Friday the 13th - The Series: The 2nd Season
Directed by William Fruet et al
Studio: Paramount
Year: 1988-1989
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1181 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo English
Subtitles: CC
MSRP: $ 54.99
Release Date: February 10, 2009
Review Date: February 8, 2009
The Series
3/5
You’ll look in vain for Jason Vorhees to come creeping from behind the shelves and cases in the old antique shop that forms the setting of Friday the 13th - The Series. No, the hit syndicated horror anthology series merely borrowed the name and the suspenseful ambiance from the famous cycle of Paramount slasher films. As with most anthology shows (even classic ones like The Twilight Zone or Thriller), the episodes vary in quality and effectiveness. At its best, it can be creepy and startling. But in most cases, the hourlong nature of the series (with running times of basically forty-five minutes) cause many stories to be padded that would have played like gangbusters if the show had only been a half hour. The second season of the show picks up right where the series left off in season one.
Two cousins Ryan Dallion (John D. Le May) and Micki Foster (Robey) inherit from their uncle a curio shop with a most interesting history. Their Uncle Lewis (R. G. Armstrong) had bought and sold evil, cursed relics for years in a deal he made with the devil. With the shop now in their hands, the two cousins along with magician Jack Marshak (Chris Wiggins) go about trying to round up the wicked artifacts before they can inflict more damage on the world than they’ve already caused. This season’s objects run the gamut from a voodoo mask to a ram-encrusted coin which can take or give life. Almost every one of these cursed curios involve murderous death (with the arifacts requiring murders to be committed before they will work), and while the censors at the time required that producers skirt around showing anything too graphic, there’s more than a little mayhem attached to every one of these episodes. There are some derivative episodes to be sure: “Symphony in B#” is a blatant copy of The Phantom of the Opera only with a murderous violinist instead of a deformed composer, both villains enamored with a female protégé. “Read My Lips” has definite echoes of Magic and “The Dummy” episode of The Twilight Zone. “Wax Magic” is a kissing cousin to House of Wax. But despite the padded running times of most of the episodes, there is a fair amount of invention with these cursed artifacts and more than a few “boo” moments to keep the viewer primed for a good scare.
The actors go through their paces with natural ease and occasional good humor (most welcome since the series itself can be pretty grisly), especially the two young people who have a easy, flirty relationship that’s appealing. Actress Robey (first name Louise which is not used in the opening credits) has more appealing hairstyles at the start of the second season (though later episodes repeat some outlandish coifs from season one) though her wardrobe often seems deliberately provocative. Steven Monarque makes several guest appearances as Johnny Ventura this season but would become a regular in the series’ last season. It’s nice to occasionally find a really first rate actor appearing in a guest role. In addition to R.G. Armstrong who pops up in the season two premiere completing the story that occurred at the end of the first season, you’ll see John Byner and Colm Feore in appealing guest roles.
Here are the twenty-six episodes contained on six discs in this second season set:
1 - Doorway to Hell
2 - The Voodoo Mambo
3 - And Now the News
4 - Tails I live, Heads You Die
5 - Symphony in B#
6 - Master of Disguise
7 - Wax Magic
8 - Read My Lips
9 - 13 O’ Clock
10 - Night Hunger
11 - The Sweetest Sting
12 - The Playhouse
13 - Eye of Death (time travel tale is my favorite one of the season)
14 - Face of Evil (sequel to “Vanity’s Mirror” from season one)
15 - Better Off Dead
16 - Scarlet Cinema
17 - The Mephisto Ring
18 - A Friend to the End
19 - The Butcher
20 - Mesmer’s Bauble
21 - Wedding in Black
22 - Wedding Bell Blues
23 - The Maestro
24 - The Shaman’s Apprentice
25 - The Prisoner
26 - Coven of Darkness
The liner notes do mention that some episodes have been edited for content from their original broadcast versions. Experts on the series will be better able than I to illuminate what’s been altered.
Video Quality
2.5/5
The series’ 1.33:1 aspect ratio is faithfully delivered in these video transfers. As in the first season set, the quality varies from one episode to another, but the early episodes look much poorer than later ones. They suffer from softness and dated looking color. They are clean transfers, but with no anamorphic enhancement, there is a great deal of digital artifacting to deal with including moiré and frequent jaggies. Later episodes feature much better sharpness and color, but taken as a whole, the video quality is a grab bag. Each episode is divided into 7 chapters.
Audio Quality
3/5
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio mix is better than the previous season with solid encoding of dialog in the center channel and sound effects and music spread in the right and left channels. There’s some nice bass to be heard in the mix, too, adding to the ambiance of the suspenseful tales.
Special Features
0/5
Apart from previews of Twin Peaks, Dexter, and Ghost Whisperer, there are no bonus features with this set.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
Much the same as the first season, Friday the 13th - The Series, The 2nd Season carries on the tradition of a horror anthology series with some effectively spooky tales reasonably well delivered.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
