Friday The 13th Part 5: A New Beginning
At this point in the famed series, the producers actually started toying around with a daring concept: What if Jason Voorhees was indeed dead, and the mantle of the new villain was passed on to the kid that had killed him, Tommy Jarvis? Here, played by John Shepherd (replacing Corey Feldman, who only appears in a quick cameo at the start), Tommy is obviously completely gone mentally, given the fact that the character only has 24 words of spoken dialogue in the film, but therein lies the problem: So little is done to advance the character arc of Jarvis that the viewer is hard-pressed to care what happens to him. Indeed, that can be said for the entire cast, as director Danny Steinmannās style consists of quickly introducing characters from out of left field only to kill them off five minutes later. Tommy has been sent to a special home for troubled teens, but yet everyone there truly seems like thereās nothing wrong with them (with one memorable exception), and act like your typical Friday teens minus any good writing or development for their roles. The killer in the film (not Jason) actually turns out to be a VERY minor character who nonetheless is clearly telegraphed to be the villain every time that heās onscreen, thus making his motive very shaky. The sheriff is such a laid-back idiot that instead of actually investigating the killings in his town, simply concludes that Jason is behind it all and proceeds to sit back and do nothing. On the other hand, this may be the most overtly SEXUAL film in the series, with ample fornication and nudity (even from the āniceā girls), and Steinmannās sleazy, anything-goes style keeps the viewer hooked in. Melanie Kinnaman (as the female counselor at the home) is a rather bland lead heroine, and Shavar Ross (Dudley from Different Strokes) wears out his welcome fast as the kid hero, especially when he screams like a girl. However, it IS good to see legendary 80s horror star Miguel Nunez show up for a brief but likable appearance, Juliette Cummins and Debisue Voorhees (no relation) are beautiful and certainly well-built as female victims, and the REALLY sexy Tiffany Helm as the gorgeous punk-rock chick Violet steals the movie by doing little more than her legendary robot dance, with the character herself having garnered a minor cult following in her own right. The kills themselves are not too shabby in the gore department, even if most of the makeup FX is of the aftermath variety. In the end though, itās fascinating watching them tinker with the Friday formula, even if they ultimately decided they were better off bringing back Jason officially in the next filmā¦
7/10