Love it or hate it, A New Beginning certainly has the most bizarre ending of the entire Friday the 13th franchise. After Jason Voorhees was seemingly killed by a young Tommy Jarvis at the end of The Final Chapter, the fifth film sees a man in a hockey mask embarking on another killing spree. In the controversial ending of the film, Jason is defeated once again, only for it to be revealed that — SPOILER ALERT — the real killer was in fact local paramedic Roy Burns, a heartbroken father avenging the murder of his chocolate-loving son.
For whatever reason, Roy and his son Joey were estranged, as the latter even believed that he was an orphan. However, Roy had been keeping an eye on Joey, going so far as to carry around a photo of the boy in his wallet. Clearly, Roy has a lot of love for Joey, but why he couldn’t actually be in his son’s life is never explained. What is clear is that seeing Joey’s mutilated corpse causes him to snap and start killing everyone, sharing a similar motivation to Pamela Voorhees in the original Friday the 13th.
While the killer’s true identity is revealed, A New Beginning still leaves behind some questions in the end. One has to wonder why Roy chose to basically cosplay as Jason Voorhees while going on a massacre. What exactly was going on in Roy’s mind during the events of Part V? After watching the film for a thousand or so times, I can still only speculate, but there are some theories that provide a few possible explanations for why Roy Burns decided to “become” Jason Voorhees.
Theory 1 – Roy Burns is Jason’s real father
I wouldn’t put too much stock into this theory, but I’ve seen it mentioned online enough times that it’s worth addressing. Because Jason’s father was never officially introduced in the Friday the 13th movie series, some may theorize that Roy was also Jason’s father. This seems to be based on his clear fondness for Jason, and maybe Roy was continuing to avenge Jason along with the recent murder of his other son, Joey.
This is certainly a fun theory and it’s amusing to think about, but it’s very unlikely. Roy is a middle-aged man during the events of A New Beginning. This means he’d probably be around Jason’s age, and clearly not old enough to be his real father.
Theory 2 – To get away with the crime scot-free
This is the theory posited by Sheriff Tucker in the film. At the end, the officer finds newspaper clippings about Jason Voorhees in Roy’s wallet. He then theorizes that Roy must have been using the Jason gimmick as a cover, perhaps to pin the crime on a deceased serial killer as a way of fooling the cops. This explanation also seems to be the consensus, and probably what many other fans would suggest.
It could also be pointed out that Tommy Jarvis was very well known locally for making masks and for being the boy who killed Jason Voorhees. If nobody was willing to buy the “Jason has returned” explanation, Roy may have also been setting it up for the police to assume it was Tommy under the mask and hood. He was keeping tabs on his son at Pinehurst, so he could have known that Tommy had just arrived. That could also explain why Roy didn’t specifically target Tommy, only confronting him in the end when Tommy approached him in the barn. Maybe leaving Tommy as the sole survivor in the end was supposed to be his master plan.
Theory 3 – Roy was already deathly obsessed with Jason
You’ve got to ask why Roy stayed just so committed to that Jason costume. Wearing a ski mask would have been much more practical while still keeping his identity a mystery. It’s also very clear that Roy wanted his victims to believe they were actually being killed by Jason Voorhees, as there was no reason to conceal his identity to people who were dying. He was even in the outfit when taking out the victims he had snuck up on from behind.
It seems more like Roy wanted to be Jason rather than just simply pinning the Pinehurst killing spree on him. Isn’t it strange how he carried around newspaper clippings about Jason? You also have to wonder how he was able to put together the outfit so quickly. The bald hood part of the costume appears to be specially made for him as well. Could he have already had the outfit at home? Was he obsessed with Jason and his killings, just waiting for his own “excuse” to be like Jason and go on a killing spree of his own?
We still don’t know why Roy had no relationship with his son. Maybe he had a history of mental illness or violent crimes, and wasn’t permitted to have children. That could also explain why he felt a connection to Jason with a respect for what he and his mother had both done, and dressing up as Jason was a way of paying them tribute. Without knowing what was really going on in Roy’s mind, it’s also possible he had even developed a split personality for “Jason,” not even realizing he was the killer. Who knows?
Theory 4 – Jason is supernaturally controlling Roy
One other possibility at play here is that Jason really is the killer of the movie after all, and not Roy Burns. Bear with me for a minute here. This explanation works if you factor in the events of Jason Goes to Hell along with the declaration of director Adam Marcus that Jason Voorhees is, in fact, a Deadite brought back to life with the Necronomicon — a revelation Marcus exclusively revealed to us in 2017.
In Jason Goes to Hell, Jason is completely blown apart in the opening minutes by a trigger-happy SWAT team. Through paranormal means, he is able to take control of the body of a coroner, later hopping from one person to another as he continues to kill. Is it possible that the spirit of Jason had been literally haunting Tommy Jarvis since killing him at the end of Part IV?
Related: Top 10 Kane Hodder Roles (Besides Jason Voorhees)
Maybe this presence of evil was also able to manifest itself to the people around Tommy, and it may not have been a coincidence that Vic violently murdered Joey immediately after Tommy moves into Pinehurst. Jason’s spirit could have also fed upon Roy’s heartbreak over losing his son, channeling Jason’s own mother at the same time. If Jason somehow took control of Roy’s body, then maybe he had the EMT put together a similar outfit so Jason could feel more like “himself” when committing these new murders.
Unless we find out more about Roy’s backstory in the nonexistent prequel Friday the 13th: Before the New Beginning, we’ll never really know for sure just what Roy Burns was thinking. In any case, at least the result was a very entertaining and incredibly underrated movie.
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