If you didn’t realize it, the Final Chapter wasn’t the final chapter after all (so shocked!). The Friday the 13th franchise was reborn in 1985 with A New Beginning.
The details:
Made in 1985
Directed by Danny Steinmann(Danny was set to direct 5 more but this fell through and then he had a horrible bike accident and couldn’t return to directing – this was his last movie)
Who did I recognize in this film? Corey Feldman(little Tommy!)
**SPOILER ALERT**
Let me say this upfront – this was my least favorite film of the five.
Jason was killed by Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) in The Final Chapter. We begin this new beginning with Corey Feldman (his hair has grown back since the last movie) and he finds the grave of Jason out in the woods when two grave robbers show up and dig him up. When Jason is uncovered, he is obviously alive, stabs the two guys then comes after Tommy (who is hiding in the trees). At that moment, Tommy wakes up from this nightmare (10 years later). He’s in the back of a van clearly from a Mental Health facility. Poor Tommy has spent his entire life in an asylum.
Tommy is to be reintegrated into normal life. He’s dropped off at a halfway house for mentally disturbed teens. During his first day, one of the patients pisses another off and it results in one of them killing the other with an axe. Who gives a mentally disturbed kid an axe? So that’s the 3rd kill in this movie but it’s not by Jason and seems oddly out of place.
My problems with this film is that the characters aren’t like-able. The only character I really care anything about is Reggie, a young boy who’s grandfather is the halfway house cook. Reggie reminds us of young Tommy in the last movie. Even old Tommy isn’t like-able because he continuously loses his cool and beats the shit out of people throughout this movie. He’s disturbed and crazy. He doesn’t talk much and he constantly hallucinates that Jason is standing in front of him. I found myself just waiting for him to snap.
Finally the real mass murdering begins. Jason is somehow back, alive now (after 10 years) killing people. He’s is killing everyone in sight: The hicks down the road (who are way obnoxious and over the top). The leather wearing teens who break down in the woods (who are very angry for no good reason).
There is pretty blatant nudity (of course) when two of the patients, Tina and Eddie, sneak off to have sex in the woods. Afterward Tina lays naked on the blanket while Eddie leaves to wash up in the stream. While alone in the woods, Jason kills Tina. When Eddie comes back, he’s killed (by leather strap… hm…). None of the kills really left an impression except for Tina’s. Jason uses gardening shears to gouge out her eyes.
Finally at the end when Reggie and Pam, the lady who runs the halfway house, are in the barn trying to get away from Jason (Pam grabs a chainsaw to fight him off… until it dies). Then Tommy shows up and confronts Jason. He’s paralyzed with fear and Jason cuts him across the chest with the machete. Luckily Tommy has a switchblade which he stabs into Jason’s groin. After a struggle they finally defeat Jason and he falls onto a spiked piece of farm equipment which punctures his body all over. His mask comes off and it’s revealed that it hasn’t been Jason all along. It’s Roy, the paramedic from the beginning who’s been dressing up as Jason and killing people. He did this because his son was the guy killed in the beginning by the other disturbed kid which made him lose his mind (an entire movie of mentally disturbed people and no real Jason – doesn’t seem like a Jason movie to me then).
In the end Tommy is really losing it. He’s in the hospital hallucinating again. He gets up and pulls Jason’s hockey mask from the drawer. He puts it on and is about to stab Pam… but the movie ends. So, Jason doesn’t actually exist in the world of A New Beginning and we’re lead to believe that Tommy will be the new Jason.
I think back to the 80s and early 90s… my sisters and I were big into movies and had a huge collection of tapes (VHS) in drawers. They were mostly recorded movies and shows off of the television. We watched them over and over. I know my parents wouldn’t let us watch scary movies – or at least they would attempt to keep us from watching. ”No way!” to Friday the 13th, Halloween, Chucky, Gremlins, etc. However, movies like Howard the Duck and The Peanut Butter Solution, Dark Crystal, Interview with a Vampire and Labyrinth were okay – though watching them now as an adult I wonder how these movies slipped past my parents. Other films I did see: Poltergeist I, II, and III, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, Pet Sematary, It, Tremors, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Death Becomes Her, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Frankenstein, The Craft, Fear, Scream…. You get the picture.
So what draws me to Love in the Time of Monsters? Well, it’s a great script for one (thanks to long time friend, Michael Skvarla). Second, the leads are women and they rock. Third, the themes of the movie are sacrifice, courage, forgiveness, and Zombie Bigfoots. (Okay Zombie Bigfoots isn’t a theme but it should be!!) Fourth, the amazing people we’re pulling together for this film. It’s guaranteed to be fantastic.
