Reggie the Reckless: Celebrating the Iconic ‘Friday the 13th’ Hero

Paramount Pictures

There are many memorable heroes and heroines from the Friday the 13th series, from Alice Hardy in the original to Sgt. Brodski in Jason X. Others like Tommy Jarvis and Tina Shepard are also fan favorites, known for defeating Jason Voorhees in their encounters with the masked murderer. Today, we’re going to take a look back at one of the heroes responsible for ending the rampage of Jason copycat Roy Burns — the one and only Reggie the Reckless.

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning is set several years after the events of The Final Chapter, with Tommy Jarvis now much older. Since killing Jason Voorhees years earlier, Tommy has become withdrawn and psychotic, plagued by nightmares and visions of Jason. When he is moved to Pinehurst Youth Development Center, most everyone keeps their distance from the troubled teen. Reggie instead quickly introduces himself to Tommy by scaring him with a rubber spider, and the two bond over Tommy’s custom masks.

Right off the bat, Reggie shows himself to be a likable character, based on his interactions with Tommy and the staff and teens of Pinehurst. His older brother Demon proves to be just as awesome when Reggie and Pam visit him at the trailer park. Demon’s quotable lines and amusing death scene certainly help to make him an amazing character in his own right, and nobody who has seen the film can ever forget either Winter brother. We can only assume Demon would have survived the night as well, if it wasn’t for them damn enchiladas…

Paramount Pictures

Unfortunately, things quickly go south for Reggie after his brother’s murder, as Roy butchers all of the teens and staff at Pinehurst. When Reggie and Pam return to discover their corpses, Roy targets them next, leading to a chase around the facility in the pouring rain. At several points, Reggie reacts to the horror unfolding before him by screaming at the top of his lungs. This has been criticized by some Friday the 13th fans, though I would bet those same people would shriek at an even higher pitch if they were in the exact same situation.

With or without the screams, Reggie shows just how much of a badass he is leading into the climax of the film. When Roy closes in on Pam in the rain to go for the kill, Reggie comes flying out of the barn on a frickin’ tractor in one of the most iconic shots of the franchise. Reggie sends the copycat killer careening to the ground by plowing into him, and to be clear, this is the first time anyone has been able to take down Roy during the course of his murder spree.

Of course, it does take much more than a tractor to stop Roy Burns, so Roy chases Pam and Reggie back into the barn. You’d think it was over for Roy when Jason’s arch-nemesis Tommy Jarvis arrives soon after, but his apparent psychosis makes him nearly worthless in this encounter. When Roy takes down Tommy, he once again goes for Pam on the barn’s second floor. As with the tractor, Reggie could have easily taken this opportunity to run away (like most any other child would), but instead leaps on Roy from above like he’s “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka.

When Reggie nails Roy, it knocks the Jason cosplayer out of the barn window. Roy tries to pull Reggie down with him, which is a risk Reggie knowingly took by refusing to give up in the fight. Fortunately, Tommy comes to delivers the final blow by hacking Roy’s hand with a machete, sending Roy to his death down below and revealing his true identity. It took the actions of all three to finish the job, but to be clear, the final girl Pam and the franchise hero Tommy would both be dead if not for the actions of Reggie the Reckless on that night.

Paramount Pictures

When Tommy Jarvis returned in Jason Lives with a new actor in the role, Reggie was nowhere to be seen. This meant A New Beginning would ultimately wind up featuring the only appearance of the badass character, and while it’s great to know he survived, it would have been awesome to see him next challenge the real Jason Voorhees. However, even with just this one film, Reggie the Reckless remains one of the most memorable heroes in horror movie history.

“They call me Reggie the Reckless… no spider would scare me!”


Related Article: Take the Friday the 13th Part V Trivia Quiz!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.