Friday the 13th: Part II - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Paramount Scares Vol. 2 Edition)

As we’ve covered the Friday the 13th franchise to an almost lethal extent, I’ll keep my comments brief. If you’re looking at the original eight films from Paramount, the films are like a rollercoaster, achieving new heights and finding new lows from one film to the next. That said, the core first four are pretty solid Stalker Slashers. Given how the first film ended, there really was only one way to keep the show going. They had to bring Pamela Voorees’ deformed son into the series and not leave him as a final popout jump scare.

But most people out there don’t know Jason without his iconic hockey mask. Before Part 3-D, Jason had a simple burlap bag over his head, but what made him extra creepy was the single eye hole. The few times you got a full look at him, it was a gnarly piece of work. We had to wait until the end to see what was under that bag and it was a hell of a reveal! Now the nuts and bolts of the film may be an almost Pete and Repeat of the original's stalk-and-kill plotting, but it also expanded the lore of the franchise and laid the groundwork for the inevitable sequels. And I quite like it. It’s not my personal favorite of the series, but if I’m going to do a F13 marathon and focus strictly on Jason, I start with Friday the 13th: Part II, run through Part III and Final Chapter, skip Part V: A New Begining (because I find every character in that film insufferable) and then close out on Part VI: Jason Lives. 

For some different opinions on Friday the 13th: Part II read our previous coverage:

Friday the 13th: Part II - 2009 Blu-ray Review

Friday the 13th Complete Collection 2013 Blu-ray Review

Friday the 13th Collection Deluxe Edition 2020 Blu-ray Review

Friday the 13th 8-Movie Collection 2022 Blu-ray Review

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 

Friday the 13th: Part II makes its 4K UHD Debut as part of the Paramount Scares Vol 2 four-film collection. With its own 4K UHD + Blu-ray set, it gets a custom slipcover while the main packaging recreates the original theatrical poster art. Inside, the 4K is pressed on a BD-66 disc with a BD-50 disc holding up the 1080p end and bonus features. Each disc loads to a static image main menu with standard navigation options. NOTE - At the moment we haven't been able to rip the new 4K disc but as soon as we can we'll circle back and at least add images and hopefully a video sample too. 

Friday the 13th: Part II stalks onto 4K UHD Blu-ray with a fittingly impressive Dolby Vision HDR transfer. But before I get into the nitty gritty, first things first, I want to put a few worries to bed. The first film had a little issue with hot whites on some displays - my LG/Oppo setup didn’t have that problem, but I heard many folks saying that whites looked nuked, almost blinding. for F13: Part II, testing on my primary LG/Oppo setup and then my office’s Samsung/Samsung rig, whites could look a little bright at times, namely if the background sky was already really bright, but otherwise, white shirts, painted building, etc. looked fine. The other issue the first film’s 4K had was at the very beginning looking several stops too dark and then borking the classic dissolve-to-white before the opening title card. That is not an issue here. The opening looks right on point, comparable to previous releases and then the dissolve-to-white happens as it should before the title card quite literally explodes onto the screen. 

Now in terms of detail upgrades, I wouldn’t call this a night-and-day improvement but the little extra refinement in 2160p is appreciable. Facial features, 1980s clothing textures, the forested scenery all enjoy a suitable uptick in quality. Film grain is apparent throughout without any signs of overt smoothing or tinkering. Bitrate is nice and high as well, maintaining a healthy average in the mid-70mbps range. That said, it’s still easy to spot the focus-point issues, namely whenever a cast member misses their mark, so obvious soft spots remain. Even though this was budgeted better than the first film, it was still relatively small. In today’s dollars that was still less than $ 5 million respectively - and it looks it. F13: Part II was director Steve Miner’s first film and it looks like it. It’s not very flashy, and makes smart use of darkness and shadows, but otherwise follows the formula of the first film’s visual cues. 

To that end, primaries are bright and bold without appearing over-saturated, skin tones are healthy and human without looking over-tanned or peached. Black levels are deep and inky, there is a scene or two that gets awfully close to crush, but doesn’t quite drift all the way over. Whites are again bright and crisp, but I didn’t get the overly hot appearance that some experienced with the first film. Image depth is solid. All around a nice little upgrade for the second F13 film.

The included Blu-ray looks to pull the same 1080p master from the Scream Factory set. Which is a nice thing I’d say! It’s a slick-looking disc on its own, but I’d still edge the 4K as the better. 

On the audio front, things get a tad odd. On the 4K disc, we have the decent but unremarkable Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track of discs past - which still works fine even if it doesn’t make a great use of the full soundscape outside of incidental audio effects. The mix really only comes alive for a full surround presence in the last act between the thunderstorm and the mayhem. Dialog is still clean and clear, stabby stab sounds are appropriately squishy and Harry Manfredini’s score is still nice and creepy. I never thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix on the Scream Factory disc was much of (if any) an improvement. 

But speaking of that mix, over on the Blu-ray, we have the DTS-HD MA 5.1 similar to the Scream Factory disc, and then coupled with a Dolby Digital mono track. Why a discrepancy there? Why doesn’t the 4K have all of the audio tracks? I have no idea. It’s one of those mysteries that may never be solved. Personally, I prefer the DTS-HD MA mono mix of the Scream disc the best because I just never felt like anything was added when the film moved to 5.1.

On the bonus features front, there’s nothing new in the soup here. Like some of the other more recent F13 repressings after the Scream Factory set came out, we’re getting only a small smattering of extra features, and then not everything available for this particular film. What we have here is decent enough and will keep you entertained after the show, but if you’ve already gone through these extras before, once is enough, they’re not much of a draw to require a revisit - unless you haven’t seen the Crystal Lake Memories segments with Peter Bracke.

• Inside ‘Crystal Lake Memories’ (HD 11:15)
• Friday’s Legacy: Horror Conventions (HD 6:50)
• Lost Tales From Camp Blood Part II (HD 8:54)
• Jason Forever (SD 29:27)
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Friday the 13th: Part II isn’t the best of the franchise, nor is it the worst. True, Jason isn’t in his final form, he’s in his pupa stage bag-head mode, but it’s still a damn creepy flick, even after countless viewings. A fitting followup to the first, it expands the lore of Jason Voorhees and lays the groundwork for the bloody mayhem to come in future sequels. On 4K UHD, the film sees some notable improvements with the added resolution and HDR grade, but much like the first film’s 4K debut, we don’t get all of the best audio options, nor do we get all of the great excellent bonus features. As this franchise is on the slow track to 4K, I wish Paramount would get the lead out because right now, the Scream Factory Blu-ray set is damned tough to beat, even in 2160p Dolby Vision. Ultimately I’m calling this one Recommended.