Friday the 13th the Series: Season 2

When FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES debuted in 1987 it wasn't exactly bright on my radar. I was aware of it, and even saw an episode I thought was very good ("Doctor Jack"), but until recently I'd forgotten the show ever existed. When a friend of mine mentioned it in passing early this year, I had a sudden, inexplicable desire to buy the first season on the spot, and so I did...and boy am I glad, because I haven't had this much fun with a TV show in a long, long time.FRIDAY THE 13TH was produced by Frank Mancuso, Jr., the same guy who brought us the notorious slasher films of the same name, so you could be forgiven if you thought this was a biopic of Jason Voorhees set in Crystal Lake. Actually it has nothing to do with the hockey-masked killer, but is an entirely different story, albeit very much in the horror vein. Here goes:Lewis Vendredi (R.G. Armstrong) made a pact with the devil. In return for wealth and immortality, he agreed to sell to the unwary customers of his antique shop items which had been cursed by Satan. When Vendredi tried to go back on the pact, he is sent to hell and the shop was left to his niece Micki Foster (Louise Robey), and her cousin by marriage Ryan Dallion (John D. LeMay). The two clueless relations are quickly educated as the true nature of the store's stock by a former business partner of Vandredi's named Jack Marshak (Chris Wiggins), who had no idea the items he was selling Lewis were being used in such an evil manner until it was too late. Renaming the shop Curious Goods, the three of them set out to recover each of the more than 200 cursed items in circulation and place them in safekeeping so that they can do no more damage. This is easier said than done, of course, as each object carries a different curse -- and therefore a different danger.I should probably start by addressing the show's three principal faults to get them out of the way. First, and especially during the early episodes, the budget for F13 was obviously very low, which affected every aspect of the production, an affect heightened for the modern viewer by the now horribly-dated special effects. Second, also most notably in the early going, the acting and writing are wildly inconsistent, with Robey tending to over-emote and DeMay tending to deliver the nervous, uncertain performance of a young actor out of his depth. Last, the style in which the series is executed is very portentous, with a lot of awkward moments: weak cliffhangers, bad jokes, and cheesy melodrama. When the show is bad, it's very bad indeed -- and I ought to add that the first episode of the second season, "Doorway to Hell," is an embarrassing clunker which showcases all of these failings.Having said that, this is a series that gleefully transcends its faults, and not merely because as the season wore on, the budget clearly increased -- even to the point of getting David Cronenberg as a guest director. Yes, many of the flaws were ironed out, and the episodes in the later seasons had flashy cinematography, better character actors for backup, and an ambitiously large scope; but the reason I found it so compulsively watchable was because it foreshadowed many of the characteristics which were to make shows like THE X-FILES, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, SUPERNATURAL and FRINGE so popular in later years. It combines surprisingly bloody and gruesome horror with sharp and seditious wit, while utilizing a family-style dynamic among the cast, and backing up a good-size truck of sexual tension in the bargain. Jack is the wise but somewhat enigmatic father-figure with the shadowy past; Micki is surefooted and responsible but restraining great passions; Ryan is the immature slacker coming to grips with manhood and destiny. Together they produce that chemistry and likeability that ever show strives for but very few achieve. Just as importantly, this is a horror show that really delivers the goods. The curses are full of terrible irony, the villains diverse in their villainy, and the killings are grisly and, considering the time