FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING

Tommy, the boy who faced Jason, now grown up and mentally compromised by the traumatic experience, is taken to a mental health institute. But with Tommy's arrival, a series of brutal murders begins against the young residents of the institute, and the methods of execution seem to be the unmistakable ones of Jason Voorhees. But wasn't Jason killed by Tommy's hand? Arrived at the fifth chapter, the producers attempt to introduce some elements of novelty in the longest-running horror film saga. To justify another movie, after the conclusive "Final Chapter," the distributors add the subtitle "A new beginning" (in Italy translated with an equally prophetic "Il terrore continua"), which sounds more like a threat. The screenwriters (Martin Kitrosser, David Cohen, Danny Stainmann) had the good idea to change the setting from Crystal Lake camp to a mental health hospital, although in the end the change is barely noticeable, since most of the action takes place in the woods surrounding the building, very similar to the scenarios already seen in the previous films. The final twist should also constitute a novelty, but throughout the duration of the film, the difference will not be noticed, leaving only a bitter taste in the mouth of the most die-hard Jason fan. Tommy, here played by John Shepard who replaces Corey Feldman for script necessity, confirms himself as Jason's nemesis and, with his ambiguous and disturbed personality, appears quite credible. However, the supporting characters sometimes seem too grotesque and more often than not end up appearing as ridiculous caricatures completely out of reality. "Friday the 13th Part 5" on paper was supposed to mark an innovation point in Jason's saga, but in fact, it turns out to be just another "Friday the 13th," which somewhat stands as a watershed in the formative genesis of the boogeyman Jason Voorhees: the first four films highlight his semi-human character; from the 6th onward, his superhuman side is explored. Inferior to the previous chapters, but still enjoyable.