Friday the 13th Part 5 : A New Beginning

Friday the 13th Part 5 : A New Beginning title

AKA: Friday the 13th : A New Beginning

Tag Line : If Jason still haunts you...You're not alone!

Friday the 13th Part 5 : A New Beginning What's this you say, A New Beginning? Yes indeedy!!!! Unfortunately the Friday the 13th saga had made too much money for Paramount Pictures to let it stop at Part 4. Henceforth we have a new beginning.

As we all know, Jason was killed at the end of Part 4 by young Tommy Jarvis. Tommy is now aged eighteen (played this time by John Shepard) and residing at Pinehurst Mental Institution, being treated for nightmares about Jason returning from the grave (with Corey Feldman reprising his role as the young Tommy for the films "nightmare scene" prologue).

Unfortunately, somebody wearing an Ice Hockey Mask has started killing off the inmates of the mental institution along with the local townsfolk. The killings appear to be the work of Jason Vorhees, but Jason is dead isn't he? Well, yes actually he is. The killings are in fact being carried out by a copycat killer who's decided to take a leaf out of Jason's book. But comes to a "sticky" end (metaphorically speaking) when confronted by Tommy.

Whilst this isn't a bad sequel, it certainly isn't a particularly good one. The killings seem to be losing there impact due to the series getting so overly long and I personally feel that they shouldn't really have carried on past Part 4. There's no real feeling of suspense here and there's no real blood or gore as most of the killings appear to take place just off-camera.

When I think of this film I also think of Halloween 5 and the abominable Nightmare on Elm Street 5 which where terrible in the extreme, although this isn't quite as bad as those. Also, was it my imagination or were the outdoor sets on this movie the same as those used in part 3? They do look suspiciously similar.

One for Friday fans only, though don't be too discouraged by my remarks, check this film out for yourself and see what you think.

Overall Marks : 5/10

Other Information.

Director Danny Steinman previously directed the 80's exploitation pic "Savage Streets" starring Linda Blair and John Vernon. He was slated to direct a sequel to "I Spit on Your Grave" but the project folded.
Corey Feldman was originally approached to reprise his role as Tommy, however he was busy filming the Spielberg movie "The Goonies" at the time. The script was subsequently re-written to make his character older, so they could use him in a flashback sequence for the films intro.
The original German video was apparently very heavily edited and cut out virtually all the violence.
When Lana the waitress is murdered with the axe, the shot of her body hitting the ground and quivering was cut to avoid an NC17 rating in the U.S.
In the US television version of this film, there is a shot of the paramedic saying "I'll be damned" after he pulls the sheet off Joey's mangled body, replacing the shot of Joey's body itself.
There were numerous cuts made to the film in order to gain an "R" rating in the US. Robin's machete death was originally shown, with the blade going through her chest and blood spurting out. There was more of a shot of the cleaver in Jake's face with spurting blood (this was cut because Paramount were dissatisfied with how it looked). There was a shot showing Junior's head being cut off. A more graphic scene of Joey's death with his innards shooting out of his back when stabbed. Violet was supposed to be killed by the machete in between the legs, however the board found it offensive and cut it from the script.
Aussie rock band Pseudo Echo contributed the song "His Eye's" for the film's soundtrack. You may remember them for their cover version of the song "Funky Town" which went top ten in the UK in the late 80's.
The original UK version suffered a further 1minute 22s of cuts, removing several scenes of female nudity and shortening several killings. The UK DVD released in 2002 re-instated these previously cut scenes.
Look out for Miguel Nunez from "Return of the Living Dead" in a minor role as one of the victims.