FRANK MANCUSO, JR.:
I would probably say A New Beginning is my least favorite of the Fridays that we made. As for the box office, in some ways, I think it didn't perform as well as the previous ones because we promised them The Final Chapter, so they said, "I already went last time and I thought that was the last one. I've already given you my last dollar." Yet, despite that, some of the real dedicated fans still hung on to hope. They just said, "They're doing anything, and anything's better than nothing, so I'll go see it."
TIM SILVER:
I think we all knew the film was not creatively satisfying. On the level of story, the film didn't work. It didn't succeed. That's probably why I've forgotten most of it. It's always more rewarding to work on films that you're glad to see out there and that you're proud of leaving behind. When you work on a film like this, it can be a horrifying experience. I don't know what I got out of it. Friday the 13th is not my cup of tea. For me, it was a job. I got it done and went on to the next one.
It is hard to say what ultimate effect if any A New Beginning had on the series. But in a very simplistic way, even if it's a disappointment on its own terms, it's already made its money before anybody figures that out. It succeeded on a business level, and that's really all that mattered for Paramount. They just wanted to keep the audience alive and keep the franchise alive. I think we pretty much knew it was unlikely that the theaters would be empty opening weekend. And we wouldn't see the long-term damage, because by the time the audience figured it out it's over in three weeks anyway. But if I were in love with the series and I saw Part V, I would have been disappointed. If I have any regret, it is that it could have been a better Friday the 13th movie.
STEPHEN POSEY:
When you work on a movie, and then you finally go to the cast and crew screening and everybody's there, there is always an element of embarrassment anyway. Because you're self-critical. But on this movie it was magnified, because, in all honesty, it was a Friday the 13th. It's stupid, you know? And you know it's stupid while you're making it. But still you think, maybe when it's all put together? Then, there you are at the screening, the lights come up and all you can think is, "Yeah, it's still pretty stupid."
MELANIE KINNAMAN:
I'll never forget the screening. I went in so optimistic and euphoric. I brought my agent and all my friends; our whole row was packed and we were so excited. Then only about a quarter into the film, I said, "This is a nightmare." In the original script, there was so much more involved with my character. More scenes with Richard Young, who played Matt, with the kids, and with John Shepherd that developed our relationship—it was all cut. Then it just became running and screaming and then a kill. At the time I didn't know that—now I know that's what the Friday films are. And the continuity was awful. Just terrible. There are scenes with me running, and the sweater's off and then it's back on. I was mortified, I really was. Now, people find it funny, and they even want me to sign pictures of me with that shirt and sweater on. But at the time, as an actor, it was embarrassing.
Then after the screening Corey Feldman came up to me. He was just a sweet little kid then. He said, "It's so nice to meet you. We didn't work together but you did a great job!" But I didn't want to talk to anybody, I just wanted to get out of the room. So I left with my friends and my agent, and we went out to a bar in Beverly Hills and got drunk.
DICK WIEAND:
It wasn't until I saw Part V that I realized what a piece of trash it was. I mean, I knew the series' reputation, but you're always hoping that yours is going to come out better. I took a very nice girl to a screening on the Paramount lot, and I was really embarrassed for her being with me. And when it was over and we were leaving, there were cast and crew outside the theater and I just wanted to escape. I remember that some of the stuff we shot that I really liked suddenly wasn't there anymore. Then I'm hearing ad-libs looped on the soundtrack that I don't remember hearing on set. These kids couldn't have been very old at the time, and here they were saying stuff like, "Blah, blah, blah…blow job!" It's just a piece of crap.
From left: Domestic one-sheet; Spanish one-sheet; Australian half-sheet.
