Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (Enhanced Edition)

by Peter M. Bracke

  A New Beginning would be the last Friday the 13th film to shoot on the West Coast, and casting sessions would begin in late August 1984. In order to maintain the secrecy of the film's storyline—and more importantly avoid the ire of the local unions—the film was given a befitting code name: "Repetition."

  A tale of two Tommys: Corey Feldman (left) makes a cameo as Young Tommy; John Shepherd stars as Tommy five years later.

  DANNY STEINMANN:

  When I got the film, they had a storyline with Jason dead. They'd gotten rid of their Darth Vader, which I thought was a big mistake. So I felt that Part V should be Tommy's story. His hallucinations, his ordeals, his trying to fight back the rage to kill. He's still plagued by the memories of Jason. Whether it's the real Jason or not would be the focus. Who is doing the killing? And for what reason? It would be a departure from the other Friday the 13th films. We'd concentrate on one character, Tommy Jarvis, who we are not too sure of—we don't know whether to sympathize with him, or fear him. The character of Tommy changed quite a bit from the original draft. Originally, they had Tommy talking a lot. I didn't want him to talk at all, so I cut back on most of his dialogue. During casting, we were panic stricken. Everything hinged around this kid being sensitive and believable. I went through 50 Tommys before we found John Shepherd.

  JOHN SHEPHERD, "Tommy Jarvis":

  When I was 9 years old, I saw a Disney movie called Toby Tyler, with Kevin Corcocan, about a kid who runs away and joins a circus. I said, "I can do that." A week later, they had tryouts at the Glen Ellen Children's Theatre for a play of Toby Tyler. And I said, "I'm going to get that part." And I did. Then it was like, "I'm going to be an actor. I'm going to be on TV. I'm going to be famous." I truly believed it.

  Around 1984, I had just graduated from UCLA and had worked my way through by acting. I was taking some English classes, studying Shakespeare, meeting actors like Tim Robbins and Lance Guest. I was living down in Venice at the time, and I got this call to go on an audition for a film called "Repetition." My agent said, "It's a lead role, but it doesn't have too many lines." I read the character breakdown and I thought it was so cool. And I had also been studying with Strasberg, and I realized that because the parts I was playing were always "boy next door" and "the good son," I really needed to go against type.

  When I went to the audition, I came in sweats and a heavy coat. And I ran I think 10 flights of stairs. I would run up and down this fire escape until they called my name. Then when I went into the reading, I took off my jacket and just started sweating. I didn't look at them. I didn't talk to them. I was just really intense. I was very method. I could tell I struck something. Danny was really into it.

  DANNY STEINMANN:

  It went right up until the last day before we started filming to find John. Certainly he was unique portraying Tommy. His preparation and delivery always surprised me—he could have had a successful career as an actor, though chose a different course. But if we had gone with the Tommy we were about to settle on, the picture would have been unreleasable.

  JOHN SHEPHERD:

  I remember then finding out it was a Friday the 13th and being really disappointed. I just thought, "Oh, gosh! I always swore I'd never do a horror film. I'm supposed to be the next Johnny Whitaker!" Plus, I was counseling kids at a church up in Los Angeles. I had all these moms who were going to freak out if they saw my picture in the paper with a machete. And that's exactly what happened. There were some spiritual overtones in that movie that disturbed me. Friday the 13th is basically a morality tale. Like in Rocky, where Rocky reaches down deep within himself and finds the strength to overcome. A person of faith learns that if you reach down deep enough, you'll find that you're bankrupt and you have to look outside, and that's where God is. That's the problem I had with the violence. Its worldview conflicted with mine, although I didn't have a big problem with it in concept, because it was a morality tale. Somebody takes their clothes off—you get killed. You smoke dope—you get killed. Tommy was simply a guy caught in the crossfire.

