FRIDAY THE 13th
PART V:

A NEW BEGINNING

My Books and Movies!

E.C. McMullen Jr.
RUMOR

RUMOR: People are dying to know the truth

PERPETUAL
BULLET

"'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book."
- John Grant, Infinityplus

E.C. McMullen Jr.
WILLOW BLUE

"'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down."
- Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of
FINAL DESTINATION

IN OTHER BOOKS
E.C. McMullen Jr.'s
short story
CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE
in the anthology
FEAR THE REAPER

"This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time."
- Steve Isaak,
Goodreads

HORROR 201:
The Silver Scream

Filmmaker's Guidebook
featuring
RAY BRADBURY,
JOHN CARPENTER,
WES CRAVEN,
TOM HOLLAND,
E.C. McMULLEN Jr.,
GEORGE A. ROMERO,
and many more.

Extensively quoted in

PHANTASM
EXHUMED
The Unauthorized Companion

SATAN'S 3-RING
CIRCUS OF HELL

Forward by
GAHAN WILSON &
FEO AMANTE.
With Comic Art by
ALEX PARDEE,
WILLIAM STOUT,
STEVE BISSETTE,
FRANK DIETZ,
JIM SMITH,
FRANK FORTE,
ERIC PIGORS,
MIKE SOSNOWSKI,
OMAHA PEREZ,
DAVID HARTMAN,
STEVEN MANNION,
JACOB HAIR,
and more!

And In
CINEMA
E.C. McMullen Jr.
Head Production Designer

MINE GAMES
(Starring:
JOSEPH CROSS,
BRIANA EVIGAN,
ALEX MERAZ,
ETHAN PECK)

Dept. head
Special Effects Make-Up
(SFX MUA)

A SIERRA NEVADA
GUNFIGHT
(MICHAEL MADSEN & JOHN SAVAGE).

Production Designer

UNIVERSAL DEAD
(DOUG JONES,
D.B. SWEENEY,
GARY GRAHAM)

Art Director

THE CRUSADER
(COLIN CUNNINGHAM,
GARY GRAHAM)

Review by
Ken King

FRIDAY THE 13th
SEQUELS

FRIDAY THE 13th PART V: A NEW BEGINNING

- 1985
USA Release: March 22, 1985
Terror Inc.,
Sean S. Cunningham Films, Georgetown Productions Inc., Paramount Pictures
Rating: USA: R

"Jason Voorhees? You're outta your fucking mind! You've been out in the sun too long. Jason Voorhees is dead! His body was cremated. He's nothing but a handful of ash."
- Mayor Cobb

This movie was directed by Danny Steinmann (THE UNSEEN) who had four directorial credits to his name, all of them, including FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING, were trashy and contained lots of nudity, especially, his hardcore debut with High Rise (1973). Steinmann wanted to do a remake of another less than savory classic, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972), but when that fell through, he opted to write and direct FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING.

I always rewatch a movie, no matter how many times I have seen it before, or how bad it is so I can give a clear review after having seen it with fresh eyes. I did the same for FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING. One never knows what they will glean from another go around and I have to admit... I liked this one better than FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III which I had originally ranked above this one in my countdown of FRIDAY films. Despite all that, I'm still not a fan.

There's a bunch not to like about FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING, but at least this time around, root canal surgery wasn't a desired alternative when it came to a choice between the movie, or the procedure.

The movie opens with Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman: TIME AFTER TIME, GREMLINS, THE LOST BOYS [all], THE 'BURBS, VOODOO [1995], STORM TROOPER, Tales from the Crypt: BORDELLO OF BLOOD, CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER IV, SEANCE, SERIAL KILLING FOR DUMMIES, NO WITNESS, THE BIRTHDAY, TERROR INSIDE, ZOMBEX, SPLATTER [TV], 6 DEGREES OF HELL, EXPOSURE, THE ZOMBIE KING) 12 years old, in a pissing down thunderstorm, visiting the grave of his nemesis, Jason Voorhees. Something horrific occurs, and...

Tommy wakes up.

Tommy is older now (John Shepherd: THUNDER RUN, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, BLESS THE CHILD) and being transported from a maximum security psych ward, to a more free roaming one, more like a half way house than anything else and out in the country so none of the young charges taking up residence can hurt anyone. Sadly, they live next to a vile old woman named, Ethel (Carol Locatell: THE BAD SEED [1985]) who is so over the top that she has to be seen to be believed, and her cretinous son, Junior aka "Fuckwad" (Ron Sloan: CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES), both of whom, if the truth be known, belong in the looney bin more than anyone else in the film. However, business picks up when shortly after his arrival someone is brutally murdered.

"Oh, Hai!"

No, Tommy isn't responsible. One valuable life lesson: Never pester a psycho who is armed by offering them a candy bar. I'll just leave it at that. Do with that piece of advice what you will. I've done my duty for God and country.
(Feo - But, what if you offer a Klondike bar? People would KILL for a Klondike bar!)

Let me see... there's a lot of nudity in this pic. If I'm not mistaken, this movie has more of it than the other ones.

You really don't get to know many characters throughout because they are seemingly introduced and are just as quickly forgotten…until it "becomes their time." There's one kid named Reggie (Shavar Ross: THE HOUSE OF DIES DREAR) who is pretty cool. I liked him and this one lady who helps run the house, Pam (Melanie Kinnaman: CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES). But if you want to know God's truth, they are about the only ones in the film that I really cared what happened to them.

Reggie the Reckless!

You get a couple of cool cameos from RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD in the form of Miguel A. Nunez Jr. (As "Demon" other creds: SHADOWZONE, CARNOSAUR 2, LEPRECHAUN 4: IN SPACE, SCOOBY-DOO, TRAPPED: HAITIAN NIGHTS, DOLLS OF VOODOO, BLACK DYNAMITE, 2016, RIDE SCARE) and Mark Venturini (As "Victor", other creds include: MIKEY), but if you're looking for any other characters you can relate to in some way, then good luck. I kept my hopes up the entire time since I was liking the movie better only to have them dashed as soon as that foolish notion arose.

There were some inventive killings, I will admit ... in the beginning. The closer to the end the movie crept, the deaths were mostly off camera. If that hadn't been the case, FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING might, MIGHT, mind you, have pulled in another Shriek Girl for a higher rating. But alas.

There's not really much left to say here. FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING was a flick that was just... there. I wasn't wowed the way I should have been.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Interestingly enough, it wasn't the lack of the real Jason Voorhees that threw me off this go around. I knew right out the gate what was to be expected and was determined not to let that be a deciding factor in my review and what I ranked the movie, and it wasn't.

The fact there wasn't a truly likable, relatable character in the whole shebang, except for the kid Reggie and the character of Pam, that was a biggie for me. Something is terribly wrong when your protagonist, i.e. Tommy Jarvis, is supposed to be your sympathetic character and he turns out flat and lifeless and as useless as broken crutch. He lent absolutely nothing to the overall plot. Take him and Jason out of the equation and remove the FRIDAY THE 13TH label from the title and you would have any other run-of-the-mill slasher flick.

I must add here that I dig when Horror flicks are set with thunderstorms pouring ten shades of unholy hell. Rain is so disorienting to characters trying to elude some evil creature wanting to deprive them of their lives and lends ambience to the overall goings on.

Yeah, not a very good movie at all. If you haven't watched this before now, you're not missing a whole helluva lot. Trust me.

Two Shriek Girls