Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Director: Danny Steinmann
Cinematographer: Stephen L. Posey
Date released: 1985
What I Knew About This Movie
Previously watched. If I remember correctly, Jason Vorhees is not in this movie but someone else puts on the mask so people think Jason is back out killing people.
Post-Viewing Thoughts
This was not a great experience. While Part III felt pretty slapped together to take advantage of 3D technology and Part IV felt like an entire box of red herrings was dumped into it in order to bring back the whodunit of the first movie, A New Beginning was a real low. Nonsensical, mean, and poorly paced, this movie is the part of the franchise where you actively start rooting against some of the people in it and rooting for Jason (or the Jason replacement).
I don’t want to spend too much time writing about this movie. But it does make me wonder about a few things that I might get clarity on as this project goes along:
Was this the point (1985) where a lot of these movies really found and stuck to a structure?
How much money was there for a crappy horror flick to make in this time?
Favorite Scene
Joey getting attacked by Vic. I don’t like that Joey was killed, but it is the only genuinely surprising moment in the movie. The makeup effects seen on Joey when he was on the ground and had the sheet over him were pretty unsettling (as was the eye appliance used on Tina — big Fulci eye-destroyer vibes).
Favorite Shot
There aren’t any shots that stick out as being great or even that interesting in this movie.
Favorite Piece of Dialogue
“It’s them damn enchiladas!” — Demon.
Cody Fixes This Movie, aka The Humble Corner
I feel like there were opportunities to make this movie at least competent. The alternative treatment center for young people with mental problems is a really promising setting for a horror movie, especially one where Jason can’t possibly be the villain. Instead, we get one violent psychopath (Vic), a kid with PTSD (Tommy), and a stutterer. All of the other young people don’t seem to have real problems (or the explanation for them being there got left on the cutting room floor).
This movie could have worked as a parlor murder mystery. A storm keeps the house mates stuck inside the house and they’re picked off over time. Paranoia grows and they start to turn on one another until the killer is revealed.