CAROL LOCATELL:
I remember seeing Bonnie and Clyde when it came out, and I was sick to my stomach—I was actually physically ill. And I was in high school when I saw Psycho, and I wouldn't take a shower for ages. It was a fabulous movie and I just loved it, but I'm from the generation where, when the screen went black, you had to figure out what happened. When I saw Part V at the screening, my jaw hit the floor. This was really very different. It wasn't about not being pleased with it—it's just incredibly gory. It was tough to take, because it's just one killing after another after another, which of course your generation looks at it and it's one laugh after another after another. It's seen from a totally different place. The older I get, the less I can take of violent films. But I know there are a lot of people out there who really like it.
JULIETTE CUMMINS:
To be honest, I didn't know how it was going to turn out even while we were shooting it. And I don't remember my first reaction when I saw it. I probably just loved the fact I was watching myself, that I couldn't believe I was on the screen. I don't know if I ever thought it was scary. I remember watching Psycho III with an audience and thinking it was great. I don't remember watching A New Beginning and feeling that way. You have to have a sense of humor about these movies.
JERRY PAVLON:
You expect the least out of these movies, so to get anything more out of it is a nice surprise. I think there is a blend in the genre for horror and absurd comedy. The sense of that in Part V was led by Danny. I thought he was a very witty man. I thought he knew exactly what genre he was in and exactly what assignment he had to do. That's what I mean about his sense of intelligence in a picture that otherwise could have been very banal. And if nothing else, Part V is anything but banal.
TIFFANY HELM:
My best friend and I thought it would be funny to drop acid and go on opening night. And she couldn't stop giggling through the whole film—that just added to the whole evening. It was a very strange experience when the audience is applauding as Jason rises from the dead, and they whoop and holler when everyone gets killed.
DEBISUE VOORHEES:
When I did Part V, I knew I wasn't doing a serious film—it was just for fun. I saw it at the screening. Was I entertained by it? Yes, because I knew the people and kind of laughed at it. When I saw myself up there on the big screen, I guess it was exciting, and unnerving. It feels a little bit like that is someone else. Personally, I didn't think it was a great film or anything. But it's kind of neat that so many people really enjoy them. And Part V didn't take itself very seriously, which is nice.
JOHN SHEPHERD:
I saw the film at the Fox Theater in Westwood opening weekend. I had no idea what to expect. I had never seen a Friday the 13th movie with an audience. And I had just graduated from UCLA, so my girlfriend still went to school there and my whole fraternity—like 80 guys—came along. Short of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I had never seen anything like it. It was jam-packed, and people were standing on their chairs, screaming, "Kill 'em, Tommy!" I was so pumped that night. And I was very happy with the way they cut me, and the subtlety that Danny got out of my performance. It was a really, really fun night.
From left: Turkish one-sheet; Japanese video poster; Yugoslavian video poster.
SHAVAR ROSS:
I went opening night in Westwood with Corey Feldman, who was my friend at the time—we did our first commercial together—and there were fans lined up around the block. So it was really exciting. Kids in the crowd were standing up, yelling, "Run, Dudley, run!" I couldn't believe it!
The film itself is not something I can be really proud of. There was more nudity than in the other Fridays. I wish it wasn't like that, because I can't show my son the whole film. The proud thing for me is that after the parts I do show my son, he says, "Daddy, you survived!"
> RON SLOAN:
The first time I saw the completed film was on opening night in Westwood. It was a great night! Except I did have a blind date, which ended up our first and last date—I guess she couldn't separate fantasy from reality. But I was amazed at how the film all fit together. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing and screaming with the audience after each kill, and reacting to every death with a positive nod of personal admiration because I know what all the cast went through. Of course, I was impatiently waiting for my own scenes to appear, because seeing yourself bigger than life as a character is crazy and exciting, and it's great to hear laughter and approval from the audience and your peers.
I was only disappointed that very little of my death scene made it into the movie. I had seen Danny's director's cut when I did some of the looping work during post-production, and in one of the takes he even had my head roll slowly to a stop with the eyes looking directly at the camera. Of course, that was deemed too graphic and did not past the censors. But to watch yourself die… that was wild.
