Friday The 13th - Part 5 - A New Beginning [1985]

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Editorial reviews

Synopsis
Psychopath Jason Voorhees is dead. He was killed by 12 year old Tommy Jarvis in self defence. But if Jason is dead, who is killing the inmates of the Unger Institute of Mental Health...

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Customer reviews

review by: s.vernon date: 2007-06-08 rating:
STILL THE SAME SO WHERE DOES THE NEW COME IN TO IT?
I like to think of myself as a Friday the 13th purist. I love the first four films in the series and really hate the last three. So somewhere in the middle of that scale is part 6 and this one. And while I have to admit that this one goes against everything that is Friday the 13th, it is quite entertaining, funny and so improbable and impossible ( even for a Friday movie ) that I enjoyed this one immensely. Maybe not on the same level as the first four, but quite a bit nonetheless. You just have to get past the premise and the ridiculous idea of the killer in this one and you too may be able to enjoy it.

First of all, it has to be said, Jason is not in this one, and if you pay attention to the tag line ( If Jason still haunts you, you are not alone ) then you'll know that he's not. But some idiot takes up his legacy and decides to kill everyone because he sees his son lying in a body bag. And if you can't figure out who the killer is then you really aren't paying attention to "subtle" shots in the film. When Jason is first introduced, we see a shot of the guys leg and hands and it looks like the guy is standing identically to the way he has in all the other films. Then there is a scene where the sheriff mumbles to himself and the same guy that turns out to be Jason says " You talking to me sheriff? " For no particular reason. So to be fair, on that level, the film is really stupid. Not to mention the fact that the guy that turns out to be Jason is probably about 5'10 and maybe weighs 200 pounds ( he is a little rotund ) where as Jason was probably 6'5 and 240. So the attempted similarity there is incorrect as well. Then there is the fact that this guy can do the things that Jason did. He can shatter doors just by plowing through them, he can take a chainsaw in the arm and still keep fighting like he was impervious to pain. So let's recap Jason here. He is the undead. He is perhaps spawned by Satan himself. He has been killed too many times to be counted and then resurrected and he is the personification of evil. This Jason is an ambulance attendant. Enough said.

But having said all that, I have to admit I had fun watching this film. I was far from scared but I was very entertained. The film is actually quite well done in many aspects. One of them is that it does stay true to the Friday the 13th legacy as there is a high body count and if the sensors hadn't of gotten a hold of it, it would have been much gorier.

As strange as this is to say, one of the strengths of the film, is the characters. Tommy Jarvis is all grown up now and is the quiet and psychologically tormented teen that is at a halfway house for reformed kids. John Shepherd is actually a very good Tommy Jarvis. He did have a career in Hollywood after this film and he shows he can act here. I enjoyed Tommy as a quiet, psychologically tormented teenager. I also liked the complete over the top characters " Ma" the biker chick and her dimwitted redneck son.

I liked how one guy shows up in the middle of the film for no reason, with no name and no purpose in the film except to die a short time later. I thought Pam was sexy, especially when she wore no bra on a stormy night while wearing a white see through blouse. Vic made me laugh because he was just p****d at the world and Joey was funny too. One of my favourite characters is Damon. He meets an untimely death in an outhouse, which is a Friday the 13th staple as well. Many people have died just after doing their business and not properly cleaning themselves afterwards ( remember Harold in the 3rd and also Chuck in the 3rd ).

Friday 5 is not a true Friday the 13th in the sense that it has no Jason, but it is fun and it is worth a laugh and it has atmosphere. It is worth seeing and I think if you can sit back and just think of this as 90 minutes of fluff, then you'll have a good time watching it. It is much better than 7,8,9 but pales in comparison to the first 4. Still there is just something fun about the whole thing. It doesn't have the edge of the third and fourth, but it is done well enough in many areas for many of us Friday the 13th nuts to get some enjoyment out of it.

8/10

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review by: date: 2003-10-27 rating:
Poor, Extremely Poor
Number 1,2,3 and 4 were Great but the Fifth Jason Film was Awful.My reasons for its Awfulness is because it is not set in Camp Crystal Lake or Even any Lake and We can't even be sure that Jason is the Real Killer in the film.The Opening sequence was Great were you see Jason attack the Little Tommy Jarvis Kid from the Fourth Film but when he wakes up from a Nightmare I was Dissapointed.If you are a fan of the Friday the 13th Series than see it but if you are only a fan of Jason Don't see it.

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review by: brian_minty date: 2003-08-15 rating:
ummmmmm
better than the first film. This has the seccond highest body count which don't necesselery make it a good film and in this case it dosn't. basically it is about the kid from the last film tommy which is now 18+ is put into some kind of home. Then after a while killings start happening and the police can't figure out what is going on. but believe me so it ain't jason

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review by: date: 2003-03-28 rating:
Scariest Friday
The grown up kid from the fourth film is haunted by, and eventually possessed by, the spirit of Jason Voorhees (in a similar way that Jason's spirit possesed his mother in the first film). Jason's sudden appearances are actually quite shocking. Meanwhile, a copycat killer in a hockey mask cuts his way through the locals, including kids at Tommy's mental home. Gratuitous violence and nudity round off my favourite of the Friday films. Good, if you like this sort of thing. Many don't.


review by: date: 2001-06-22 rating:
A New Beginning. But without Jason..
This is quite an enjoyable installment in the Friday the 13th series.Its a good horror film, with the usual grizzly and brutal killings as patients at the Unger Institute of Mental Health, fall foul to the maniac Jason Voorhees(supposedly).But sadly its not Jason and instead we are treated to a movie with someone pretending to be Jason, but he does well considering who's shoes he is filling.The story/plot is decent enough and the film has good characters, namely Tommy Jarvis(from Part 4) and little Reckless Reggie, who squeals his way through the film and runs at the first sign of trouble.This is one of my least favourite installments, I prefer Parts 3,6,and 7.But see it for yourself, its worth getting as it is a good horror movie, just not one of the best Friday the 13th's.

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Friday the 13th, Part 7: New Blood [1988] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
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Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter [1984] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Friday the 13th, Part 6: Jason Lives [1986] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Friday The 13th [1980]

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