Horror Facts Vol. 29: Friday the 13th Part 2

Does Friday the 13th Part 2 surpass the original for you? This Friday, September 13th, we’re uncovering 10 fascinating facts about the classic sequel that will leave you screaming for more.

1/ Adrienne King completed her scenes for Part 2 in just two days. After Friday the 13th (1980), an obsessed stalker forced her to retire from acting, but she returned to the screen in 2010 with Psychic Experiment.

2/ Warrington Gillette auditioned for a camp counsellor role but didn’t get it. However, the filmmakers liked him and knew he had stunt training, so they cast him as Jason. Due to injuries, Gillette left the production and was replaced by at least two others, including a female stand-in for scenes showing Jason’s feet when he’s stalking Alice.

3/ The late Tom McBride’s character Mark wears a football shirt with the number “81” on it to highlight the year the film was released.

4/ The movie poster shows Jason holding a bloody hatchet, but surprisingly, he never uses one to kill any of his victims in this movie. He does plant one in Jeff and Sandra’s bed, which Paul and Ginny later discover, setting the tone for the terrifying events that unfold.

5/ Amy Steel’s character Ginny was initially meant to die, but producers spared her due to Steel’s impressive performance. They wanted her for Part 3, but her agent advised against it, suggesting better roles would come. Steel regretted listening, as she largely left acting for a career as a marriage and family therapist. Interestingly, Ginny Field was named after Virginia Field, production designer for the first two films.

6/ Friday the 13th Part 2 features a repeating license plate: “577-BOC” on Jeff’s truck and also the ambulance that takes Ginny away.

7/ The original working title of the film was simply Jason.

8/ Unaware he was gay at the time, Lauren-Marie Taylor developed a genuine crush on her co-star Tom McBride, who played her character Vickie’s boyfriend on-screen.

9/ In 2003, Betsy Palmer claimed she only appeared in the first Friday the 13th film, seemingly forgetting her cameo in Part 2. She was hired for a day to film in front of a black screen in LA, while the main production was in Connecticut. Director Steve Miner surprised her with the offer, as she thought Jason was dead. Palmer spent half a day filming her lines and had a new mockup of her head created, but claims she never saw the final film.

10/ This film boasts one of the longest pre-credit sequences in movie history, clocking in at nearly 18 minutes in certain versions. The MPAA trimmed 48 seconds from the final film to prevent an X rating.

Happy Friday the 13th!

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