Not being a fan of this film in particular I was curious when I heard about “Version 2” which claimed to have alternate scenes and takes and different music, so, I decided “what the hell” I’m game. As directed by Danny Steinmann FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING was a departure from the previous films in that the killer was not Jason Voorhees but a paramedic who wanted revenge for the death of his son. To many people this film was a lame attempt trying to find a way to revive what should have been a dead franchise, but it did just this (as the subsequent 5 sequels and upcoming remake will attest). Don’t be ashamed, I thought it was a lame movie as well, until now.
Upon viewing the film again (for the first time in many years mind you) I realized that the film had a good template as a starting off point; it was just the “green” cast that made the film seem worse then it was. There are many parallels to the original film mainly in that like the original the killer is never seen but only hinted at whenever s/he kills someone. This was meant to hide the identity of the killer. The first film had the huge reveal of it being Pamela Voorhees who is the killer whereas this film has the killer being the paramedic. Both killers are motivated by the death of their child at the hand s of a caregiver; in the first film the caregiver was the camp councilors whereas in this film is was the so-called half-way house for disturbed teenagers. Both films also feature the death of random teenagers/characters (although in this film the killer seems to mover all over the place to various locations).
Although both films are filled with relatively fresh actors (so that you don’t know who will be killed next), the first film had an excuse as it was done on an extremely low budget whereas this film should have had a higher caliber cast given the much bigger budget. What this film does have is a huge body count even though the deaths are somewhat less imaginative then in some of the previous sequels. Another asset to this film is the continued reliance of the character of Tommy Jarvis (from the previous film) who is still haunted by the image and presence of the Jason Voorhees after having killed him in the previous film.
All in all the film had the marks of being an interesting sequel that would take the franchise in a new direction but producers of the subsequent films had a change of heart and resurrected Jason in the next installment.
Getting back to the “Version 2” aspects of the film, I hate to say this but I saw no significant differences between this version and the original release version. Some takes and scenes may be alternates but they’re so miniscule that you’ll never even notice and even if there were music cues that are different much of the score is similar so there couldn’t have been that much of a change (unlike say the original theatrical version of HALLOWEEN: H20 versions the PRODUCER’S CUT which restores the original music cues of composer John Ottman). Unless you truly are a devout fan of this film the “Version 2” has nothing new to offer even though the film as a whole was an interesting rewatch.
Upon viewing the film again (for the first time in many years mind you) I realized that the film had a good template as a starting off point; it was just the “green” cast that made the film seem worse then it was. There are many parallels to the original film mainly in that like the original the killer is never seen but only hinted at whenever s/he kills someone. This was meant to hide the identity of the killer. The first film had the huge reveal of it being Pamela Voorhees who is the killer whereas this film has the killer being the paramedic. Both killers are motivated by the death of their child at the hand s of a caregiver; in the first film the caregiver was the camp councilors whereas in this film is was the so-called half-way house for disturbed teenagers. Both films also feature the death of random teenagers/characters (although in this film the killer seems to mover all over the place to various locations).
Although both films are filled with relatively fresh actors (so that you don’t know who will be killed next), the first film had an excuse as it was done on an extremely low budget whereas this film should have had a higher caliber cast given the much bigger budget. What this film does have is a huge body count even though the deaths are somewhat less imaginative then in some of the previous sequels. Another asset to this film is the continued reliance of the character of Tommy Jarvis (from the previous film) who is still haunted by the image and presence of the Jason Voorhees after having killed him in the previous film.
All in all the film had the marks of being an interesting sequel that would take the franchise in a new direction but producers of the subsequent films had a change of heart and resurrected Jason in the next installment.
Getting back to the “Version 2” aspects of the film, I hate to say this but I saw no significant differences between this version and the original release version. Some takes and scenes may be alternates but they’re so miniscule that you’ll never even notice and even if there were music cues that are different much of the score is similar so there couldn’t have been that much of a change (unlike say the original theatrical version of HALLOWEEN: H20 versions the PRODUCER’S CUT which restores the original music cues of composer John Ottman). Unless you truly are a devout fan of this film the “Version 2” has nothing new to offer even though the film as a whole was an interesting rewatch.
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1 comment:
why don't they ever cast ugly girls for horror/thriller movies?
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