MIGUEL A. NUNEZ, JR.:
I'm a big horror movie fan and I'm a big Friday the 13th fan. I came right out to California saying, "The first thing I want to do is a horror movie." I was just so excited to be one of the first black folks in a Friday the 13th. I didn't know how to contain myself. I loved it. I thought it was great.
TOM MORGA:
It was exactly what I thought it would be. But after The Final Chapter, what more could you do?
DANNY STEINMANN:
I hadn't seen the film for many years. I think I might have caught it once a long time ago, though now with all the interest in Friday the 13th, and the DVDs and things, of course I've seen it again recently. There are things I like about it. This is not a bad movie. To be honest I think some of the criticism that I and the picture have received is curious and unwarranted. But the deed was done.
I remember the studio as being thrilled. Frank Mancuso, Jr. called me up ecstatic after the first grosses came in. Part V made almost $22 million. I also remember seeing the movie in the theater when it first came out. The audience reaction was tumultuous. I have complained a lot about other people taking over my films, but on this one I was pretty much given a true shot. I'm not displeased with the picture and, 30 years later, I'm my own worst critic.
6. Resurrection
The first half of the 1980s saw five Friday the 13th films released at the rate of almost one a year, and all had been commercially successful. But following the depressed reception that greeted 1985's A New Beginning, no one involved with the series could deny that a fresh direction was needed. Though the series could never deliver the unexpected gut-punch to the cultural zeitgeist in the way the first film did, executives at Paramount still believed that the further exploits of Jason could remain fresh and vital. Or at least Frank Mancuso, Jr. hoped as much. Having settled, if a bit uncomfortably, into the role of the series' godfather following The Final Chapter, Mancuso had not grown timid, complacent or lazy. He still wanted to take risks with the series, however formulaic its requirements had become. Mancuso believed that, like Jason himself, Friday the 13th was never truly dead—it was only one hit movie away from reestablishing itself as the world's reigning champion of modern horror. And he would proceed just as he had on Part V—by finding a fresh, exuberant young director, one who could stick to the basic rules of the series while still having the freedom to put his own creative stamp on the material. There was just one marching order Mancuso would insist upon: Jason could not stay dead. It was truly time for a resurrection.
FRANK MANCUSO, JR., Executive Producer:
I formed my first production company, Hometown Films, around the end of 1985. I thought it was important to start separating myself from the Friday the 13th movies because it would have been too easy to get boxed in and never do other things. Stylistically, Hometown tried to stay away from similar subject matter. Even when we did April Fool's Day, which was one of our first movies and a parody of slasher movies, my biggest concern was that people were going to compare it to Friday.
What needs to be said is that the Friday the 13th films were about as close to a risk-free transaction as possible, and it was always a Paramount call to do another one. These movies were literally paying for themselves in the first weekend. And it didn't cost a lot of money to go from a Part V to a Part VI. We didn't have continuing characters. We didn't need an increasingly spectacular series of effects. The central conceit of the movie was essentially simple. I remember several times where the movie would open on Friday, and on Monday, and I'd get a call from Paramount saying, "Go make another one." It was simply and purely an exercise in commerce.
TIM SILVER, Producer, Part V:
Beverly Hills Cop was a tremendous success at the time for Paramount, yet the Friday the 13th series had netted more money for the studio. It wasn't as prestigious a project, but people forget that putting the cost of a Friday film, which was usually $2 or $3 million apiece, against its gross, which was somewhere between $20 and $40 million, allowed for a lot of profit.
I remember when we were finishing Part V, we sat around asking, "What are we going to call it?" It was Frank Jr. who came up with A New Beginning. And there was a lot of chuckling, because it's so in-your-face. It's a blatant admission that we're going to do another one. Even though Part V was not the creative success we hoped for, again, Paramount could afford to take a gamble because the risk was so low. And if a Part VI was pretty good then the series could regain its footing quickly.
