Director(s): Danny Steinmann

Writer(s): Danny Steinmann, David Cohen

Cast: Anthony Barrile, Suzanne Bateman, Dominick Brascia, Todd Bryant, Curtis Conaway, Juliette Cummins

Synopsis: Even after years of therapy, Tommy Jarvis still can’t get the memory of Jason out of his head.  In order to get back to being able to deal with the community, and himself, he is sent to a correctional house for troubled teens.  There, tragedy happens again, and Tommy must once again battle Jason…or so he thinks.

My Review: This one would be my least favorite within the Friday series.  Not only for the sense of the story and the mean-spiritedness of it, but also in how cheap I feel after watching it.  You sort of get the feeling in this film that Paramount was simply after the money that could be made from the series and not in story integrity.  The production feels rushed, which it was according to reports of some of the actors in the film, and very unprofessional.  The screenplay is uniquely amateurish and shows through the muddy dialog.  Basically the film attempts to lower you down the lower dominator of the public that the film characters portray.  The film is also little mystery as the red herring of the film is simply flashed in front of you, to where there is no shock at the end.  Just the only question of “Why?” 

On the bright side though, the film does provide a somewhat stable bridge between the fourth and sixth installment in the storyline evolving Tommy Jarvis into manhood. 

Alternate versions of the film do extend on the gore factor of the film.  One scene in particular is a machete stabbed into the crotch of a victim rather than in the stomach, which is what the version commercial available shows.  Though I have not seen the cut scenes from this entry, I do feel that maybe they would have upped the violence, but would not have been able to propel the film to any glory. 

Overall: If you are a first time Friday watcher, don’t start with this one.  It is best if you watch the first four in seccession and then skip this one and watch six.  But, the fifth will clear the pallet, though not well.