Drawing and Horror Movies

Telling the Story of Jason Around the Campfire in
Friday the 13th: Part Two

When I'm drawing things, particularly "project" drawings of a sort, I love to put in DVD's I'm familiar with for background noise and entertainment at the same time. I have a large drafting table in my home office, but I spend more time drawing on the couch in my living room with a clipboard in my lap.

The other night, while working on the next "seasons" cartoon, I popped in Friday the 13th Part Two. The first in the series to have Jason as the killer and set up a pretty nice back story, I had forgotten how REALLY good this movie was. In fact, I think it's better than the first and most that follow.

What makes it so good is that it seems to have a pretty coherent plot and some pretty good acting, especially by Amy Steel, who plays Ginny the survivor. Among the counselors bumped off were a couple of recognizable soap opera stars of later years and Tom McBride, a nice furry hottie who played Mark (great name), the wheelchair bound guy who buys it with a machete to the face. Even best are the never answered questions: What was Ginny planning on telling Paul? And what happened to Paul at the end? After Jason crashes through the window to attack, Ginny is seen being taken to the ambulance, but she asks repeatedly where is Paul. I've always enjoyed that kind of ambiguity.

I've had the movie for years and now realize that it has commentary (I really should pay attention to these box sets more), so I'll be watching it again soon to listen to that. Maybe tonight.