With 13 Days of Sequels I’ll be reviewing horror sequels every weekday for the last two weeks of October. You can view all entries HERE.

Believe it or not, Friday the 13th Part 2, like many a sequel, was borne of financial motivations. That is to say, the version of Friday the 13th Part 2 as we know it.

Originally, producers had intended for the Friday the 13th franchise to continue, but in an anthology-style format where each successive movie follows a different storyline, the only constant being that they all take place on that unlucky day. (If this sounds a lot like John Carpenter’s approach to the Halloween franchise, it’s because, well, it is. You’ll notice a lot of parallels before this is over.)

In fact, the infamous ending of Friday the 13th wherein Jason pops up out of the water wasn’t even in the original script – it was suggested last minute by make-up effects maestro Tom Savini who was working on the picture. He had just seen Carrie and thought Friday could benefit from a similar last minute jolt. Victor Miller, who wrote Friday the 13th, was against the idea – he wanted only to focus on Pamela Voorhees, the mother who would do anything for her child – even kill. According to Miller, “Jason was dead from the very beginning. He was a victim, not a villain.” Continue reading 13 Days of Sequels: FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 →