  Then I talked to a good buddy of mine, a seminary student at the time. He said, "You're an actor, and in this role, I don't see that you have to do anything that compromises who you are. Sure, it's a horror film, it's a Friday the 13th, but everybody knows what it is. It's not like you're sneaking some secret worldview in, trying to convert people to some strange thing. It's a rollercoaster ride. And you're the good guy! You kill Jason at the end!" So I think I rationalized it. The reason I found I could do the film was because evil was punished. Mercilessly and graphically. I wouldn't have a problem with that or nudity in a script that ultimately had a redemptive worldview. Part V, it really did speak to me. Tommy really was this isolated guy who is caught in this world with all these kids partying, and this demon is haunting him. For me, I was really doing Boo Radley.

  DANNY STEINMANN:

  Casting Tommy had been a very difficult and time-consuming process. But for the lead role of Pam, the moment Melanie Kinnaman came in to read, I knew she would be perfect. Tough and beautiful. She was extraordinary in her audition. I asked her to react to an imaginary beast about to tear her into pieces. Her horrific screams, tears running down her face, and helpless pleas scared everyone in the room. She immediately got the part. She was my only choice, from day one.

  Melanie Kinnaman stars as Pam Roberts.

  MELANIE KINNAMAN, "Pam":

  I had done a film called Thunder Alley a few months before A New Beginning. That was my first interesting role in a feature film—I played a drugged-out model who was shooting people up. After that I was going out for a few things, and that's when the audition for "Repetition" came up. They told me it was a Friday the 13th right at the second audition. I did initially have reservations. But I talked to my agent about it. It was the lead, there were no nude scenes, and it really was a good role with a lot of dialogue—although most of that eventually got cut anyway. I also knew nothing about the series. I think I saw the first one way back when it came out and didn't think about it again. Never into them. But I had the same agent as Kimberly Beck, so I went and saw The Final Chapter, and that geared me up to do this one.

  In my first audition I did a couple of dialogue scenes. I met Danny Steinmann, and Frank Mancuso, Jr. was there, too. Then they had me come back for a second audition, and the final thing they had me do was improvise being attacked and murdered. So I went outside the room, and Danny and Frank were waiting for me to come back in. Then I kicked the door open—just kicked it wide open—and did the scene. And their eyes bulged out of their heads. Danny just said, "Cut!" It was wild. Then Frank said, "Can you go in the bathroom and wash your face? Because I don't like your makeup, and since you've been crying a lot, you don't look that good." I thought that was unusual, but I was in the throws of the character so I didn't care. I went into the ladies room, took that horrible stuff off of my eyes and went back in there, and Frank just looked at me and said, "OK."

  I didn't know if that "OK" was good or bad, and I've never had any audition where I was asked to wash my face before. But I felt good about what I did. And after I got home, just a couple of hours later they called and said I had it.

  SHAVAR ROSS, "Reggie":

  I was about 14 years old. I was doing Diff'rent Strokes. I worked a lot around that time. And back then, Friday the 13th was hot. I remember auditioning for Danny Steinmann. And going in with Miguel Nunez, who played my brother, and a lot of different actors, to see how we worked together, and then they asked me which one I liked the best.

  The only funny thing was that, while my parents didn't mind me doing it, they would only allow me to sign on as long as they took out all the curse words. That's why, throughout the movie, instead of "Fuckin' A!", I said, "Freakin' A!"

  TIFFANY HELM, "Violet":

  My mom, Brooke Bundy, was an actress. So, while I wanted to have a career with a little more substance, life kind of took me in the direction of acting. Nothing was said about the film being a Friday the 13th—I
thought the reason being that if the potential cast members knew they were going to be involved in such a money making venue, they would ask for a better contract. It was not until we were cast that the real name of the project was even revealed. But I was happy to be working.

  I thought that Violet was pretty bad-assed. I just hoped that I would have some input on her style, as Hollywood had no concept of what the alternative crowd was doing at the time—this was before pink hair and tattoos were in vogue. And I always had a good bond with the wardrobe department when I worked, so we went out and shopped together. A lot of the clothes were already mine, and the hair I had done before I even read for the part. Siouxsie Sioux was my female idol at the time, so I tried to use some of her makeup as suggestions.

