It was by no means a bad move to make more Friday the 13th's following number 4, "The Final Chapter". This "ressurection" of the esteemed Jason Voorhees fails miserably. Like entry number 9, "Jason Goes to Hell", this installation is too far removed from the others in terms of storyline, taking it away from Camp Crystal Lake and the usual plots. The extremely large cast also take away screen time from each other, meaning 95% of the cast we simply do not care about them, which is very wrong.
Another way this film strays from the normal horror routines is by having a male in the lead (John Shepherd as Tommy), though it's not like he is present very much, and he is so boring that he is painful to watch, a far cry from Corey Feldman and Thom Mathews who play Tommy in parts 4 and 6, respectively. Few horror films have males in the lead, though others include "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2" and "Prom Night 3", some argue that a male lead doesn't work as well as female, I think it depends on the characters.
Another difference between "A New Beginning" and the previous entries is that there are a lot of adult and authority figures present, though the authority only works to a certain degree. Richard Young plays Matt, the head of the home Tommy is put in, and while he does an okay job, his authority is not that present. The supposed-heroine of the film is Pam (Melanie Kinnaman), and once more to be different than the previous films, she is not a teen, but assistant head of the home Tommy and the other teens are in, and once again, this change doesn't work well, not to mention she is almost as bad as Kari Keegan's Jessica, the heroine from part 9.
While the film is littered with a boring and / or useless cast and characters, there are a few highlights. Shavar Ross plays Reggie, another child (like Tommy was in part 4), and I must say, Shavar Ross can scream better than any of the women in this film. Carol Locatell is great as the crazy neighbor Ethel, and the only two teens that one could really care for, Eddie and Tina, played by hottie John Robert Dixon and Debisue Voorhees who had great hair, also get the best deaths. Of the other teens, none are particularly noteworthy, except perhaps Tiffany Helm who plays Violet - but only for her hair.
Now a major reason that the film just doesn't work is because it is not Jason doing the killings (which i might add are in general not very gory), but a paramedic called Roy (played by Dick Wieand) who discovers his son has been killed at the home Tommy and the others stay at, so he uses Jason's old M.O to get revenge. Admirable, but doesn't quite hit the mark. So unless you are a die-hard Jason fan, then I would recommend watching parts 2 or 7, far superior sequels.
Another way this film strays from the normal horror routines is by having a male in the lead (John Shepherd as Tommy), though it's not like he is present very much, and he is so boring that he is painful to watch, a far cry from Corey Feldman and Thom Mathews who play Tommy in parts 4 and 6, respectively. Few horror films have males in the lead, though others include "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2" and "Prom Night 3", some argue that a male lead doesn't work as well as female, I think it depends on the characters.
Another difference between "A New Beginning" and the previous entries is that there are a lot of adult and authority figures present, though the authority only works to a certain degree. Richard Young plays Matt, the head of the home Tommy is put in, and while he does an okay job, his authority is not that present. The supposed-heroine of the film is Pam (Melanie Kinnaman), and once more to be different than the previous films, she is not a teen, but assistant head of the home Tommy and the other teens are in, and once again, this change doesn't work well, not to mention she is almost as bad as Kari Keegan's Jessica, the heroine from part 9.
While the film is littered with a boring and / or useless cast and characters, there are a few highlights. Shavar Ross plays Reggie, another child (like Tommy was in part 4), and I must say, Shavar Ross can scream better than any of the women in this film. Carol Locatell is great as the crazy neighbor Ethel, and the only two teens that one could really care for, Eddie and Tina, played by hottie John Robert Dixon and Debisue Voorhees who had great hair, also get the best deaths. Of the other teens, none are particularly noteworthy, except perhaps Tiffany Helm who plays Violet - but only for her hair.
Now a major reason that the film just doesn't work is because it is not Jason doing the killings (which i might add are in general not very gory), but a paramedic called Roy (played by Dick Wieand) who discovers his son has been killed at the home Tommy and the others stay at, so he uses Jason's old M.O to get revenge. Admirable, but doesn't quite hit the mark. So unless you are a die-hard Jason fan, then I would recommend watching parts 2 or 7, far superior sequels.