How can you take a series about a slasher killing teens and refresh it time and again so it can still make money? Well, one solution is to change the killer. Yes, like a switch-hitter in the ball of base, you can take out the star and replace him with someone else! Hey, they tried it with HALLOWEEN III, though that was a horrible horrible mistake, so let's move on. This switch-hitter play was actually done in the second movie where, after having been decapitated at the climax of FRIDAY THE 13TH, Pamela Vorhees stepped off and in came her son Jason. Now, after getting his ass beat in a couple movies of his own (and being "killed" by Corey Feldman in THE FINAL CHAPTER), Jason hits the bench to be replaced by... Jason?! Read on true believers... you too true skeptics.

Our film opens with young Tommy (Corey Feldman returns... in a big yellow poncho!) while he watches from some rain soaked bushes as two goofy rednecks dig up Jason's grave during a thunderstorm. Of course, Jason rises, his slumber disturbed and none too happy, as he kills both goobers and stalks toward Tommy. He probably woulda finished the little yellow nugget off to, were it really not all a dream that grown-up Tommy is having. Yep, Tommy's all growed up now, and crazy as a loon. After the traumatic experience in which he slaughtered a big fat psychopath in a hockey mask (I'm sure we all remember similar experiences), Tommy was put through much ineffective therapy. Seeing it as being to no avail, the state (whichever state that is), decides to send teenage Tommy to Pinehurst. What exactly is Pinehurst you ask? Well, stop asking so many damn questions and I'll tell you. Pinehurst is a quiet, secluded little sanitarium, where troubled teens are sent to live peacefully amongst each other and not be a burden on any "sane" people. As long as they all abide by the rules and don't cause trouble, everything continues to be sunshine and lollipops... fuck that, this is an F13 flick! I wanna see some gore and violence!

And violence there shall be! This violence comes in the form of an axe assault, as Vic, the hormonally overcharged sociopath of the group, gets a little fed up with the fat antics of Joey, a fellow Pinehurst tenant. Poor Joey, whose only crime was trying to give Vic a candy bar, pushes the chocolatey confection just a little far and Vic snaps, going medieval on tubbo and hacking him into many pieces! Uhm, hold on a sec. Though it's cool to see a fat retard get mauled for nothing more than trying to be nice, I have to question the wisdom of the people who run Pinehurst. Not to criticize, but I doubt I'd be putting a state certified lunatic in charge of chopping firewood, especially with a big sharp axe! Sure, if he threw a fit like a 3 year old or something, I'd give him a plastic axe and tell him he could chop all he wanted, but not a real axe with a real blade for fucking Osirus's sake! "Here Hannibal Lecter, you go carve the Thanksgiving turkey with this huge serated knife. Keep in mind Hannibal, that I'm the only thing standing between you and freedom, and I also mock you and take unfair advantage of your usual state of being bound in a straight jacket. But, you're completely free to do as you wish, and I am giving you a big sharp bladed tool. Now, excuse me while I turn my back to you and wash my hands..." That's EXACTLY how ridiculous this scene must've sounded to the producers. Luckily though, they were probably heavily sedated at the Opium Den when the writer asked for approval, and the scene was left in.

Anyway, the fun really begins that following night, when a certain masked serial killer slays two greasers stranded along side the road, slitting one's throat and stuff a road flare down the other's gullet! Now, this raises the question: if Jason's really dead, then who is it behind the mask?! It's not Tommy, that'd be WAY too obvious, even for an F13 flick. If not Jason or Tommy though, then who? Could it be Vic, broken from police custody and on a rampage, all because Joey was just a little too fat and obnoxious? Perhaps the local drifter that looks a little too suspicious? Maybe even Roy, the overweight and glassy-eyed paramedic that the camera likes to focus on for long periods of time? Who ever it is, he's big and wears a hockey mask and he continues his rampage, not limiting himself to a couple of guidos, as he sets out to butcher a few more residents of the nearby sleepy little town! And one of those victims is the afformentioned drifter.... hmmm, guess that eliminates him...literally! Two more of "Jason"s victims are a teen couple who screw out in the woods. They're also the quickest fucks I've ever seen, as both are fully sexually satisfied in 45 seconds! But, their afterglow is short-lived, as "Jason" gouges out the babe's eyes with a pair of hedge-clippers and he crushes the guy's head against a tree, using his belt and a stick like a vise. Neat trick that I like to do myself on occasion. The remaining murders are the basic machete, axe, and clever attacks for the most part, though I was sad to see the demise of that annoying inbred shithead on the motorcycle. :(