period, extremely graphic and long-winded: you'll see people burned alive, electrocuted, riddled with bullets, stabbed, impaled, beheaded, and in one case, drowned in a toilet. And going beyond this, and despite its humor, FRIDAY was a not a series which was afraid of unhappy endings. Some of the quests were less successful than others, and as the season wore on, each of the characters suffered a terrible, personal loss which made them question whether they wanted to continue fighting the good fight.A few of my favorite episodes:"Tails I Live, Heads You Die" - Micki is kidnapped by a Satanic cult looking to buy its way into the devil's good graces at any cost. (This episode has a sequel in the third season called "Bad Penny")"Night Hunger" - An excellent and moving episode about a cursed keychain which gives its troubled teenage owner the power to beat anyone in a drag race. Winner gets the pink slip, loser dies."The Sweetest Sting" - The gang tangles with a sadistic beekeeper whose bees have the power give live...and to take it."The Playhouse" - A truly disturbing story about a kids' playhouse which offers a pair of abused, neglected siblings a refuge from their drunken mother...for a very hefty price."Eye of Death" - An unscrupulous collector is using a cursed object to travel back and forth from the era of the Civil War to steal priceless antiquities."Face of Evil" - A cursed compact allows a fading model to rid herself of her young rivals in hideously brutal ways."Better off Dead" - Even by today's standards this story, about a doctor who kidnaps prostitutes and experiments on them with a cursed syringe, is shockingly brutal, the moreso because the doctor is not so much evil or sadistic as desperate."Scarlet Cinema" - In a homage to "The Wolf Man," this story revolves around a film-school loser whose cursed object, a camera, allows him to summon a werewolf right out of Hollywood's cinematic past."The Mephisto Ring" - Yet another story featuring the excellent character actor Denis Forest, who made many appearances on the show; this one puts a degenerate gambler in hock to the mob in possession of a cursed ring that foresees the outcome of sports events."The Butcher" - Chris Wiggins gets to do all the heavy lifting in this episode that pits Jack Marshak against a resurrected Nazi war criminal he killed in the waning days of WW2."Mesmer's Bauble" - 1980s pop-siren Vanity guest stars in an episode with -- again! -- Denis Forest as an obsessed fan whose cursed object, a pendant, allows him to get very close to her...so close you might not be able to tell them apart."The Maestro" -- The first appearance by coldly competent Colm Fiore in this series (he returns in Season Three's excellent "Mightier Than The Sword") is a fascinating story about a crippled dance master whose cursed music box literally causes people to "dance 'til they drop." Dead."The Shaman's Apprentice" - This gut-wrenching episode features an Indian physician who cures patients using a cursed totem that demands a death for a life: a stinging attack on racism that presents a cruel moral dilemma to our heroes: if they stop the doctor, they condemn a terminally ill friend of Micki's to death.As I said, FRIDAY is a series with many flaws, but at the same time I found it compulsively watchable and a great deal of fun. It not only delivers the sort of old-school horror-movie atmosphere I greatly enjoy, it clearly had an enormous influence, directly or indirectly, on people like Chris Carter, Joss Whedon, Tim Kring, David Greenwalt, and others who enjoyed considerably more pop-culture fame with their own shows. And this, the second season, is arguably the best of all three. It has everything you could want: horror, suspense, drama, sex, gore, nastily ironic curses, and ethical dilemmas from which there is absolutely no escape. It also introduces Johnny Ventura (Steve Monarque) as a recurring character who, at the beginning of the third season, steps in for the departing Ryan Dallion. So what are you waiting for? Take a trip down to Druid Street to Curious Goods and say hello.But for God's sake don't buy anything.

