FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING (1985)

I've always thought of this as the rip-off Friday the 13th.  The story is after Tommy kills Jason in Part 4 Tommy's now a teenager in need of mental supervision.  While staying at a secluded home for troubled teens he keeps seeing visions of Jason, but things get even worse when "Jason" shows up and starts killing people.  Of course by now I'm pretty sure everybody in the known universe knows it's not actually Jason, but some puny dude dressed up as a bullshit Jason.  Even the first time watching the movie it's way easy to tell it's not the real Jason.  Mainly because the kills are lame as fuck.  The best kill of the movie isn't even by "Jason" but by the actor who played Suicide in THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD.  And speaking of ROTLD, there's also an appearance from Spider!

Sadly, the ROTLD memories you get from seeing these two guys are the highlight of A NEW BEGINNING.  Well, that and this Friday has the most nudity of them all.  Weak kills, weak-looking "Jason", bad special effects, New Wave chick breakdancing, A PLACE IN THE SUN on TV, Corey Feldman cameo, the shallowest grave since ZOMBIE, attractive waitress, the highest pitched scream by a male in the history of horror movies, disappointing ending...and speaking of disappointing why didn't "Jason" throw Junior's head through the window and into the pot of stew Ethel was making?  That would have been awesome! 

Not a terrible movie (I still watch it once or twice a year) and quote Reggie the Reckless all the time, but it could have been better.

Part 1 - Friday the 13th (1980)
Part 2 - Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Part 3 - Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Part 4 - Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Part 6 - Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Part 7 - Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Part 8 - Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Part 9 - The Final Friday: Jason Goes to Hell (1993)
Part 10 - Jason X (2001)
Freddy vs Jason (2003)
Remake - Friday the 13th (2009)

A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)

SUMMER SCHOOL (1987)

Carefree gym instructor Mark Harmon is ready for some summer vacation!  He's got tickets to Hawaii for him and his hot girlfriend, he's got his Hawaiian shirt, he's got his sunglasses, he's got his leis around his neck and right as the bell rings...he's blackmailed into teaching summer school.  On top of that, his girlfriend dumps him.  Resigned to his fate, he meets his students and they're a bunch of losers, but at least they're entertaining losers.

Maybe it's because I first saw SUMMER SCHOOL when I was still a kid and I actually visualized high school would be like this, but for whatever reason I love this movie.  The school setting (I'm almost positive it's the same high school from THE KARATE KID) is bright and sunny, Shawnee Smith, the beach scenes are pretty, the character development are entertaining, two of the students love THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE series (one even has images and a button from THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 on his bedroom wall, plus a number of other awesome horror posters!), 80's music, a MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL reference, an Iron Maiden "Life After Death" shirt, the rivalry between Harmon and the vice principal isn't overly mean-spirited and seems pretty realistic, they go on field trips, plenty of hot babes.  Even after dozens of viewings this summer school is still fun!  SUMMER SCHOOL is one of those movies that I can just watch over and over and always enjoy it.

If you're a fan of light-hearted 80's comedies then you'll probably enjoy SUMMER SCHOOL.  Only sad note: no nudity.

[Updated 2022: If you love this movie, then check out the audio commentary on the blu-ray. Trust me.]