FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 5: A NEW BEGINNING (1985)

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 5: A NEW BEGINNING (1985)

DIR: DANNY STEINMANN

SYNOPSIS:

Still haunted by his past, TOMMY JARVIS wonders if JASON is somehow connected to a series of brutal murders occurring in and around the secluded halfway house where he now lives.

REVIEW:

Remember yesterday? When I said “fuck you” about PART 4? Yeah, well fuck you TWICE! because I love PART 5. Unfairly maligned for being the sad and lonely tale of ROY the paramedic rather than a return of JASON himself, this at least brings something fresh to the table. It helps to think of PART 5 as more of an independent, murder-mystery film than an indispensable entry into FRIDAY canon (it’ll be all but forgotten about by the time we roll around to PART 6), and the choice to focus on a group of emotionally troubled teens who all live in a secluded half-way house (which includes the perpetually disturbed, now-adult TOMMY JARVIS), is a smart move, as it diverts the attention away from simply waiting for the next round of murders.

I may encounter a bit of resistance to this, but the teens in this movie really do seem more multi-dimensional than we’ve seen in previous movies, and, dare I venture an emotion, you actually care about who lives and who dies such is the strength of the performances. Even the teens who have the least to do in the beginning end up with sympathetic story arcs (particularly poor ol’ JAKE, who gets unceremoniously rejected when he confesses his love for fellow patient ROBIN, herself as regretful at how she handled it as JAKE understandably is). I dunno, I like these nuts.

Partially let down by the now par-for-the-course appearance of whacky characters doing whacky things in whacky situations, but inexorably elevated by a short appearance from MIGUEL NÚÑEZ JNR. and his cursed enchilada, PART 5 is the ugly duckling of the franchise that deserves a chance to become a beautiful swan in your mind.

RATING: 🪓🪓🪓🪓