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Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985) - Danny Steinmann



In the eighties, just about every year had a Friday the 13th release. What a time to be alive. However, Jason Voorhees was killed off in Part IV. Killed by a young Tommy Jarvis! So that makes this movie the first to not feature Jason behind the hockey mask. Just like Halloween III, they would stray from the main antagonist in the franchise to disastrous results.

Tommy Jarvis hasn't been doing too well since the events of Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter. He is being haunted by visions of Jason Voorhees. It doesn't help that the secluded halfway house that he lives in is insane. People fight all the time and someone is stalking and killing them. It's safe to say that this is not an ideal living environment for Mr. Jarvis.

This is a notoriously bad installment to the franchise. I didn't exactly enjoy it either myself. The entire story was boring. I couldn't find myself caring about any of the characters. A few of them are memorable, but most were just caricatures and exaggerated stereotypes. No one did a very good job of acting either. The casting for Tommy sucked too. It would have been nice if Corey Feldman played his character. But he was too busy filming The Goonies.

I like the idea. I appreciate what Danny Steinmann was going for. But it doesn't make for exciting viewing. Once you realize that Jason isn't in the picture it becomes just another slasher. As a standalone feature this works a lot better. Some of the murder scenes are memorable but the majority of the film is forgettable.

Director: Danny Steinmann
Producer: Timothy Silver
Writer: Martin Kitrosser, David Cohen and Danny Steinmann
Starring: Melanie Kinnaman, John Shepherd, Shavar Ross, Richard Young and Marco St. John
Studio: Georgetown Productions and Terror, Inc.
Release Date: March 22, 1985
Country: United States
Did ya know: One month prior to the film's release in the United States, the MPAA demanded that sixteen scenes featuring sex or graphic violence be edited in order to merit an "R" rating instead of an "X". The film ultimately required nine trips to the MPAA before finally being granted an "R" rating.





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