Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

Still haunted by his gruesome past, Tommy Jarvis - the boy who killed Jason Voorhees - wonders if somehow he is connected to brutal slayings occurring in and around the secluded halfway house where he now lives.

Director:

Danny Steinmann

Writers:

Martin Kitrosser (story), David Cohen (story),

Stars:

Melanie Kinnaman, John Shepherd, Shavar Ross

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Melanie Kinnaman	...	Pam Roberts
John Shepherd	...	Tommy Jarvis
Shavar Ross	...	Reggie
Richard Young	...	Matthew Letter
Marco St. John	...	Sheriff Cal Tucker
Juliette Cummins	...	Robin
Carol Locatell	...	Ethel Hubbard
Vernon Washington	...	George
John Robert Dixon	...	Eddie
Jerry Pavlon	...	Jake
Caskey Swaim	...	Duke
Mark Venturini	...	Victor J. Faden
Anthony Barrile	...	Vinnie
Dominick Brascia	...	Joey
Tiffany Helm	...	Violet

Storyline

10 years after killing the goalie hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees, Tommy Jarvis has grown up in various mental hospitals unable to get over the nightmares about Jason's return. When Tommy is sent to a rural halfway house in California for mentally disturbed teenagers, a series of grisly murders begin anew as another hockey-masked killer begins killing off all people at and around the residence. Has Jason returned from the dead to re-start his killing spree? Has Tommy decided to take over the reign of Jason, or has someone else?

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Plot Keywords:

jason voorhees | murder | nightmare | clothes line | small town sheriff | 

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Taglines:

A New Beginning to the first step in terror

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 March 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Friday the 13th Part 5

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$21,300,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Georgetown Productions Inc., Paramount Pictures, Terror Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One month prior to the film's release in the U.S., the Motion Picture Association of America demanded that 16 scenes featuring sex or graphic violence be edited in order to merit an "R" rating instead of an "X" rating. The film ultimately required nine trips to the MPAA before being granted an "R" rating.

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Goofs

Les is called "Brody" in the opening prologue. All of the subs and captions also read "Brody" when he's speaking. So, why is he credited as Les instead of Brody?

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Quotes

Sheriff Cal Tucker: [talking to himself] What the hell's going on here?
Roy: You talking to me, sheriff?
Sheriff Cal Tucker: Huh?
Roy: I thought you were talking to me.

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Connections

Referenced in Summer Rental (1985)

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Soundtracks

"The Drowning - Part I"
Written by Daniele Amfitheatrof

User Reviews

Actually pretty good

This takes place about 10 years after "The Final (right) Chapter" (which places it in the mid 1990s!). Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd) is basically mentally disturbed and is being sent to an institution called Pinehurst. As soon as he arrives there people start getting murdered by Jason--but Jason was cremated after he was killed. Is it Tommy finally being driven crazy or is it somebody else?

This actually differs from the other sequels--it actually has a story! Also it has an astronomical body count--20! Most of them were cut down by the MPAA to get an R rating however. For those curious--14 men are killed and 6 women.

This has all the same problems as earlier movies and then some--there are continuity errors left and right; some truly terrible acting (Melanie Kinnaman as Pam was the worst); bad dialogue; Jason being able to seemingly teleport to magically appear wherever he wants; gratuitous female nudity; two extremely annoying hillbillies and characters so stupid you want them dead! But it has some good points--this is the first Friday the 13th to have black characters; it's never boring; there are very few character scenes (considering how bad they were in the past this is a very good thing) and there is actually some good acting from Shavar Ross, Jerry Pavlon and John Shepherd. The sequence where Shepherd single-handedly knocks the hillbilly cold is a highlight.

A lot of fans hate this--it's dismissed as "the film without Jason" and considered (along with part 3) as the worst of the series. I disagree. It's no masterpiece by any means but I was always entertained. I give it a 7.