Once again I have to play devil's advocate though, as I question the methods of the local police department. Can't they check the bodies or the weapons that killed them for fingerprints? Isn't that what police are supposed to do, or do all small town redneck police have to live by the "we are incompitent and only got our job through family connections" stereotype? What am I saying, I live in a smalltown! OF COURSE THIS SHIT HAS TO HAPPEN! IT'S GOTTA STAY TRUE TO LIFE! Uh, yeah, anyway, Tommy seems to have disappeared (which doesn't matter, cuz he's WAY too small to be "Jason") and left Pam (one of the girls) and the sassy young black kid Reggie alone to face the menace of the masked killer. When they discover the town's only ambulance on the side of the road and the blonde paramedic the only corpse, I have to say that that narrows it down to one and only one possible "Jason": David Lynch! Errr, I mean, fat boy Roy. As the final two survivors make their escape, they reveal to us the fates of the rest of the Pinehurst residents, all dead by "Jason"s meaty hands. Not to be totally defenseless, Reg hits "Jason" with a tractor! Wait, that guy sure can take a hit like Jason... maybe... nah, can't be! On with the review so we can find out who it really is!

Pam pulls the heroine role off pretty well for a while, keeping "Jas" at bay with the classic horror movie tool o' destruction: a chainsaw! But, as with all times one of the good guys gets a hold of a 'saw, it goes sour at the worst possible time, as the damn thing happens to run out of gas. Just as it looks like "Jas" will finally clean his plate for once, in comes Tommy (told ya he wasn't "Jason") to take the man monster down one-on-one in Spaghetti Western fashion. "Jas" gets in a good hit though, slashing Tommy open and seemingly killing him (betcha he's playing dead). "Jason" then goes back to his two previous appointments to finish them off. But, Tommy strikes back, and "Jason" goes sailing out of the second story of the barn, falling to his demise at the steely grip of a very conveniently placed and spikey piece of farming equipment. Removal of the mask reveals that yes, "Jason" was actually Roy. Luckily, the local sheriff provides us with some additional background info, informing us that Joey was Roy's son, and Roy was also an avid fan of Jason Vorhees's policy on dealing with unruly teens. Well, when Joey was slaughtered as a result of his idiocy, this sent Roy over the edge... which became literal!

Tommy winds up at the hospital due to the gash Roy gave him. Here he has a nightmare that he becomes Jason and stabs Pam in the back, from which he wakes in a cold sweat. He then composes himself and walks to his the dresser in his room, opening the top drawer to discover: a hockey mask. Then, we end the movie, as Pam walks into his room and he stands behind her, wearing the mask and brandishing a butcher knife, poised to strike! Hmmmm, interesting. So, despite all Tommy's attempts to restrain his growing psychosis, in the end he snaps and becomes his worst fear. That's not really that confusing, or at least not as confusing as where axactly that butcher knife came from! Continuity is such a bitch... and then you die... because I kill you!

ALl in all I'd have to say that this is one of the more exceptional installments in the later years of the FRIDAY THE 13TH series, as it just goes downhill from here. As usual, I applaud the creators behind the series for the little twists they make to help keep the movies interesting. For instance, PART V's use of a copycat killer to replace Jason, who had been a staple of the last three installments. No wonder it's such a lucrative and beloved horror institution! But, I of course had some problems with the film. Aside from the usual lack of common sense that loomed over the movie (though most horror movies have this problem) , I also had to wonder about the people at Pinehurst. I can see why the guys were there (the fat retard, the borderline psychopath, the traumatized Tommy, etc.), but why were the girls there?! Sure, one of them was a nymphomaniac, but what about the others, who showed no signs of "mental disturbance" what-so-ever! And it's not like they were kept there against their will, as everyone seemed so content with little Pinehurst! Oh, by the way, one last thing that told me Jason wasn't the killer: this movie doesn't take place at or around Crystal Lake. Remember, it was established back in PART 2 that Jason prowls the woods of Crystal Lake, because that's where his mother was killed and buried, so that's where his crusade of revenge takes place, not way out in some throwback like Pinehurst! I didn't reveal this though, because I didn't wanna spoil the surprise! Well, at least not until the end, where I usually spoil it. On a final note, I'd like to point out that Reggie's big brother Demon, who died in the most embarassing of places (in an aluminum outhouse), is played by none other than Miguel Nunez, also know as Spider from RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, as well as Sticks, one of the few survivors of LEPRECHAUN 4: IN SPACE! The first one being a Tomb of Anubis classic and the second being, well, nothing near a classic... unless you consider painful viewings classic, then it fits right in...

Sequels: FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES; FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD; FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTEN; JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY

If You Liked This Flick, Check Out: HALLOWEEN 2 or BLOODY MURDER