  JULIETTE CUMMINS, "Robin":

  I was an Olympic gymnast for 14 years, but then the United States boycotted the games in 1980. It was difficult, because then I had to sit out another four years, and by that time I would have been 16 years old. So I decided to get out, and that's when I began to pursue acting.

  When I got the script, I loved the fact that it was a Jason movie. All I knew about my character was that I had to be "difficult." Which wasn't too hard—I had my own little demons inside. And when you're casting, especially a film like this, it is about the whole group, that everybody fits together. Tiffany and I looked different—maybe that's why they cast us together.

  DOMINICK BRASCIA, "Joey":

  My agent called, I read the script, and I liked it. But I almost didn't get the role initially because when I met with Fern Champion and Pamela Basker, who were casting it, they wanted me to play it one way and I disagreed. Their way was more stereotypical—I wanted Joey to be more real and not such a clichéd "slow" person. But when I met with Danny Steinmann and told him how I thought Joey should be, he agreed. And I got the part.

  DEBISUE VOORHEES, "Tina":

  Voorhees is my real last name. It really is. And one of the casting folks knew that with a name like Voorhees she had to at least see me. But the part of Tina was already cast. It was one of those funny Hollywood stories where the director saw me after the producer had already picked somebody, and then he saw me and decided that he had to jump up and down and say, "I really want you to see this woman." Danny Steinmann said I was the only woman that auditioned who understood that when Tina, in the script, curses at her guy, when she says "fuck you," she's actually flirting with him. She's not mad. All the other actresses who auditioned, they would get angry. But I flirted. And I got the part.

  Meet the inmates of Pinehurst Sanitarium. From left: Juliette Cummins as Robin, Jerry Pavlon as Jake, Richard Young as Dr. Letter, DebiSue Voorhees as Tina, Tiffany Helm as Violet, Shavar Ross as Reggie, and Vernon Washington as Grandpa.

  JERRY PAVLON, "Jake":

  I was afraid of doing it. I scare very easily and I don't like horror pictures. I had never even seen a Friday the 13th film in its entirety. So I didn't know how real it was going to be to me. Being an actor on the set and having to deal with blood and being killed—I felt sensitive to it. And I continue, to this day, to be very sensitive to violence in pictures. The last thing like that I saw was Goodfellas, and I was looking under cars on my way out of the theater and wondering how the hell I'd get home safely. I'm just very affected by stuff like that.

  But the other problematic issue for me, personally, in doing the film was that I have a sister who's a feminist scholar, who brought me up very well in thinking about patriarchy and sexism. So here is this opportunity to do a picture that is viewed rather famously as misogynist, and equating sex with death, and selling itself on bloody breasts and all that stuff. I had a long series of conversations with her, and we both decided that, "Hey, I'm an actor. It's an opportunity. Make the best of it. Bring something to the picture in a positive way." Of course, then I thought, "Yeah, right. I'll be around big bloody breasts, but that's a nice ideal."

  BOB DESIMONE, "Billy":

  My brother, Tom DeSimone, being a director—he made Hell Night and Reform School Girls—he put me in a few of his movies. Small bit parts, nothing much. That's how I met Danny Steinmann. I played the teacher in Savage Streets, and then he grabbed me real quick. Danny told me, "I'd like to have my own group of actors that I can always count on."

  At the time, there was a whole segment of actors and filmmakers who were working in Hollywood but still kind of outside. I can only relate it to the music industry. When you're just starting out, you'll play a wedding or a wake—anything, just to play. It is not that we wanted to be in those B or even C movies. It was just a chance to get a credit. And I think we all knew that, once you're into a part 3, 4 or 5, whether it was a Friday the 13th or anything else, it already has its own niche and that's where it was gonna stay. It is not going to take off and be another Exorcist or whatever. All you hoped for back then was a piece of film that you could put on your reel.

  I think it was the same thing with the directors. I don't think Danny wanted to be a B-movie horror director. I know my brother didn't. But he did what they gave him.

  COREY PARKER, "Pete":

  I was in New York and then I came out to L.A. I didn't have a car—I stayed with a friend and he would drive me to auditions. When I got A New Beginning, I had only done a couple of little things in New York. This was definitely bigger than anything I had done. And I was ecstatic—I was an actor and I had a job! Even if it was just for one night, and all I did was die.