TOM MCLOUGHLIN, Director & Screenwriter:
I grew up in Culver City, and my dad went to USC film school in the 1940s, so I had the MGM backlots to play in when I was a kid. On weekends, I'd jump over the fence and bring my friends, and we'd make these semi-horror movies or James Bond movies or A Hard Day's Night. Then, when I was 19 years old I moved to Paris, where I studied fencing, acrobatics, modern dance and classical dance. I was literally right across the street from a cinema that would change movies three times a day. So all those years were just the greatest experience, soaking up everything art and film.
I came back to America wanting to make silent, visual movies, like Jacques Tati and the people I'd seen over there. Then I went on tour as a one-man performer—I did pantomimes, like Sid Caeser and Red Skelton used to do, only I tried to make it relevant to my generation so it dealt with drugs and cars and earthquakes. But I began to see that mime was very limited and that there was only so much I could do by myself. So I got a partner and put together the L.A. Mime Company, and eventually Dick Van Dyke came and saw us and asked us to be regulars on Van Dyke & Company, a short-lived series in the 1970s. Then Dick started letting me write and direct for whomever was the guest star, and suddenly I'm directing Lucille Ball, Freddie Prinze, Carol Burnett. And I got an Emmy nomination, so I was in the Writer's Guild of America.
By the early 1980s I started writing comedy scripts. But nobody wanted comedy at that time, they wanted horror, so I shifted gears. But I loved horror. I made a film called One Dark Night, which was released in early 1983. We made it for less than a million, it didn't have a huge marketing campaign and there was little competition. It opened really well, even if, like most genre pictures do by the next week, it fell off like 40 percent, and by the fourth week, it was playing on the triple bill downtown. We also got mixed reviews. But it was still thrilling.
When you direct your first film, it sort of becomes your calling card and has a lot to do with what your next job is going to be. Even though I wanted to do comedy, I was now a low-budget horror movie director. So what came my way were all those sort of things, but I also got the chance to get through a lot of doors. That's ultimately how my meeting with Frank Mancuso, Jr. came about.
"I wanted my Jason to be a monster born out of hatred and electricity," says writer/director Tom McLoughlin of the newly-resurrected Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th Part VI.
FRANK MANCUSO, JR.:
Part V was a coarser movie than
some of the other Fridays we had made, and, in retrospect, Part VI was an answer to that. I knew Tom McLoughlin had a different kind of mentality than Danny Steinmann, and you can't make eight movies and not have issues with people as they try to put their stamp on the films. I was also cognizant of not wanting to be there every day. Not because I thought Friday was a burden, but because I felt like it wasn't fair to the people I had chosen—that I had told that this was "their movie" —to then sit there and hammer them every day because it isn't turning out the way I wanted it to turn out.
What was the most important thing about doing each new Friday was that somebody comes along who has a real passion for it, and who's fresh and hungry. That's why you get a Tom McLoughlin—someone who wants to go out there and give it their best shot. There's a certain energy that someone who's just starting their career has, and a certain naiveté, but if you can harness that, you can't replace it. There will always be something special about somebody who comes along and says, "This is everything I've ever wanted to do."
TOM MCLOUGHLIN:
At that point, I didn't have a lot of control of my career choices, but I did have an agent at William Morris. And I had another deal at Paramount, a suspense thriller of some sort, although I don't know if they ever ended up making it or not. But then Paramount felt that there was still an audience for another Friday. My agent called and said, "They're offering you the next Friday the 13th." I said, "Is there a script?" He said, "No, you'd write and direct it."
I was told only this by Frank: "You have to bring Jason back from the dead—however you want to do it." I really wanted to make a comedy at that time. And Frank was really looking for any twist to keep the series going for another one. Because by the time he got to mine, he wasn't sure how much juice was left. I sensed he was excited by the notion that I was going to do something different with it, even if he was not a hundred percent sure if it was going to work or not.
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (Enhanced Edition) Page 43
