Fridaythe13ththeSeriesSeason2

Friday the 13th the series season 2 (1988-1989)

Two distant relatives named Micki and Ryan inherit an antiques store from an uncle called Curious Goods. They get a whole lot more than they bargained for when they discover that their deceased uncle was not a nice man at all. In fact he was a big wig with the local Satanists and had been creating/selling cursed objects to unsuspecting customers. Now with the help of a magician named Jack they make it their mission to track down the cursed antiques and return them to the vault under the store where they can do no one any more harm. But collecting these cursed objects is dangerous and brings them into contact with some particularly nasty types.

This is one of those shows that I remember trying to catch on late night TV when I was in high school. At first I was a bit confused by the name and wondered where the hell Jason was! But being a smart kid I soon figured out that the only thing that the show had in common with the movies were a few creative people behind the scenes and the name. Once I got past that I had a blast with the episodes. Of course that was more than 20 years ago (God has it really been that long?) so I was interested in checking out how well the series holds up. The show does suffer a bit from it’s limited budget, which is really obvious when they try and get too ambitious with some of the stories. The show is also supposed to be taking place in the US, but this series has a definite Canadian production feel to it, because it was shot in Canada of course. There are some really funny accents and some of the lighting and camera work has that distinct “Silk Stockings” feel to it. Crap did I just date myself again?

As is the case with any show there are some good episodes and some bad ones. I’m not going to go thru each and every one from the season. But I do want to mention a few. My top three episodes from season 2 have to be Read My Lips, Master of Disguise, and Scarlet Cinema. Read My Lips is about a cursed dummy that comes to life when a cursed object is pinned to it. It promises all sorts of show business success for it’s partner, as long as they kill for it. I’m a big sucker for killer doll/dummy movies and find them creepy. What could be creepier than that? How about Billy Drago who guest stars as the dummies first partner! Master of Disguise is another good one where a disfigured man uses the cursed makeup kit of John Wilkes Booth to change himself into a famous leading man. The cost here is that the item requires the death of others to refuel itself. This is a neat story that references itself back in a clever way to the great Boris Karloff. The final of the three is maybe the best episode from the season and is called Scarlet Cinema. This episode is about an aspiring filmmaker who has an obsession with the old Universal Movie the Wolfman. So much so that when he gets his hands on a cursed camera the Wolfman starts to stalk and kill off his enemies, real and perceived. This episode cleverly cuts in portions of the classic movie, while telling it’s own story. In addition to these there I do have some honorable mentions. The Butcher (Nazi brought back from the dead), Eye of Death (time travel to the Civil War), and Symphony in B # (think Phantom of the Opera with violins) are all really good episodes as well.

There are a few bad episodes, including the first of the season called Doorway to Hell. But for the most part this is a really strong season to a series that just never got old. There have been other series that have dealt with similar storylines and are genre related, but I’d be hard pressed to name very many that have done it any better than Friday the 13th the series. I highly recommend that everyone go out and pick up the DVD of season 2, which hits stores this Tuesday February 10th 2009. It is well worth your time.

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer