[Friday the 13th] Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)

Director: Danny Steinmann

Cast: Melanie Kinnaman, John Shepherd, Shavar Ross, Richard Young, Marco St. John, Juliette Cummins, Carol Locatell, Vernon Washington, John Robert Dixon, Jerry Pavlon, Caskey Swaim, Mark Venturini, Anthony Barrile, Dominick Brascia, Tiffany Helm, Richard Lineback, Corey Feldman

Screenplay: Martin Kitrosser, David Cohen, Danny Steinmann

92 mins. Rated R.

 

Well, here we are. Another Friday the 13^th. Another Friday the 13^th film review. Tonight, we’re looking at the strange and unusual Friday the 13^th Part V: A New Beginning.

Jason is dead. The young boy who killed him, Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd, The Hunt for Red October, Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius), is now a trouble teen being transferred to Pinehurst, a home for teens who need special attention. But when a member of Pinehurst is murdered soon after he arrives, Pinehurst doesn’t seem so safe anymore, and there are more killings on the way, all performed to a killer wearing Jason’s fabled hockey mask. Is there a copycat killer, or is Jason seriously back from the dead?

Occasional porno director Danny Steinmann (The Unseen, Savage Streets) helmed the fifth film in this franchise, which holds the distinction of being a total hit at the box office while universally angering fans of the franchise. Steinmann’s direction was poor with his actors, Shepherd was a terrible Tommy Jarvis, even if aided by a cameo from Corey Feldman (Stand by Me, Lost Boys: The Thirst) at the beginning, and the way the “troubled” teens of Pinehurst are portrayed is a little insensitive. A New Beginning is just a really weird movie.

On the other hand, it’s the first Friday film that’s just a damn fun film to watch. The characters are uniquely over-the-top, the scenes are fantastical and interesting, and the film doesn’t take itself too seriously, in a way that the follow-up would later perfect.

Friday the 13^th Part V: A New Beginning isn’t a good movie, but it definitely belongs in the so-bad-it’s-good category. I have a soft spot in my heart for it even if I absolutely hate the finale. It’s still a good time with a terrible movie.

 

2/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

For my review of Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13^th, click here.

For my review of Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, click here.

For my review of Steve Miner’s Friday the 13^th Part 2, click here.

For my review of Steve Miner’s Friday the 13^th Part III, click here.

For my review of Joseph Zito’s Friday the 13^th: The Final Chapter, click here.