In the ‘80s at the height of the slasher craze, Jason Voorhees could not be stopped. Beginning with 1980’s all-time horror classic Friday the 13th, Paramount Pictures found itself an annual hit-making machine, one they tried to end in 1984 with the release of Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter. In the realm of franchise filmmaking though, the end is never really the end. Thus, 40 years ago on this day in 1985, this slasher series was given new life with the release of Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning.
Directed by Danny Steinmann, Part V is set years after the events of the so-called Final Chapter and centers on a teenage Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd), who is institutionalized near Crystal Lake due to the nightmares he carries with him of Jason Voorhees, who he killed as a child. Tommy is forced to face these nightmares once more after a new hockey mask-clad murderer kicks off a violent killing spree in the aftermath of an unexpected death of Joey at the institution.
“I'm not displeased with the picture,and I'm my own worst critic,” Steinmann said in FANGORIA #44, which first hit stands in 1985. “I have complained a lot about other people taking over my films, but on this one I was pretty much allowed to make it happen in a way that I thought would get the biggest response from the audience. I've been given a true shot. I can't complain on this.”
The film is notable for several reasons, not the least of which being that Jason Voorhees was not the killer this time around. Spoiler alert, but we come to find that Joey’s father Roy Burns ended up putting on the mask to get revenge for the death of his son. It was a big swing and was intended to help take the franchise in a new direction. For his part, Steinmann was given a lot of creative freedom, as he explained to Fango in ‘85.
“There were some scenes that were inconsistent with the character of Tommy and certain things which I thought would have made the audience lose focus on what this picture was really about. Either I was allowed to throw out scenes or to include scenes which I wrote-of course, with the producers' approval. They were pretty generous as far as giving me free rein to do what I wanted.”
The resulting film is loaded with surprising kills, sex, reckoning with trauma and impressive special effects. To this day, A New Beginning remains one of the biggest swings anyone has taken within this franchise, and one of most divisive entries in the series.
Released on March 22, 1985, it was a success at the box office, taking in just shy of $22 million. However, that was a big step down from The Final Chapter, which made nearly $33 million. Thus, Paramount decided to bring back Jason Voorhees the following year with Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, which remains one of the most beloved entries in the franchise’s history.
Four decades has allowed for a great deal of reappraisal, particularly since we haven’t had a new Friday the 13th movie since 2009. On the one hand, it’s not hard to see why some fans have a tough time accepting such a major departure from what had come before. Not only does it not feature Jason, but tonally, it’s a pretty big journey into new territory.
At the same time, in an era when franchise filmmaking can often be paint-by-numbers, it’s tough not to respect Paramount and Steinmann for doing something so damn bold. Especially since, albeit indirectly, it teed up arguably one of the best slasher sequels ever with Jason Lives. In 2025 and beyond, some more New Beginning energy would be most welcome.
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