Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning ultimately falls right in line with its hopelessly inferior (and surprisingly dull) immediate predecessor, with the movie suffering from a repetitive atmosphere that’s compounded by a dearth of interesting characters and compelling kill sequences. The narrative picks up several years after the events of the fourth installment and follows a now-adult Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd) as he arrives at a rural halfway house for mentally disturbed teenagers – with the film naturally detailing the chaos that unfolds as a hockey-mask-wearing maniac begins offing the various residents. There’s virtually nothing within the entirety of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning designed to appeal to even the staunchest of Jason fans, with the film progressing at an aggressively deliberate pace and suffering from a lazy, been-there-done-that vibe that proves disastrous (ie the movie feels as though it’s come from a template for this franchise). Danny Steinmann’s lackluster and unusually styleless visuals certainly aren’t helping matters, nor is the almost total lack of over-the-top instances of gore. (And what’s the point of a slasher flick without ludicrous examples of bloodletting?) It’s ultimately remarkable that the Friday the 13th series has managed to get this far with subpar installments like this under its belt, with the oddball twist that closes the proceedings ensuring that the film ends on as anticlimactic note as one could envision.

*1/2 out of ****