The movie begins with a generous amount of stock footage of the first film, with sole survivor Alice (Adrienne King) having a big bad nightmare about psychopathic death-dealer Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer, who appears in this film courtesy of leftover footage) and is promptly murdered by an unknown killer (who is kind enough to take the pot off of the kettle for her so as not to let her house burn down and roast her cat alive).

From there, we have what in all fairness is the exact same setup as the first film: there’s the guy who wants to re-open Crystal Lake Campground (John Furey, who I swear could be the clone of that one guy from Parts: The Clonus Horror -- he’s just as good of an actor, too); his assistant, the good-natured, fairly innocent heroine of the story (Amy Steel); Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney) and truck driver Enos (an uncredited Rex Everhart); and the required collection of doomed kids played by actors and actresses that, much like their predecessors, didn’t have very illustrious careers following this movie.

Well, when the Crystal Lake butchery continues, the audience finds itself-a-wonderin’ who’s doing them murders? Turns out that Mrs. Voorhees mongoloid son Jason did not in fact die all back in 1958, and that he’s still very much alive and killing -- er, kicking. Well, maybe he’s alive…he could just be some sort of evil incarnate thing like The Shape in Halloween or something…it’s not like the movie bothers to explain such trivial details to us. In any case, this marks the first appearance of Jason as the killer in the Friday franchise, sporting a flour sack with an eyehole (shades of Charles B. Pierce’s The Town That Dreaded Sundown) for a mask.

On the Extras for the Deluxe Edition of Friday The 13^th, Adrienne King mentions there were some problems on the set of Friday The 13^th, Part 2 -- and viewing the final product of the film, it’s a little obvious. Things seem very discordant at times, such as the ending that seems like it was slapped together at the last minute, and the complete omission of several of the movie’s “kids” who go out drinking in town and apparently live throughout the whole movie (which is sacrilege in a slasher film, really -- especially when it comes to Stuart Charno’s Jokey Smurf character).

That said, Friday The 13^th, Part 2 still entertains -- albeit on a rudimentary level (like most of the other entries in the franchise…which would explain why Michael Bay rebooted the whole series: it’s on his level of expertise).

Presentation
For the third DVD incarnation of Friday The 13^th, Part 2, Paramount has given us the best picture quality to date. The movie is presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio, with there still being a hint of grain now and again in the darker scenes, but other than that, it looks pretty damn nice (especially when compared to the first DVD release).

The sound department here has also received an upgrade and boasts a new English 5.1 Dolby Digital mix as well as the faithful old English, French and Spanish Mono Stereo soundtracks. While the new 5.1 mix is an improvement, it doesn’t wholly satisfy, and the rear speakers wind up being used sparingly.

Optional Subtitles are included in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. English Closed Captioning is also available.

Extras
The first DVD release (in 1999) featured nothing but a Trailer. The second release (2004’s From Crystal Lake To Manhattan set) shed a light on the movie with some Interviews. Now, for this all-new “Deluxe Edition” (to be said cynically), Friday The 13^th, Part 2, the previously released Special Features have been scrapped (save for the Trailer) in lieu of some fresher meat. The Extras start out with Inside Crystal Lake Memories (11:16), an Interview with Peter M. Bracke (author of the book, Crystal Lake Memories) conducted by the wide-eyed Del Howison (who looks like he’s going for a more groomed Johnny Legend look). Bracke discusses how his book came to be, and gives some additional insight to the production (such as that horrible ending).

Next up is Friday’s Legacy: Horror Conventions (6:50), a behind-the-scenes look at what happens when really strange people assemble under one big roof. This featurette seems like it would have been more at home on the new release of the first Friday The 13^th film, but is a fun watch nevertheless, and contains some cutaway Interviews with Ari Lehman, Tom Savini, Betsy Palmer, Harry Manfredini, Victor Miller (all of whom are from the first film), and several Scarefest organizers (who I’ll go ahead and give a plug to here: www.scarefest.com -- you’re welcome, guys).

The third Special Feature is -- beware -- an indie Short Film called Lost Tales From Camp Blood, Part II (8:55). Those of you unfortunate enough to suffer through the first part (to be found on the new DVD and Blu-ray releases of Friday The 13^th) will once again be hitting the “Skip” button at this shocker made by Andrew Ceperley.

Jason Forever (29:26) highlights a 2004 convention which managed to wrangle up four different actors to have played Jason Voorhees during the whole franchise (Ari Lehman, Warrington Gillette, C.J. Graham, and Kane Hodder) hosted by Peter Bracke. The featurette also includes some one-on-one interview footage with the four actors thrown in for good measure.

The last Special Feature is the Original Theatrical Trailer (2:14), which is just as exploitive and hilarious as the Trailer for the first film.

Unfortunately, there are no Deleted Scenes to be found here: the footage that the MPAA ordered to be excised from the final print is believed to have been lost over the years. Blame it on the Christians, kids -- I do.

The Bottom Line
Despite a lot of loose ends, Friday The 13^th, Part 2 has nevertheless became mandatory viewing for anyone interested in the series -- it was, after all, the first time Jason came to play as the killer.