Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

release year: 1985
genre: horror
viewing setting: home Bluray 12/20/22 and several more times from the 1990s and 1980s

synopsis: Despite being killed last time, masked mass murderer Jason is back to haunt a mental health rehab facility for teenagers.

impressions: This one wasn't as bad as many think, but it also wasn't one of the rgeatest. The plot did provide some red herrings, and a surprise at the end (and then another, which may or may not have been a dream.) There was also no major dork role this time (the one guy was killed off pretty early on.) Some other noteworthy elements: Tommy can fight...actor from Return of the Living Dead...Jason smashing through a door again...several offscreen deaths...the kid drives a bulldozer into Jason!...chainsaw vs machete duel.

body count: 17 confirmed (another 2 were from what turned out to be a dream sequence.)

notable kills: flare to the mouth, gardening shears to the eyes/nose

acting: John Shepherd is Tommy Jarvis, who clearly has issues after facing and killing Jason last time around. Melanie Kinnaman is the main girl, who's actually an adult not one of the kids; she's reasonable competent except for the one time when she can't seem to regain her footing and run away. Shavar Ross is a fiesty younger kid who ends up involved in the fight. Debi Sue Voorhees (no relation to Jason) provides the bulk of the obligatory nudity.

final word: Fairly entertaining entry that mostly followed the series formula but added a few twists.

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