| "If Jason still haunts you, you're not alone!" |
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Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning
DVD/APPROX. 88 MINS/1985/USA R18+
DVD/APPROX. 88 MINS/1985/USA R18+
8
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After the huge success of FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER (1984), Paramount decided to relaunch the series with 1985's A NEW
BEGINNING and take the films in a new direction however, these plans fell through when the film was greeted with backlash from fans who felt
deceived and betrayed by the film's twist ending. For my money this instalment is the prototype of a ‘80s slasher film, it has the check list of
everything needed in the sub-genre: a killer with a bizarre motive, nasty and creative kills, cars that won't start, nudity, thunder storm, a waitress,
the list could go on, if you wanted to show a new horror fan a prime example of a ‘80s slice n' dice horror this would be a great place to start.
This one opens with a great scary dream sequence in which a young Tommy (Corey Feldman), watches in terror as two punks dig up Jason's grave
during a raging thunderstorm, for there troubles Jason kills them both and slowly make his way towards Tommy who is frozen with terror and just
as Jason rises his machete to strike the now adult Tommy (John Shepherd) wakes to find himself on the way to Pinehurst halfway house, one that
is unique because it runs off an honour system. Once there we meet Matthew Letter (Richard Young) and his assistant Pam (Melanie Kinnaman)
who run the place and look after a group of young people made up of sexually charged couple Eddie (John Robert Dixon) and Tina (Debisue
Voorhees), sweet orphan Joey (Dominick Brascia), violently repressed Victor (Mark Venturini), prototypical punk rock fan Violet (Tiffany Helm), shy
stutterer Jake (Jerry Pavlon) and innocently cute Robin (Juliette Cummins). Another welcome addition to the cast is Miguel A. Nunez Jr. who plays
Reggie's (Shavar Ross) brother Demon. Nunez would be the only cast member to move on to bigger and better projects, turning in standout
supporting roles for films such as "Return of the Living Dead", "Street Fighter" and "Scooby-Doo". Soon after Tommy arrives Joey is hacked to
death by another patient named Vic (Mark Venturini) and is arrested. Paramedics and sheriff officers arrive. As the paramedics work to "clean up
the mess", jokes are made about the murder which apparently angers one of the paramedics. That night a maniac starts a bloodbath as he picks
off the locals and patients in Jason's old MO.
The script is elevated by a strong second half. Director Danny Steinmann tried to emulate the spectacular finale of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2
(1981) by including his own twenty minute chase and showdown sequence. While it lacks some of the eminent suspense featured in that prior
"Friday" finale, it still grips the viewer and refuses to let go. When all is said and done, there's an intriguing epilogue to the film which promised a
new direction to the long running series (hinted at in the title of the movie) that was regrettably never followed up on. A lot of fans do not like this
instalment because of the new direction it takes but I think it is a very strong entry in the series that gets better with each viewing.
Paramount gives yet another no frills DVD of a FRIDAY film, the only extra we get is the usual great trailer. You can pick this up very cheap, so it's a
good buy to hold all you FRIDAY fans over until the special edition hits stores in June along with special edition's of FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE
FINAL CHAPTER and FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES.
BEGINNING and take the films in a new direction however, these plans fell through when the film was greeted with backlash from fans who felt
deceived and betrayed by the film's twist ending. For my money this instalment is the prototype of a ‘80s slasher film, it has the check list of
everything needed in the sub-genre: a killer with a bizarre motive, nasty and creative kills, cars that won't start, nudity, thunder storm, a waitress,
the list could go on, if you wanted to show a new horror fan a prime example of a ‘80s slice n' dice horror this would be a great place to start.
This one opens with a great scary dream sequence in which a young Tommy (Corey Feldman), watches in terror as two punks dig up Jason's grave
during a raging thunderstorm, for there troubles Jason kills them both and slowly make his way towards Tommy who is frozen with terror and just
as Jason rises his machete to strike the now adult Tommy (John Shepherd) wakes to find himself on the way to Pinehurst halfway house, one that
is unique because it runs off an honour system. Once there we meet Matthew Letter (Richard Young) and his assistant Pam (Melanie Kinnaman)
who run the place and look after a group of young people made up of sexually charged couple Eddie (John Robert Dixon) and Tina (Debisue
Voorhees), sweet orphan Joey (Dominick Brascia), violently repressed Victor (Mark Venturini), prototypical punk rock fan Violet (Tiffany Helm), shy
stutterer Jake (Jerry Pavlon) and innocently cute Robin (Juliette Cummins). Another welcome addition to the cast is Miguel A. Nunez Jr. who plays
Reggie's (Shavar Ross) brother Demon. Nunez would be the only cast member to move on to bigger and better projects, turning in standout
supporting roles for films such as "Return of the Living Dead", "Street Fighter" and "Scooby-Doo". Soon after Tommy arrives Joey is hacked to
death by another patient named Vic (Mark Venturini) and is arrested. Paramedics and sheriff officers arrive. As the paramedics work to "clean up
the mess", jokes are made about the murder which apparently angers one of the paramedics. That night a maniac starts a bloodbath as he picks
off the locals and patients in Jason's old MO.
The script is elevated by a strong second half. Director Danny Steinmann tried to emulate the spectacular finale of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2
(1981) by including his own twenty minute chase and showdown sequence. While it lacks some of the eminent suspense featured in that prior
"Friday" finale, it still grips the viewer and refuses to let go. When all is said and done, there's an intriguing epilogue to the film which promised a
new direction to the long running series (hinted at in the title of the movie) that was regrettably never followed up on. A lot of fans do not like this
instalment because of the new direction it takes but I think it is a very strong entry in the series that gets better with each viewing.
Paramount gives yet another no frills DVD of a FRIDAY film, the only extra we get is the usual great trailer. You can pick this up very cheap, so it's a
good buy to hold all you FRIDAY fans over until the special edition hits stores in June along with special edition's of FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE
FINAL CHAPTER and FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES.
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