26
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63Slant MagazineJeremiah KippSlant MagazineJeremiah KippBy now, everyone knows what to expect from this kind of movie, but what’s surprising is how the low-budget rawness, cheap film stock bubbling over with grain, and washed-out lighting schemes give the film a kind of base in reality.
- 60IGNIGNNo one will mistake this for Quality Cinema, and it's marred by a confusing, murky ending. But there are some good thrills along the way.
- 40The New York TimesThe New York TimesFRIDAY the 13th Part II will frighten you, at least for moments, although it will be a close-run thing whether it will be fright, nausea or simple distaste that gets to you first. The movie exists for no other purpose than to shock. The plot is an excuse for joining together horrors, all of the sado-masochist kind, and the acting is rudimentary at best. It probably will make a fortune. [4 May 1981, p.C1]
- 30Washington PostGary ArnoldWashington PostGary ArnoldMiner doesn't linger over the multiple throat-slashings and skull-splittings. Comparatively speaking, he seems less bloodthirsty than the directors of Friday the 13th, The Exterminator or Mother's Day, to name only a few competitors of grosser gruesomeness. [13 May 1981, p.B6]
- 25TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineSomehow, this one's even worse than the first. Called a sequel, it's basically the same movie, except that this time a different cast of teenagers gets killed in the usual, very graphic manner.
- 25The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe same covey of kids assemble at a summer camp to meet their predictable fate. Once again, their thespian talents defy assessment, since most hang around just long enough to take off the limited clothes of the American teen-ager and take on the limited role of the bloody victim - both acts performed just once, always in that order. [04 May 1981]
- 12Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThis movie is a cross between the Mad Slasher and Dead teenager genres; about two dozen movies a year feature a mad killer going berserk, and they're all about as bad as this one.