YMMV / Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Roy actually trying to avenge his son? A lot of his victims have nothing to do with Pinehurst. Was he practicing? Is it possible he just decided to start killing and learned he liked it? Or is he actually possessed by Jason Voorhees like the novelization implies? There's evidence in the movie for both.
  • Is Tommy completely insane at the end or possessed himself?
• Best Known for the Fanservice: This movie is increasingly being remembered as "the one where Tina shows off her impressive chest with a sex scene and then lies on the ground naked as the camera gazes at her thighs and ass for one frame". The fact that she's played by Debi Sue Voorhees makes it all the better. The band Wolfe's Just Fine paid tribute to her nude scene with the music video titled A New Beginning itself, which Debi Sue Voorhees herself loved.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The two fight scenes where Tommy beats up Eddie in the first scene and Junior in the second scene. Surprisingly for a person who spent the rest of his childhood in an insane asylum he knows some pretty decent MMA style moves. However there is the odd question: How and when did he learn them? Was there a JKD class in the asylum he was in? Did Dan Inosanto stop by during visiting hours, or is Tommy really that crazy?
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Roy being the killer isn't that much of a twist, since his very first scene shows him looking at the camera angrily after witnessing his son's chopped up body and the other ambulance making a rather tasteless and inappropriate joke in the process. The fact that just about every new potential red herring they introduced gets killed in an instant doesn't help either.
• Contested Sequel: While long regarded as one of the worst entries in the series, it has gotten more polarizing later to the point of arguably becoming this. Supporters tend to cite Critical Backlash as being in effect, pointing out that without the twist the film is perfectly serviceable as a standard Friday the 13th film and appreciate its trashier feel and attempt to return to the mystery killer aspect of the first film. Detractors tend to loathe the film for its subpar makeup effects accompanying the heavily trimmed down violence, Tommy Jarvis being heavily Out of Focus despite being the protagonist, an abundance of bland or unlikable victims and a twist ending that suffers from Captain Obvious Reveal and Fridge Logic.
• Critical Backlash: The film has been receiving a much warmer reception from fans over the years who appreciate the new inventive kills, the overall trashy, much more sleazy feel compared to the first 4 movies, and some even admitting that the plot twist of Jason staying dead and a new character taking his place was a great way to expand on the series. Some viewers, particularly people new to the franchise, tend to be puzzled by the negative reception the film receives, noting that until the twist ending it plays out like a standard Friday the 13th film.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Violet, who many fans wish had survived and is still considered one of the most memorable characters in the franchise for her Riot Grrrl aesthetic, her loveable Jerk with a Heart of Gold personality and of course her dancing abilities.
  • Reggie is also quite well liked, often being seen as an aversion to the typical useless, annoying kid character in horror movies.
  • Reggie's older brother Demon and his girlfriend Anita are also well liked, due to their cute interactions as a couple and their heartwarming bonding scene when Reggie comes to visit them.
  • Roy Burns for those who didn't hate the twist of him being a Jack the Ripoff.
  • Ethel and Junior for their hilarious banter.
• Heartwarming Moments: Seeing how much Demon loves his little brother Reggie. We're never told how he's earned that nickname or why Reggie's grandfather is so reluctant to let Reggie hang out with him, but Demon is so kind and sweet to the boy it's easy to see why Reggie wants to spend time with him.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Shavar Ross, who plays Reggie (who becomes orphaned, you couldn't guess how!), went on to play an orphan called Reggie in the pilot episode of MacGyver (1985).
  • In the film, character Joey ends up being killed by psychotic Vic because he finds Joey annoying. Their actors actually became lifelong friends on the set.
• It Was His Sled: A copycat is doing the killings.
• Moral Event Horizon: Roy crossed it when he started his killing spree by going after people who weren't even involved with the Halfway House. Mrs. Voorhees at least limited her wrath to anybody that set foot on Crystal Lake and Jason followed her example most of the time. Making matters worse is that he never kills Vic, the man responsible for his son's death in the first place.
• Narm Charm: Eddie's death is sorta split, while kinda Narmish for the concept, just seeing the sight of a belt tightly wrapped around a guys eyes so much as it starts to cave in as the guy's screaming, can't help but also be disturbed by how real it looks too.
• Replacement Scrappy: Roy Burns for many fans of the series for being a Jack The Rip Off whose motivation doesn't make sense under scrutiny.
• Sequelitis: Even with the Broken Base formed in recent years, this film is held to be among the worst of the Friday the 13th films for its subpar writing, production values and controversial twist ending. It isn't helped by the fact that it's the first movie in the series to be utterly slaughtered by the MPAA's cuts, while not the first entry in the series to suffer the wrath of the moral guardians, Part 5 began the trend of Friday the 13th films having kills which cut out the second they began, making it feel far less brutal and memorable than it's predecessors in terms of kills, despite having one of the highest body counts.
• So Bad, It's Good: The film doesn't even pretend to have a meaningful narrative, as it kills off characters as fast as it introduces them.
• Sophomore Slump: Widely considered the weakest of the informal Tommy Jarvis trilogy, as it's sandwiched between the more well-liked Part IV and VI.
• Squick:
  • Pete goes to take a crap into the woods, presumably without toilet paper.
  • Demon takes a dump in a public toilet, and also neglects to use toilet paper. In his defense, someone was screwing with the commode who turned out to be his girlfriend and then a serial killer.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Your mileage may vary but: Ethel and Junior seem like one for Jason and Mrs. Voorhees. Roy himself is also a Composite Character of Jason and Mrs. Voorhees.
• Tearjerker: Joey's death is pretty sad when you really think about it. It's clear that he's not "all there" in the head but the fact that he's a completely innocent young man who's murdered just for offering someone a chocolate bar is just plain tragic, and the cast particularly Violet, Robin and Matthew take it understandably badly.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The ending twist opens a possibility of Jason becoming a Legacy Character. This wasn't taken well by fans.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Tommy Jarvis: The Protagonist of all people! This movie's supposed to be about his recovery after the last film, but instead he has few major scenes, has literally only 24 lines, and is Out of Focus for most of the damn film, while we, the audience, are repeatedly introduced to numerous characters who mostly serve as Cannon Fodder for the killer.
  • Along with Tommy, Roy Burns. He's the villain of this film, but he's no Jason. Even though, he isn't the "Man Behind The Mask", he could have been used better than he was in this film.
  • Vic, for his short appearance, is an ACTUAL Ax-Crazy murderer. Why wasn't he in the rest of the movie?
  • Many fans wish the spunky and fun Violet was the final girl instead of the rather generic if well-meaning Pam, or at the very least had far more screentime.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • For those who felt that the copycat killer angle was a great way to continue the series after Jason's death, many felt that there should've been at least one red herring that doesn't get killed right away after being introduced to make it suspenseful.
  • The film's premise of being set in a halfway house for troubled teenagers could also have been better developed, considering that the characters behave as if they're anywhere but a halfway house. There isn't even a therapy scene with the characters trying to deal with their problems.