Paramount Scares – Vol. 2: Friday the 13th Part II 4K Ultra HD Review

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

The original Friday the 13th was filmed independently on a miserly budget of just over five hundred thousand dollars. Capitalizing on the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween, Friday the 13th director Sean S. Cunningham used much of the same techniques as Halloween to try to create a “rollercoaster ride” of horror and suspense. Introducing the world to a serial killing mother, Mrs. Voorhees, the franchise’s most famous (or infamous) icon, Jason, would not actually enter the film until the closing scene.

Opening to overwhelmingly negative reviews in 1980, the film would, nonetheless, go on to be a box office success and eventually become one of the most beloved films from the slasher genre. In fact, Friday the 13th’s popularity is such that the film has spawned a long-running franchise films, including a crossover film, Jason Vs. Freddy, with A Nightmare on Elm Street’s villain Freddy Kreuger and a new series reboot, Friday the 13th from 2009.

Watching Friday the 13th: Part II, makes one wonder, however, how it is that the series managed to survive beyond this first sequel. Taking basically the same plot from its predecessor, with younger, more attractive — and sometimes naked — people and placing them back in Crystal Lake where they are stalked and killed by the blood-thirsty Jason Voorhees, Part II is no more than a boring retread that proffers nothing new or shocking.

Friday the 13th: Part II is agonizingly slow and lacking in any suspense. So devoid of any true energy or creativity, Friday the 13th: Part II can easily put people to sleep rather than keep them on the edges of their seats. The characters are there solely for the purpose of ultimately being killed. Frankly, the dialogue is so banal you may start rooting for the characters to be killed just to stop them from talking.  The kills themselves are original, but their setups become so obvious that it quells even that small spark of originality.

This second installment of this seemingly inextinguishable franchise is no more than an electrotype that has lost the luster of its original. Despite this, it was good enough to maintain the franchise into the next sequel, wherein Jason would finally gain the iconic hockey mask.

Purchase Friday the 13th Part II 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray in Paramount Scares Vol. 2 on Amazon.com

The Video

Paramount says the film, as every film in the new Paramount Scares: Vol. 2 collection, has been newly remastered for 4K Ultra HD. Friday the 13^th Part II is presented on 4K in a 1.85:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement. Compared to the included Blu-ray from Paramount, which has not been remastered (and comes with a 1.78:1 AVC 1080p encodement), the difference is very slight. To my eyes on my LG G3 OLED, the main differences are very slightly brighter specular highlights on the 4K discs and flesh tones that are a hint more natural. These really come into play in the big rainstorm scene in the final act with the lightning and the use of flashlights, which show up equally on both BD and 4K where you can see the bulb, but it looks brighter on 4K. You can also see more reflections of raindrops on the VW bug on the 4K discs. The grain is consistent across both discs with good texture and detail, both looking a little murky in the dark scenes, but good. Black levels are inky, and contrast superbly handled as well.           

The Audio

For whatever the reason may be, Paramount has switched the 5.1 mix from the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio encodement on the Blu-ray to a lossless Dolby TrueHD on the 4K disc. The sound is quite similar. Again, go to the rainstorm scene where the sound of raindrops hit in the surround channels and some thunderclaps hit with ambience through all the channels. There is not a lot of low-end extension, but the mix has good enough midrange to create impact for the sound effects.

The Supplements

This disc and the entire collection it is in comes housed in a premium box with original artwork and digital codes for each film. My rating pertains only to the on-disc bonus features for Friday the 13^th Part II and not the contents of the complete collection.

In the Paramount Scares: Vol. 2 Box:

• Full-size FANGORIA magazine produced specifically for this release with new and classic articles about the films
• Four unique iron-on patches representing each film
• A domed PARAMOUNT SCARES logo sticker 
• A new PARAMOUNT SCARES glow-in-the-dark enamel pin
• Limited-Edition poster by acclaimed artist Orlando “Mexifunk” Arocena   

Blu-ray Bonus Features:

• Inside “Crystal Lake Memories” (1080p; 00:11:15)
• Friday’s Legacy: Horror Conventions (1080p; 00:06:50)
• Lost Tales from Camp Blood Part II (1080p; 00:08:54)
• Jason Forever (SD; 00:29:27)
• Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:02:03)

The Final Assessment

Paramount has done another solid job on for this second Paramount Scares collection with this cult favorite on 4K. It looks and sounds satisfying for the material and restores the original aspect ratio.

PARAMOUNT SCARES – Volume 2 is out October 1, 2024 from Paramount Home Entertainment

Purchase Friday the 13th Part II 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray in Paramount Scares Vol. 2 on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: R
• Studios & Distributors: Georgetown Productions Inc. | Sean S. Cunningham Films | Paramount Home Entertainment
• Director: Steve Miner
• Written By: Ron Kurz | Victor Miller | Sean S. Cunningham
• Run Time: 87 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • MaxLL: 1000 nits
  • MaxFALL: 864 nits
  • Max. Luminance: 1000 nits
  • Min. Luminance: 0.0001 nits
• Primary Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
• Secondary Audio: English Audio Description | German DD Mono | French DD Mono | Italian DD Mono
• Subtitles: English | English SDH | German | Spanish (Castilian) | French | Italian | Dutch