I honestly wish they would've ended this series after the 4th installment, which was a pretty good note to end on. However, studios are money hungry in Hollywood, and they wanted to continue to cash in on the horror craze that was still in full swing in the 80's. In order to put some life into an aging series they decided to do something different with the 5th installment of this series. For the most part this works and in my opinon it works a hell of a lot better than the zombie jason featured in 6-10.
I honestly don't know why fans hate this entry so much. It's slightly and i do mean slightly more original than most of the sequels in the series and they had to do something fresh to make the series interesting again. This is an interesting shift and i appreciate the attempt to make something different.
In that aspect i appreciate the film and it's probably the last Friday the 13th film i liked for more than its making fun of it value. However, in the end this is more of the same. Bad acting, characters just in it to be killed, and the same stalk/chase scenes to be presented in all films of this sort. The only thing original about the film is the concept, and that's about it.
The only performance worth mentioning is the lead. His acting goes beyond that of a horror film. He should be in better movies, not in something like this. Other than this performance all the rest are just there for the kill and bring nothing interesting to there characters. The setting in the institution is a nice touch but it's handled so unrealisticly that it becomes hilarious to watch. Jason is a bit of a threat in this film only because the new direction the character takes in this film.
I appreciate this film for the new idea alone. I think the filmmakers knew what they had to do to make something after a 4th film called THE FINAL CHAPTER. The same slasher antics are used which prevent the film from becoming a really good horror film but it wasn't a bad way to waste 90 minutes, unlike the next sequels that followed it.
