10 Movies That Subverted Expectations (And Fans Hated It)

5. Friday The 13th: A New Beginning

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning - Roy Burns
Paramount Pictures

Nearly as much as comic book characters, long-standing horror franchises come with a whole bucket-load of expectations. Once a certain franchise realises what works for it, it will hammer home those familiar tropes to the point of oversaturation and burnout.

When looking at the horror genre, one of the most beloved franchises out there is the Jason Voorhees-centred Friday the 13th franchise. Amassing ten movies, a crossover with Freddy Krueger, and a reboot, Friday the 13th is one of those series that seemingly just will not die. Well, bar the ongoing legal battle that’s currently put a halt to any new offerings from the property.

Famously, Friday the 13th all began with Pamela Voorhees avenging her son by butchering a group of teenagers. Switch in Jason for his mom in the second outing, and the franchise was on to a winning formula of this hulking killer offing disposable teens before himself then being killed off in spectacular fashion, only to somehow return for another killing spree a year or two later.

In 1985’s fifth Friday picture – A New Beginning – audiences were left open-mouthed at a major change-up in the established formula. You see, the hockey mask-adorned killer was revealed to not be Jason Voorhees at all; instead, it was a vengeance-seeking Roy Burns.

Fear not, for the negative response to A New Beginning saw Jason once again brought back from the dead in 1986’s aptly-titled Jason Lives.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.