Arrow in the Head reviews "Friday the 13th: Part 5: A New Beginning"

Friday the 13th: Part 5
A New Beginning (1985)

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Directed by:	Danny Steinmann
Starring:	John Shepherd/Tommy
	Melanie Kinnaman/Pam
	Shavar Ross/Reggie
	Tiffany Helm/Violet

RATING

PLOT-CRUNCH:

Tommy (Shepherd) is all grown up and a little messed up in the head. He’s sent to a "hippy" like mental institution in the woods to get his head cleared. Sooner than you can say "slaughter time", a masked killer is practicing his own brand of therapy on the staff and the patients. Is it Jason back from the grave? Is it Captain Kangaroo? Is it Robert Downey Jr.? Let's find out.

THE LOWDOWN:

This fifth sequel has been getting lots of flack over the years and The Arrow thinks it’s been overdone. Yes, it’s not the best of the series but it isn’t the worst either (Friday the 13th Part 8 deserves that title). Friday The 13th Part 5 delivers what you’d expect from this kind of movie and in good dosage at that. You get your teens, your violent murders, your sexual situations and your tit shots. So what’s the problem here?

*** SPOILER - SPOILER - SPOILER - SPOILER ***

I think what hit the fans hard is that it wasn’t Jason doing the killing. Yep, we get our first and last Jason copycat here. To be honest the film doesn’t really make it hard to figure out who the culprit is. If it was supposed to be a mystery, they didn’t do a good job at covering it up. Yes, it sucks that Jason was on holiday but at least the copycat does his best to live up to the legend that is Mr. Voorhees. In my book, he gets a passing grade.

Here’s what I didn’t like about the movie: First off, I hate kid characters, especially when they become "hero" figures. I wasn’t too hip to Reggie (Ross) and all his jive. I just wanted him to die a quick death (I yelled "F**k me!" when he popped out on that tractor). His scene with Demon (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.) is very amusing though, I’ll give him that. I also despise white thrash hicks in movies. Yes, Ethel (Locatell) and Jr. (Sloan) are somewhat entertaining but in my book of blood, they didn’t die fast enough. And last but not least, the killer (who’s not an undead) takes quite a beating and keeps on coming. Very unbelievable. Then again, we don’t watch these flicks and expect reality.

Apart from that, the movie delivers and then some. Tommy is a great central character (I loved his Kung Fu shite), the murders are extra violent, the pace is fast, the tits are plentiful, I loved the spooky Jason dream/hallucinations and the last frame has a nice twist (too bad they didn’t go with it in the sequels). Part 5 is not as bad as people say and slasher fans should check it out. Let's give this copycat a break!

ACTING:

John Shepherd (Tommy) is solid as a rock. His performance is dead on and I was convinced he was insane. I was really impressed. Melanie Kinnaman (Pam) is the best of both worlds: cute and capable. She comes through. Shavar Ross (Reggie) does his job well but he annoyed me. Guess who’s never having children? You got it…me. Tiffany Helm (Violet) is great as the punk chick and her robot/doll dance fascinated me…ahhh the 80’s. Debbisue Voorhees (Tina) has a great name and a wonderful rack. Carol Locatell (Ethel) is funny and convincing, too bad at times she tested my patience. Ron Sloan (Jr.) plays an idiot real well…couldn’t wait for him to die. Richard Young (Matt) does good as the main Doc. Dominick Brascia (Joey) dies real well. Corey Feldman makes a cameo in the beginning…I dug it…it tied it up with Part 4. NOTE: Those two leather jacket dudes that get killed when their car breaks down are freaking hilarious!!!!

GORE:

The killer goes all out here: Death by flare, death by shears, some old fashioned stabbings…the works. Twenty-two people bite it in this flick (highest body count of the series) so we get to see lots of Ketchup. Too bad some the murders were toned down to avoid the dreaded X rating.

T & A:

This buffet has it all! We get big tits from Debbisue Voorhees (Tina), we get medium tits from dumb ass Rebecca Wood Sharkey (Lana) and we get our small tits from Juliette Cummins (Juliette). Dig in boyz!

DIRECTING:

Steinmann gives the flick a very dreadful vibe, especially during the night sequences. That rain machine was sure put to good use. The standard fades are there and the usual suspense too. Generic with a touch of class.

SOUNDTRACK:

I loved that 80’s tune that played while Violet was doing her robot dance. The score is also on the money as always but more KI KI KI would have been appreciated.

DVD FEATURES:

A PARAMOUNT STUDIO RELEASE
Release date: September 25, 2001

MENU: Nothing fancy here, just a nice backdrop with trees and a hockey mask.

IMAGE: The good news is that the film is shown in widescreen anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio. The bad news is that the print they used for this DVD has a lot of grain. Yes, white spots pop out often. Felt like I was watching a used videotape.

SOUND: The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound this DVD puts out is far from impressive. Could've at least offered the film in Stereo...come on!

EXTRAS: What extras? We get the theatrical trailer and that's it. The trailer is "fun times" but like the film, it is also very grainy.

Overall, as a DVD...Paramount continues to diss the Friday The 13th Series. This is a bare bones DVD. I recommend you buy it anyway because I doubt Paramount will ever release a "good" DVD edition of the Friday The 13th series. At least the box cover looks kind of gnarly.

BOTTOM LINE:

If you like the Friday series, mindless slashers, TNA or gruesome violence, I wouldn’t see why you wouldn’t dig this entry. Yeah, I know some elements are big let downs but take it for what it is: A standard offering with lots of flesh and red sauce. Nothing more, nothing less. KI KI KI TNA GORE TNA…

BULL'S EYE:

Scenes that were trimmed down:

When Lana the waitress is murdered with the ax, the shot of her body hitting the ground and quivering was cut to avoid an X rating in the U.S.

In the 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.

The following scenes were cut from the film:

Joey and Robin were in a barn. Robin would put a piece of candy in Joey's mouth. Every time he ate a candy, she would give Joey a kiss. It was cut because of time restrictions.

Robin's machete death was originally shown. The knife went through her chest, causing blood to spray across her upper half.

There was more of a shot of the cleaver in Jake's face. Blood protruded out of the wound and down to his neck. The scene was cut because Paramount was dissatisfied with how it looked.

There was a scene of Junior's head being cut off.

A more graphic scene of Joey's death was filmed. His innards shot out of his back as he was stabbed by Jake.

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.

In the original shooting script, the opening scene was much different. In it, Corey Feldman and Jason were taken to the same hospital after the murders. Tommy goes crazy and kills all of the orderlies and patients while trying to get to Jason. He finally finds him, but Jason rises and attacks Tommy. Then, Tommy wakes up in the back of the mental hospital van.

Before the above scene is a scene of Violet in her room which originally was part of a scene which occurred a few minutes later. When the scene happens a few minutes later, the footage that was previously used is not present.

When Pam fights off Roy with the chainsaw, she hits him twice in shoulder. Only the second hit appears in the original version.

When Roy dies, the camera stays on Pam, Tommy and Reggie instead of showing Roy falling on the spikes.

Eddie's death was cut to avoid an "X" rating; originally blood and his cranial innards spurted out of the straps as Roy twisted them.

The Arrow interviews Dominick Brascia here

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