Me likey:+ Nice to have, since I thought it’d never be available+ DVDs are nicely laid out, with detailed descriptions of each episodeMe no likey:- Bare bones, standard resolution- DVD won’t play through; you’re taken back to the main menu after each episode.I remember seeing this show as a kid, being bummed that they used the ‘Friday’ title (even the same font!) to lure me into thinking it was a series that followed the movies. But I quickly fell in love with the concept. It still should’ve been called something else, but perhaps I’d have never tuned in if that happened. So, well played.Seeing as how I never thought I’d see this show again, I was delighted to discover these, and can even overlook its shortcomings. This is standard definition, bare bones stuff, but at the time that I bought them, conversion to higher resolutions was more scarce.The one thing I don’t like is that discs won’t play episodes back-to-back. Keep the clicker nearby, because you’ll need it to binge. You’re sent back to the main menu following the conclusion of every episode. Each disc holds only 4 episodes anyway, so it’s not a huge deal, but it’d still be nice if each disc just played all the way through.

It arrived on time, quick shipping. All of the discs and the case were in great condition and play perfectly. A really fun show to put on at the end of the night and watch an episode or two before bed. Nothing amazing, but fun and horrifically comforting!

The show itself is a good ride! It's over the top, improbable situations, over acting, but great fun all the same. How they got away with some of the violence on TV is a mystery!The first story in this set is not very good. There is another about a violin I wasn't real crazy about.But then they take off! My favorites are the one about the stop watch, the World Series ring, and the coin, and the syringe.If the sets sold for around $15, then so be what you buy here. But they are priced $25 and up, and when you see the quality, you feel a little taken advantage of.The problem rests in the picture quality. Different reviewers have had multiple expalnations, but for what the series is costing on DVD, the price should either be lowered to the actual quality, ot the DVD's should be remastered using one of the multiple ways out ther to improve the picture and sound.

I used to watch this show weekly when I wasn't doing anything more important and I enjoyed it quite a lot. With the lack of quality programming nowdays this has become a classic. Chris Wiggins reminds me so much of Donald Pleasence...either of those two could have played Jack Marshack, and either could have played Dr. Loomis (Halloween). I might be getting off-track here, but let me say that I consider Louise Robey to be quite a beautiful woman. I cannot imagine any other female taking her place in this program. The director may have gone a bit overboard with some of Robey's outfits in the first season, but that didn't detract from her beauty; and in the second season the outfits were all very tasteful. I won't list favorite episodes since I consider all of them to be great and I don't want to detract from the entire package. I have bought the first two seasons already and I hope the third season is also released since the only other way of getting it is to buy the whole set from the bootleggers. I don't want to rebuy seasons one and two just to get season three.

Picture quality better than Season 1. I only saw some of the Season 2 episodes when it originally aired. When the story line involving the cursed object expanded and the main characters were rarely present, I didn't seem to be interested in watching it anymore. Time hasn't changed my mind.

Watching this dvd brought back a lot of memories from back in the day.... also the crush I used to have on Robey.... I couldn't remember every episode which made it more fun to watch....spooky for its time.... however some episodes were very grainy....I thought that with todays technology they could have cleaned it up some.... if it was possible.... still... i enjoyed every one.

Friday the 13th: the series (FT13TS) was a cool, mildly cheesy, little semi-anthology series set in the late 80s. You follow the adventures of two cousins (Micki and Ryan) and their friend Jack in chasing down antiques cursed by their Uncle Lewis.It's been a while since I've seen Season 2 and I have to say it's held up a lot better than Season 1. Watching Season 2 of the series (my favourite of the three), you can clearly see the show hit its stride: the acting become just a little less wooden and the stories a lot more interesting. By now, you're also able to invest a bit more emotion into the heroic protagonists, especially when they lose every friend and relative to the cursed objects. In fact, the season's writers especially seemed to enjoy torturing them in Season 2.Speaking of cursed objects, the special effects seem more cohesive this time. They're still as symbolically interesting as last season; a few examples: a compact whose reflections kill while feeding on the vanity of its user, a magic rattle that heals a specific medical condition then multiplies and passes on the condition to another with intent to kill, a hypnotist's bauble that controls anyone and grants the user any freaking wish he wants. The villains, in general, are all the hapless, the foolish, the cruel, the weak, the vengeful. You might even find that you'll empathize and even sympathise with some of the characters until they start reveling in their power and more often than not, their power backfires and destroys them.In short, watch FT13TS... its thrilling escapism at its purest.

Season 2 on DVD. What more could you want? Season 3? It comes out in September 2009.There was a rumor floating around the internet that the picture quality of the DVD was poorer than the picture quality of the current TV broadcasts. I don't see a difference. I get Friday the 13th the Series on digital cable and it looks the same as the DVD. To me, anyway.I have been anticipating the release of this series for some time. I'm glad I bought it.As there are no extras or subtitles or anything other than each episode of season 2 the price should be a little lower than it is. But that's the free market for you.

I enjoyed the series when it was on T.V. and bought the DVD for the memories. Gave me a bit of a scare when I was younger, still enjoyable to watch..