Watch Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985) Online

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is a 1985 slasher film. It was released on March 22, 1985. It is the fifth film in the Friday the 13th film series. Despite the previous film claiming to be the "final chapter," this installment set out to live up to its title by being a "new beginning" for the franchise. However, these plans fell through when the film was greeted with backlash from fans who felt deceived and betrayed by the film's twist ending. The film opened in 1,759 theaters taking in $8 million its opening weekend. Domestically, the film has grossed $21.9 million.

The murderous spirit of Jason Vorhees lives on in this horror sequel, although the plot hinges on the mystery of whether the killer's body actually survives. Opening with a nightmare prologue in which Corey Feldman reprises his role as Tommy Jarvis, the boy who killed Jason in the previous installment, the film jumps forward several years to when a teenaged Tommy (John Shepherd), haunted by visions of Jason returning to life, moves into a group home for mentally disturbed kids. Almost as soon as he arrives, Tommy witnesses the death of Joey (Dominick Brascia), an overweight, annoying boy who is hacked to death by psychopathic patient Vic (Mark Venturini). Although Vic ends up safely behind bars, other bodies begin to turn up -- more than 20 by the end of the film. Tommy's own violent streak, displayed when he lashes out at a fellow resident, makes him a suspect; he even doubts his own sanity. But as the bloodshed continues, Tommy finds himself allied with Reggie (Shavar Ross), the grandson of one of the home's employees, in a desperate bid to survive the carnage and find out who the killer behind the hockey mask really is. The producers of the Friday the 13th series actually planned to end it with Friday the 13th -- The Final Chapter, but the box-office success of that film paved the way for the series to continue. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide