POP! Movies: Jason Voorhees – Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning

Friday the 13^th Part V: A New Beginning really splits fans of the franchise. To cut a long story short, the film flashes forward a few years from Part IV, and in spite of his apparent death, “Jason” shows up again. Things unfold as they do in any Friday the 13^th film, but this time the killer isn’t actually Jason – it’s a paramedic named Roy Burns, who’s wearing an elaborate Jason costume and avenging his own son’s death.

Kudos must go to the producers for trying something a bit different, but fans did not react well and to this day it’s one of the least-loved films in the series. Unsurprisingly, the real Jason was back in the forefront for Part VI, and has remained there ever since.

I’ve only seen Part V once myself from memory (probably on VHS back in 2003 or 2004) and I remember being less than impressed. But horror is a genre that favours the unusual, and naturally it’s picked up a cult following in the years since its release.

This figure was part of a range of Hot Topic-exclusive blind boxes, rolled out just in time for Halloween 2016 – and Jason is clearly the one who got the short end of the stick in the tooling budget. Alex was a new sculpt, Pinhead got a new body (not to mention the glowing head) and Beetlejuice got an elaborate paint scheme. Conversely, Jason reuses the original figure’s head and the body from the Michael Myers POP.

In spite of the reuse, this “Jason” is a good exclusive; not essential for more casual fans but worth tracking down if you’re a completist. Paint could be slightly better, but Roy Burns-based Friday the 13^th merchandise isn’t hugely plentiful, so sometimes you just need to take what you can get.I’m no huge fan of the film, but he’s a neat variation.