Fowler's Frights 2015: Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Starring: Melanie Kinnaman, John Shepherd, Shavar Ross
Directed by: Danny Steinmann


One year. They couldn't even wait ONE YEAR before they rushed out another Friday the 13th film. At least with Freddy Krueger, they kept him dead for at least 3 years. Well, that's not entirely fair to Jason Voorhees. Technically speaking, they kept him dead a little while longer. Unfortunately, THAT'S the big problem with the film. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is the second installment in the Tommy Jarvis trilogy, focusing more on Tommy than Jason. The setup in this film was that Tommy is haunted by Jason Voorhees in his dreams and when a copycat killer is walking around murdering everyone, we're lead to believe that it could be Tommy behind the mask. There's a few more red herrings thrown into the mix, but the underlying thing we're supposed to understand is that Jason is still dead in this film and it's more of a whodunnit slasher film. Does that type of formula work in a Friday the 13th film? Well it did for the first one because it was our introduction to the series. But by the fifth film, we're well aware of how we like these movies to play out. Can the film survive without its iconic figure slaughtering the new crop of teenagers? Let's find out by diving right into Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.

The film follows Tommy Jarvis, now older and played by John Shepherd, as he tries to cope with the traumatic events from when he was 12. Corey Feldman does make a cameo in the beginning, but you really wish he could have played Tommy longer. Had they waited 5 years to make this movie, Feldman would've been one of the biggest stars on the planet and would have added some serious star power to the project. It'd be a lot better than this guy's portrayal. He is given absolutely nothing to do with the role. He barely has any lines, and is mostly kept to just silent staring. What an exciting bit of development for our main hero everyone. Oh, and he hallucinates about Jason from time to time. And that's the only time we'll get to see Jason in this movie, so enjoy it while it lasts. This is Tommy's movie, and I honestly believe that's where a lot of the problems start for this film. Had they given this version of Tommy more to do (or done my idea and wait until Feldman was old enough for the role) the film could've carried a bit more substance to it.

Then again, a lot of viewers come to the film for the body count, and A New Beginning has a lot of that. We get tons of death scenes, but the gore is at a minimum. The camera cuts away before most of the stabbings or slicing can take place, yet we see the after effects on a lot of the characters. What kind of message is that from the MPAA? You can't show someone getting killed, but you can show their bloody corpse? Oh well, if you just like watching the killer going around and killing stupid teens having sex and doing drugs, this film should give you your fix.

But now we get to the biggest problem with the film, the killer. Like I've stated above, it's not Jason Voorhees this time. It's a copycat killer going around with a machete and a hockey mask. We can assume Tommy might be the one behind it because he usually disappears before a death scene takes place, but they don't explore that idea until the final act of the films. By the time we see who did it, we can understand the motivations, but it begs the question of why they would try to blame it on the already dead Jason. This decision really labelled Friday the 13th: A New Beginning dead on arrival. It's Jason's series by this point, so seeing anyone else take up the mantle of the killer is just too foreign of a concept for fans to get behind. Had the killer not worn the hockey mask, it could've possibly been easier to stomach, but all this does is make us wish Jason would be back for the series. Thankfully, the fans' prayers would be answered by the next film.


Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars.

This movie is pure junk, but it's entertaining junk to say the least. Watch Friday the 13th: A New Beginning like it's a dark comedy instead of a slasher film and you should have a very fun time laughing. Even so, major horror fans can go ahead and give this one a skip.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and movie images are copyrighted by Paramount Pictures