  MIGUEL A. NUNEZ, JR., "Demon":

  Part V was one of my very first jobs. And I was absolutely terrified. I was totally green. I didn't know anything. But Danny was awesome, right from the audition. He let me make up my character's whole look myself. I did it all. I created all my hair, my clothes. I really took Demon seriously—I thought that if his father didn't want to see him, he had to be "out there," in order to make his father not want to hang out with him. Danny loved that.

  DANNY STEINMANN:

  Miguel Nunez came to the audition dressed and coiffed the way you see him in the film. He is a remarkably talented actor, but I think he'd be an even better comedian. He's always "on." You unleash him, and step back. Like Carol Locatell. Carol is just about the most inventive actor I've worked with. She created her character from scratch. In the middle of quite a few takes, I had to yell cut, because the crew, including myself, could not contain our laughter. When Carol was on a roll, you stepped back and let her go. And Ron Sloan, playing her son, was a perfect foil for her. They made a hell of a team.

  CAROL LOCATELL, "Ethel Hubbard":

  I played a flower in a school play when I was 6 years old, and thought it was wonderful. I always wanted to act, though my mother kept telling me that, of course, everybody wants to act and you'll grow out of it. She wanted me to be a pharmacist. But I never grew out of it.

  My agent called and said, "We have an appointment for you for this thing called 'Repetition,' but it's really Friday the 13th." And I went, "Get out of here. Why?" Because it was never my favorite genre. Truthfully, I thought, "Gee, how much social value is there in this?" Then I read the sides, and I thought it was all just kind of hilarious. And I knew I would have such a good time with the character.

  There's an idealism when you start out acting, especially if you start in college and you're doing Ibsen and Shakespeare. And then you're doing Friday the 13th. But I loved that youthful exuberance—that was wonderful. The whole shoot, my character is kind of separate from everything, except for that one scene with all the kids and the sheriff, where I'm on a motorcycle or something. And all the kids, they were just so delighted to be working. Everybody loved everybody. Everybody was having a good time. That's how I remember it.

  Crystal Lake locals: Carol Locatell (left) as Ethel Hubbard; Ron Sloan as Junior Hubbard (with John Shepherd); and Vernon Washington as Grandpa.

  RON SLOAN, "Junior Hubbard":

  I was drawn to acting while working as a "page"—a glorified usher—in Hollywood. I started landing extra work and bit part
s, and starting in 1975, I worked on all the Norman Lear sitcoms, like All in the Family, Diff'rent Strokes, Maude and Facts of Life. By the early '80s I had success in TV commercials, and though most of my experience didn't come from feature films, many TV commercials were directed by top "film" directors. So I was very fortunate to be a "working actor" by the time A New Beginning rolled around.

  Right before Part V, I was performing a five-minute showcase scene twice a week at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood, and Pamela Basker and Fern Champion attended one of them. Afterwards, they asked if I could improvise a "hillybilly, good ol' boy"-type who was a little demented, and that's where "Junior Hubbard" was born. I had so much fun improvising that night. Not long after that I had my first callback with Fern and Pamela, and then another with Danny Steinmann. I had him laughing his ass off in no time—the weirder I was, the harder he laughed. And when the audition was over, Danny shook my hand and said, "You're a really fun man! I'm looking forward to working with you." I left with a smile. I knew the part was mine!

  DANNY STEINMANN:

  I was more than pleased with the entire cast, with few exceptions. Almost everyone brought something extra that helped enhance their characters. I was able to give small suggestions and was rewarded with solid performances. Shavar Ross was the perfect Reggie. Great actor and such a sweet kid. Juliette Cummins, Tiffany Helm and DebiSue Voorhees all nailed their parts and were a joy to be around. I was very pleased with Jerry Pavlon—a fine actor and a sweet guy. Dominick Brascia and Bob DeSimone could not have performed better. And Marco St. John, who played the sheriff, and the head of the halfway house, Richard Young, were pros.