Introducing the director, Matt Jackson, a good friend and dedicated filmmaker – I’m so excited to watch him on this journey! Andy Gunn – Producer and ring-leader – I worked with Andy and Matt on Background(ed) about 4 years ago and after numerous awards and festivals I’m happy to be making another film with them.
Our Cast: So far we’ve got Kane Hodder – the guy who has played Jason in the last four Friday the 13th movies. Kane is also our stunt coordinator and he’s bringing along a bunch of his best stunt guys to play a handful of other key stunt performing roles in the film. We’ve got Doug Jones – the guy who has played a million creatures (okay a million is a slight exaggeration) such as Fauno in Pan’s Labyrinth and Abe Sapien in Hellboy. The rest of our cast is growing – more juicy details to come in the near future.
Then we’ve got behind-the-scenes guys and girls with credits such as Thor, Hatchet, The Avengers, Transformers, Jeepers Creepers, and Dragon Age. Every day we are joined by more and more skilled and gifted people. And the best part – as if that wasn’t enough, they are all damn cool, down to earth people and I’m excited to spend a few weeks up in the redwoods with them all. We may never return.
Yes, you heard right. SOLO The Series is back and more insane than ever! Catch all new episodes of SOLO on YouTube or WatchSolo.com. This week Episode 8 is live – which means you have only one more episode left to the season!
Also, Rocket Munkee Productions and Data Direct Networks are also giving away Apple TVs and an iPad2 for commenting on each episode’s YouTube page – see instructions here!
There’s no excuse not to check it out. For your viewing pleasure, here’s Episode 8 in all its glory – The Discovery The Challenger:
Cost: REGISTER here to get on our guest list: $20 includes open bar!
If you know of an event, are hosting an event or would like to submit information for next week, please email us here. Thank you for contributing to the event list! If there are mistakes above, please contact us here and provide the revised information. Thank you!
Rob Gokee and Allison Vanore have set out to raise money for original series, Replaced, by Heath Vinyard, and for short film, A Boy’s Life, by Eli Benavidez. Why? Well, why not?! Allison is producing both projects and Rob is composing music for Replaced so it seems only fitting that we’d find some way to bring tacos into the mix to raise money for this great cause. Here’s the run-down:
On the day of the TACOathon, we make note of the IndieGoGo Campaign totals for each project. From the time we begin, 12pm Wednesday, January 12, 2011, for every $50 raised for each project (can be multiple donors), the corresponding rep will eat a taco. The max number of tacos for each project will be 20. Yes, 20 TACOS!!
This exciting event will be broadcast live on U-Stream for 8 whole hours! In order to keep things exciting and fun, we’ve invited familiar faces to join us! Throughout the day you will not only hear from Rob and Allison but interviews with the following people:
FEATURED GUEST: Elias Benavidez, writer/director of A Boy’s Life
FEATURED GUEST: Heath Vinyard, writer/director of Replaced Series
and few other guests that may pop in!
Our goal is to raise $1000 for each project. ALSO, the winning team will get $100 from the losing team. Max prize is $1100! Of course, if we get additional donors we welcome that as well! We hope that by next Wednesday we have raised enough on IndieGoGo that our goals will be reached by the time we end our TACOathon!
In order for your donation to count toward the TACOathon, you must donate between 12pm and 8pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2011. Of course, donations are greatly appreciated and encouraged between now and then as well!
This event is brought to you by Allison Vanore, Rob Gokee, and Diane Beck.
An elderly umbrella salesman tries to survive a summer drought in Brooklyn.
Kevin recently wrote and directed short film, The Support Group, which is just now making the festival circuit – soon to be screening at the Big Apple Film Festival! Follow Kevin on Twitter
A U.S. Marshal is brought in on a homicide case & discovers he is the murdered victim.
While we begin pre-production on the new series, Heath is relaunching his amazing action webseries, End Result, in the coming weeks so be sure to check that out! Follow Heath on Twitter
A situation comedy about a family that becomes involved in the culture of medical marijuana.
Steve and I have worked together on a few projects over the past 2 years for other people and now look forward to creating one together! Follow CCS on Twitter
[Untitled] – a short film by Brian Ward
A recreation of a short film shot years ago… more details coming soon. Follow Brian on Twitter
I’ll be updating more about these projects and the current projects (SOLO The Series, Hopelessly in June) as news, fund raising and releases/events come up!
Congratulations to the cast and crew of “Hopelessly in June” for an amazing end of production! We have such a great support system and invaluable resources – couldn’t have done it without you all!
Executive Producers, Jerry Mosley, Vincent Brantley & Jay Vetter with Lead Actress, Carolyn Neff
Our last days of production were our biggest yet! We had such talented actors join the team: Peter Jason, Stuart Pankin, Keith David, Ella Joyce, Ed Asner, Johnny Gill and Tiny Lister. Thank you all for allowing us to take our film to the next level and show people we really know what we’re doing.
