Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

Lore & Background

The true antagonist is revealed to be Roy Burns, a paramedic who goes on a killing spree to avenge his son's death. This twist recontextualizes the franchise for one film, suggesting that the fear of Jason can drive others to violence. The ending leaves Tommy having a hallucination of himself with a deformed face, creating an ambiguous legacy where he becomes a vessel for the camp's dark history before later films explicitly resurrect Jason in Part VI: Jason Lives.

In Their Own Story

Rain lashes against the broken windows of the asylum as Tommy stares into the void. Thunder rolls like distant drums, masking the sound of his escape. He runs through the mud toward the woods, the mask in his pocket feeling heavier than lead. Somewhere out there, friends are laughing at a campfire, unaware that the monster they fear is walking among them, wearing a borrowed face.

Reader's Guide

Following the tragic events of Part Three, trauma survivor Tommy Jarvis resides in a secure mental institution. He escapes during a violent storm and returns home, where he learns his friends are reopening Camp Crystal Lake for summer employment. As bodies pile up among the counselors, everyone assumes Jason Voorhees has miraculously returned from death to claim more victims. However, the slasher is actually Paul Holt, a fellow patient seeking revenge for being institutionalized alongside Tommy. The film subverts expectations by revealing the killer wears the hockey mask but lacks the supernatural resilience of the original legend. In the climax, Tommy confronts and kills Paul in the burning cabin structure. The timeline places this fourth chapter between the destruction of the camp and Jason's confirmed return in Part Five. It serves as a psychological bridge, focusing on survivor guilt rather than pure monster horror. Key deaths include counselors and friends who venture into the woods unaware of the danger lurking among them. Ultimately, Tommy puts on the mask himself at the end, suggesting he may have become the new legend or is simply consumed by his trauma. This ambiguous conclusion leaves the door open for future sequels while shifting focus away from the undead killer for one chapter.

Did You Know?

• Tommy Jarvis was introduced in the previous film, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, and returns here as a central character.
• The killer wears Jason's hockey mask, but it is actually Roy Burns impersonating the legend to cover his crimes.
• Kevin Bacon appeared in the first Friday the 13th film and was not considered for the role of Tommy Jarvis.
• It remains one of the few entries where Jason Voorhees does not physically commit murders during the runtime.