Kane Hodder should have been Jason in Freddy VS Jason

[Chainsaw Brutality]

I consider Halloween 3 the same general way you do. Although I personally find it to be good, it's not part of the series to me, because it has nothing to do with any other part.

However, this is not so with Friday the 13th part V. So Jason himself wasn't in it but for flashbacks, but the film still revolves around him, his legacy, one of his notable victims, with a killer going around with the same MO. It's kind of like the Saw series after part III: just because the main killer is dead and the new one has a slightly different way of doing things doesn't mean it doesn't belong in the series. I'd say F13 failed among fans because they tend to hate it for what TV Tropes calls the "just here for Godzilla" factor. But not me, to me, plot counts more than the simple presence or absence of a character. I like horror as long as it works, and lack of a character doesn't typically make something "not work."

Admittedly the lack of a character can sometimes be a huge strike against a movie when a character is needed and replacements have to be written into long-standing plots, but F13 V is not one of those cases in my opinion. Roy was driven to kill; Roy knew about what Jason did and used it to his advantage; Tommy was traumatized by what Jason did and served as a red herring; the plot worked perfectly fine. Would V have been better if they simply came up for some way for Jason to come back to life or survive what he went through, and done the rest exactly how it was done? I myself don't think so.

The thing is, the Friday the 13th franchise has really never been about mystery or mystique. Exceptions being: who the killer was in part 1 & what Jason's face looked like. It is always, however, been about nudity, partying teens, Crystal Lake & Jason terrorizing everyone. The mystery and mystique aspects fit better with Michael Myers & Halloween, imo.

To my point about not having Jason. He's a horror icon, with the likes of: Freddy, Candyman, Leatherface, Tallman, Chucky, Michael, Wolf Man, Dracula & Frankenstein. People go to a Friday 13th film to see Jason go ape-shit on everyone.....not to see him in flashbacks and whatnot.

When a horror icon, such as the ones I listed, are not present in their respective franchise's films, it just won't work. I mean, they're icons for a reason.

As for plots, the successful F13 films have been straight forward and simple. The movies that recieved alot of fan backlash have tried to make the film into something it isn't.

The Saw films are a totally different animal though. Those films can have interchangeable parts because the focus has never been on Jigsaw unless he was on his death bed or enduring brain surgery. That series is about the traps & the "game of death", so to speak.

I completely understand that Roy was a badass, crazed dude. But he's no Jason.

Yes, part V would've been better off continuing with how the film starts (digging up Jason from the grave). Is it REALLY that difficult to continue with that storyline there??

If not that, you could always go with him putting back on the burlap sack after part IV.