For many of us this is the largest project we’ve taken on and completed to date and so it’s a huge achievement all around. We were able to celebrate with a champagne toast at the end of our biggest day surrounded by friends, family and colleagues in a beautiful space in San Pedro, CA.
Our post team is already underway cutting, recording, mixing and scoring. It won’t be long until we can share “Hopelessly In June” with all of you!
What I ask is that you tell your friends and family about this film. “Like” it on Facebook and follow in Twitter. This way you’ll be in the loop when we announce when and where you can see the film!
Thank you again to all who have supported us along the way.
The third episode is up for your viewing pleasure! This episode was directed by show producer, Allison Vanore. With only three episodes shot, this episode marks the end of SOLO The Series while the show raises funds to continue production. Blessed by such amazing and generous donors, SOLO is 20% funded! To donate to SOLO please visit our Indie GoGo page to make your tax deductible contribution and to get some swag!!
Episode 3 has a surprise “guest” star who we flew in from the East Coast just for the filming. Check it out!
Last week over 5K people watched SOLO The Series Episode 1! This week, people are still talking about it. Luckily, we have another episode to share! Join the fan base, watch Episode 2 and then share it with everyone you know!
The SOLO team has also launched SOLO on IndieGoGo.com where people can not only make a tax deductible donation toward the show but they get swag in return! We hope that you love the show as much as we do and will fight with us to keep the show going. We need $13K to finish shooting the season and we appreciate all of our Solonauts who chip in! We’ve already raised 10% of our goal in just 2 days and every little bit helps!!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Allison Vanore
office 323.540.4701
“PURGATORY, INC.” A slice of death office comedy.
Los Angeles, CA: Friday, June 25, 2010 – Award winning writer and director Boris Kievsky, award winning producer Allison Vanore and co-writer/actor, Konstantin Lavysh, bring you short subject film and back-door web pilot, “Purgatory, Inc.” Starring Lavysh as the Clerk and Patrick Cavanaugh (Mad Men) as Christopher McNamee, “Purgatory, Inc.” is a satirical comedy set in the ethereal world of the eternal bureaucracy that is Purgatory, Inc. – the IRS of the afterlife.
More now than ever, the issues set forth in this film, religion and gay marriage, are even more important. These topics were inspired by the discussion surrounding Proposition 8. Although the law passed, “Purgatory, Inc.” will not let the discussion die.
Synopsis: Clerk is your typical office worker stuck in your typical office Hell. Well, almost. Welcome to the eternal bureaucracy that is Purgatory, Inc – the IRS of the afterlife. When Christopher McNamee materializes in Clerk’s cosmic cubicle after dying in a freak accident, it falls to Clerk to sort out his afterlife. Christopher should be an easy candidate for Heaven, except for one slight problem: He’s Catholic…and married…to a man! Suddenly Clerk is forced to reconcile the wishes of his dead client with the policy of Purgatory, Inc: ‘We don’t judge…We process’. It’s just another day of deciding your eternity in this slice of death office comedy.
Kievsky comments: “Purgatory, Inc. uses its unrealistic setting to tackle some of the very real issues facing society today – much like Twilight Zone and Star Trek did their time, only with humor. Aside from corporate bureaucracy gone amok, the pilot has some fun with the hypocrisy of gay marriage rights in religion. I’m not interested in just telling a story, I’m interested in getting people to think, laugh and then think again.”
“Purgatory Inc.” enjoyed its premiere screening as part of Hollywood Shorts in Los Angeles and is available for festival screenings and distribution. Future episodes are written and available for production should the right opportunity arise.
A trailer for “Purgatory, Inc.” is available on the official film website http://www.purgatoryinc.com with team bios and additional information at www.purgatoryinc.com/thefilm. A private screener is available upon request.
I think back to the 80s and early 90s… my sisters and I were big into movies and had a huge collection of tapes (VHS) in drawers. They were mostly recorded movies and shows off of the television. We watched them over and over. I know my parents wouldn’t let us watch scary movies – or at least they would attempt to keep us from watching. ”No way!” to Friday the 13th, Halloween, Chucky, Gremlins, etc. However, movies like Howard the Duck and The Peanut Butter Solution, Dark Crystal, Interview with a Vampire and Labyrinth were okay – though watching them now as an adult I wonder how these movies slipped past my parents. Other films I did see: Poltergeist I, II, and III, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, Pet Sematary, It, Tremors, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Death Becomes Her, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Frankenstein, The Craft, Fear, Scream…. You get the picture.
