10 reasons why Part V is arguably the greatest installment in the series
I've loved Part V from the first viewing and yet I know many who seem to despise it. I never understood this as it has so many essentials that make it a quintessential Friday...
#1 The best sex scene in the series, even though it was largely cut. Thank you Tina! And shame on you MPAA...
#2 The best nude scene as a "prelude to death" scene. Thank you again Tina...
#3 What many view as not "following the set formula" I view as "refreshing without changing the spirit of the formula". In other words, we still get a "Jason". It matters little (to me) that his social security card doesn't actually say Vorhees on it... :)
#4 Part V was actually pivotal as it signaled a shift in the "Friday style", moving from suspenseful camp to more comedic-camp. Many seem to like Part VI or VII (I do as well) yet they seem to forget that V put the first waves in motion in terms of the more absurd deaths and the perverse humor.
#5 Part V is also delightfully "proud" in its sleazy reputation. All Friday films are, but V seems to bask in a envelope-pushing sort of way.
#6 Likewise, director Danny Steinmann's previous work in crafting adult films gives V a somewhat distinct yet very fitting vibe. He seems to have grasped the "exploitive aspect" of the Friday films and uses it to make an especially controversial entry. Balancing it all with dashes of perverse humor.
#7 Tina :)
#8 The violence, while remaining pure camp, is distinctly more emphatic in most cases.
#9 Part V seems to exude a feel and fashion that, perhaps for the first time, is "all-80's". I might concede that Part IV was the first (parts I-III felt predominately like their roots were still in the 70's). Part V feels independent of the 70's, atmospherically, and the sights and scenes all exhibit a decade that was coming into its own in all its excesses.
#10 Tina :)
Guess it's obvious what V's biggest charm is... :)
All in all, V endures for me as a pivotal and highly superb entry in the Friday series. Maybe the best! Critics are free to keep on disagreeing. All I know is that it has all the elements that make Friday The 13th films so campy and yet so ridiculous all at once. About the only negative that can be said of Part V is that we don't have the pleasure of viewing the un-cut film as it was intended! And maybe we never will. Just imagine - more Tina and Eddie mating, more absurd deaths, more everything! Oh well, I can always dream...
I think the critics and MPAA were in on this together. This film seems to have been up against the wall from day one. But I'll leave my conspiracy theories to myself... :)
Have I mentioned I love Tina?