with the obligatory jump scares, tense music, nudity to fill in the down time, and lots of blood. When it was first released, it's safe to say that "the big reveal" that Jason is the killer surprised no one, and now, decades later as the name Jason Voorhees is an internationally recognized icon of both horror and cynically dumb sequels, there's literally no shock in what Ginny and Paul discover in the shack in the woods. All that's left, all these years later, is an average slasher movie.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the "slasher" subgenre of horror movies. What do you think is the continued appeal of these movies?
How does Friday the 13th Part 2 use jump scares, music, and the camera shots intended to represent Jason's point of view to build suspense before the characters are murdered?
How does the movie portray teen drinking, drug use, and sex? Is it realistic?
Movie Details
- In theaters : April 30, 1981
- On DVD or streaming : February 3, 2009
- Cast : Amy Steel , John Furey , Adrienne King
- Director : Steve Miner
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Paramount Pictures
- Genre : Horror
- Topics : School ( College & Graduate School ) , STEM ( Nature ) , Activism ( Gender equality ) , Holidays ( Halloween ) , Fantasy ( Monsters )
- Run time : 87 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : November 17, 2025
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