Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning

Summary

I will be reviewing films from the Friday the 13th Collection: Deluxe Edition box set released by Shout! Factory until the entire box set has been covered. Stay tuned!

Editorial Note: there are some necessary spoilers for the previous film and the synopsis has some minor spoilers (I have tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible in the review.)

“If that’s the way you feel Vic, you’re really out of line.”

In 1984, Paramount realized that ending the Friday the 13th series would also stop the flow of easy cash into the studio. The only issue was that The Final Chapter, more so than any film before it, had really killed the possibility of Jason surviving thanks to the impressive effects work of Tom Savini. How exactly would co-screenwriter and director Danny Steinmann get around this issue? That issue is solved for the audience within the first five minutes of the film and then Friday the 13th: A New Beginning allows itself to become one of the strangest chapters in the saga. I sat down with my wife and watched the film recently on the new Shout! Factory Blu-ray.

As the film begins, Tommy (Corey Feldman) walks near the grave of Jason Voorhees as rain pours down and lightning flashes. Tommy watches in horror as two men begin to dig up Jason’s grave. When they reach his grave with their shovels, Jason’s hand jumps out and stabs the two men to death. Jason rises from the grave, puts on his hockey mask, and approaches Tommy. The film cuts to Tommy (John Shepherd) as he is being delivered to Pinehurst Halfway House. Tommy has had mental issues ever since the traumatic experience with Jason Voorhees five years earlier (in The Final Chapter.) Arriving at the hospital he meets Dr. Matt Letter (Richard Young) and his assistant Pam Roberts (Melanie Kinnaman). They show him to his room where he meets a young African American child named Reggie Winter (Shavar Ross.) Reggie’s grandfather works as a cook at the property. Reggie and Tommy interact well because Tommy has continued to hone his craft of creating fantastic masks. Tommy meets the other teens that are being helped at the halfway house. Eddie and Tina are romantically entwined teens, Joey Burns is an over eater, and Violet Moraine is a goth with a black streak dyed into her hair. The next door neighbors are white trash duo Ethel Hubbard and Raymond Joffrey. They hate the institution next door because of the kids that seem to constantly come on their land to fornicate. One day, Vic Faden, another patient at Pinehurst, is chopping some wood with an axe. Joey walks up to Vic and begins to talk about chocolate bars. Vic flies into a rage and kills Joey with his axe. The paramedics arrive, including Roy (Dick Wieand) – Joey’s father – as Vic is arrested. That evening, a string of murders begin to occur by a hockey masked killer. Has Jason actually risen from the grave? Tommy and the denizens of Pinehurst will need to band together to survive the onslaught from the masked killer.

A New Beginning has long been discussed as being underrated in its ranking within the saga. One of the key reasons why the film gets so many shrugged shoulders is that the plot breaks away slightly from the mold of the prior four films. I won’t reveal what they do that breaks the mold, but it has led to many fans shrugging off the film. The film also had the unenviable task of following fan favorite The Final Chapter, which is possibly the best film in the entire franchise. That film also had effectively killed off Jason in a satisfying way so the screenwriters were tasked with finding a way of creating another vehicle featuring Jason. It’s a shame that the film has been dismissed so often, because the film is a fun and totally off-the-wall slasher. It is a frequently funny and frequently violent slasher that is definitely not up to the same standards as the prior film, but it is still very entertaining. I should mention that after watching this film, my wife bowed out of watching the rest of the series with me… so maybe if you arrive at the film with slightly lowered standards you will find enjoyment in the film like I did. Or maybe it will cause you to stop watching the series! You will be the final judge.

Let’s talk about the good aspects of the film first. The film boasts an impressive kill count with around fifteen deaths onscreen. That means the film averages a kill nearly every six minutes. In this type of film, that is a pretty good ratio. The screenplay for the film by Danny Steinmann, Martin Kitrosser, and David Cohen is one of the most comedic in the series. The characters are all caricatures and spout off lines that made me laugh pretty consistently while watching the film. It has a sleazier feel than prior entries and even has a sequence where two of the victims do cocaine before they are killed, which feels like a fairly significant jump from the kids who wanted to smoke reefer and get laid in the earlier films. It also features one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments of any Friday the 13th film when the goth character Violet begins dancing the robot by herself for a minute of screen time. When you see this for yourself, you will be glad that you started the journey.

On the bad side – the writing is not as “well-crafted” as some of the prior entries. Like I said, the characters are caricatures and not given much depth (but only The Final Chapter really succeeded at showing much depth in the characters, in all fairness.) It is fairly safe to say that this film is in the realm of schlock. The film suffers from a not-so-frightening Jason, despite the amount of kills onscreen. Given how intimidating Jason was in the prior film, it would be hard to compete on that level. The film does not ever reach the level of suspense of some of the prior entries. The look of the film is also not as polished as the prior film because cinematographer Stephen L. Posey can not compete with cinematographer Joao Fernandes. The direction by Danny Steinmann is perfectly adequate to grab heightened performances, but it would be a stretch to say that the film is well directed. Given that he cowrote the screenplay, it is safe to say that his vision comes across in the final product. 

Overall, I would say that I definitely enjoyed A New Beginning, while understanding it is not quite as well crafted as some of the other films.

Video

Shout! Factory presents Friday the 13th: A New Beginning in their Deluxe Box Set with a good looking transfer. Using an MPEG-4 AVC codec in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the film does not rely on a new 4K scan, but it still looks very healthy. The opening scene of the film at the cemetery is probably the best looking sequence in the film, but I found the look of the movie’s finale pleasing also. The cinematography by Stephen L. Posey can not compete with the visual impact of Joao Fernandes on The Final Chapter, which makes parts of this film feel a little bit flat visually. Like the film itself, visually the film is a mixed bag but enjoyable overall. 

Audio

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning features a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track alongside a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track that is new to this release. Both present the film pretty well, but I prefer the surround track. The Mono track does a good job of preserving the original sound design of the film. The iconic Harry Manfredini returns again as composer and his score fits the film well, even if he did claim to have a little difficulty scoring this film in comparison to the others. Fans should be pleased.

Supplements:

(These are just the supplements included on the disc for the fifth film. This does not include the supplements on the bonus discs.)

• Audio Commentary: Peter Bracke and Actors Melanie Kinnaman, Deborah Voorhees, and Tiffany Helm.
• Audio Commentary: Director/Co-Screenwriter Danny Steinmann and Actors John Shepherd and Shavar Ross.
• Audio Commentary: Fans/Filmmakers Adam Green and Joe Lynch.
• Lost Tales from Camp Blood – Part 5
• The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited, Part II
• New Beginnings: The Making of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Movie Stills Gallery 
• Posters and Lobby Cards Gallery 
• Fangoria Articles: Accessible only via PC Blu-ray drive.

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4/5

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is an entertaining and frequently bizarre slasher film that has been maligned by many fans of the franchise for one reason that can’t be mentioned here. The film deserves to get more love than it has received over the years, but I can understand why some people find it lacking. It is a sleazier and funnier entry than prior films, but certainly much less frightening than those films as well. The Shout! Factory Blu-ray features good audio and video specifications and a couple of new audio commentaries. I enjoyed A New Beginning and think that fans that shrugged it off originally may enjoy revisiting it.