On the strength of the bonus features alone, most fans of this franchise should be plenty happy.
If the "girl with telekinetic powers" plot sounds familiar, you will be right because it blatantly copies Stephen King´s much scarier "Carrie". Only this time, it is "Carrie Vs. Jason", a match-up without much of a punch.
Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan (Part VIII)
Rennie: There´s a maniac after us!
Waitress: Welcome to New York.
Phew! Here we are, the final movie in the Jason Vorhees saga (for Paramount, anyway). For the series´ last hurrah, director/write Rob Hedden decides to throw in the biggest gimmick of all, have Jason start killing again but this time, not at his favorite haunt, Crystal Lake but in the Big Apple! How´s that for ending with a bang? Sadly, instead of a bang, the franchise bowed out with hardly a whimper. "Jason Takes Manhattan" is perhaps the weakest of the eight, right down there with Part 3 and Part 7. Even though Manhattan is in the title, the city is only featured during the last third of the film. The setup took too long and the scenes on the streets of Manhattan are purely cosmetic. In fact, most of the scenes were shot primarily in Vancouver.
Jason Vorhees (Kane Hodder reprises his role from the previous film) gets to wreak havoc once again, thanks to the healing powers of electricity. Once again, electricity is used to resurrect Jason from his watery grave, this time with the help of an underwater power cable. After his batteries are charged, Jason stows on board a ship headed for New York City. On board are a group of high school seniors celebrating their graduation. The heroine in this film is Rennie (Jensen Daggett), who has a slightly befuddled history (don´t they all?) with the young Jason on Crystal Lake. Ten slashes and twenty stabs later, Jason ends up in New York City and he takes out his wrath on the muggers and other miscreants of the city.
Well, thank God Paramount finally called it quits after this eighth film. I don´t think anyone could have taken much more of Jason Vorhees after this disastrous outing.
Video:
All the eight films are presented in anamorphic video (enhanced for 16x9 television sets) and in their original aspect ratios. Except for Part 3, which measures in at 2.35:1, the rest have an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. From a purely visual standpoint, all of them look almost identical to their single disc predecessors. There may have been slight visual improvements made here and there but none that will make you jump up from your seat. While all the eight films suffer from their primarily dark settings, exhibiting grain and inconsistent blacks, parts 5 and 6 look the best, with clarity that is unmatched by the rest. Of course, specks of dirt still plague the prints on all of the films but not to the point of distracting the audience from the films. To sum it up, all the eight films in this box set look almost identical to their previous DVD releases, which were already quite good to begin with. Subtitle options include English and Spanish.
If many of you are disturbed by the fact that two films are crammed onto one disc in this box set release, don´t be. In the previous single disc release, the films are transferred onto a single layered disc. Now, they are simply put into a single-sided, double-layered disc, which essentially means the same amount of space for both films.
One interesting thing about Part 3, which was shot in 3-D, is that when I used my son´s 3-D glasses to view the obvious 3-D shots, I was quite amazed to see the objects actually pop out at me. However, one should not use the glasses to watch the entire film because you lose the natural colors that are filtered out by the blue and red lenses. It is a fun gimmick to experience but not an absolute must-have.
For all the fans out there waiting for Paramount to release their favorite "Friday the 13th" films in their "unrated" or X-rated glory, unfortunately your prayers have still not been answered. All the eight films featured here are presented in their R-rated theatrical versions. The only unrated versions available on DVD are the first film´s Regions 2 and 4 releases. The only noticeable difference and one that has been discussed among fans recently can be found on the first film. It concerns the death scene of the very first victim, Annie. Paramount´s previous single-disc release was not actually the R-rated theatrical version. In that previous version, Annie´s death was shown uncut. On this new disc, the last few moments of Annie´s death scene faded into white, which is essentially the original theatrical version. It does, however, as a consolation, restore the final death scene of Mrs. Vorhees, which is now uncut, unlike in the previous release.
Audio:
The audio options for the films on this box set here are identical to the previous single disc presentations. Unfortunately, no extra effort has been made to upgrade them. Parts 1 through 5 are presented in Dolby Digital Mono, Parts 6 and 8 get surround capabilities with Dolby Surround 2.0 tracks (described as Dolby Ultra-Surround on the disc cover) and Part 7 features both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround 2.0 tracks. The Mono tracks concentrate the entire sound field at the center channel. At times, it sounds one-dimensional but overall, it does a competent job of conveying a scary atmosphere throughout. One thing that I took notice was the fact that the Mono audio track actually makes the films more convincing, like a Saturday night horror flick at the drive-in, watching classic Universal black and white horror movies.
Parts 6 and 8 expand the sound field further and both films sound much better than the Mono tracks on the first five movies. As for the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track on Part 7, the aural experience is improved but I don´t feel that the film takes full advantage of the technology. The surround channels are used mainly for environmental sounds and the sudden musical cues that accompany some of the scarier scenes. Also available are French Dolby Digital Mono tracks on all the films.
Extras:
The special features included in this box set will make or break the success of this release. Anyone looking to upgrade their single disc bare-bones versions will ultimately base their purchasing decision on whether the bonus features are worth the extra money. As the versions of the movies included here are the exact same ones as before without any noticeable changes to the video and audio quality, the only thing left to consider are the bonus features.
First, there are a total of four audio commentaries, one each for Parts 3, 6, 7 and 8. It is too bad that there is no commentary track on the first film. Part 3´s commentary features Peter Bracke, Dana Kimmel (Chris), Richard Brooker (Jason), Larry Zerner (Shelly) and Paul Kratka (Rick). As some of you may know, Peter Bracke is the editor of the DVDFile.com website. Here, he acts as a kind of moderator or interviewer, posing questions to the four cast members in attendance. Bracke does a very good job at asking the right questions and you can at once sense that he came to the recording session fully prepared. They first talk about how they were cast for the film and also volunteer plenty of interesting information about many behind-the-scenes incidents. I am not a very big fan of audio commentaries but this one turned out to be quite a fun one to listen to.
Part 6 "Jason Lives", happens to be my favorite of the eight films here. The audio commentary track here features a solo session with writer/director Tom McLoughlin and I am glad it is a good one. As you will immediately sense, McLoughlin is a big horror movie fan and he starts off talking about his love for the genre, especially the Hammer films. McLoughlin talks almost non-stop, sprouting nuggets of information about his own motivations for making the film as well as some alternate shots that were changed to get the MPAA´s R-rating.
The next commentary is on Part 7 "The New Blood" which features director John Carl Buechler and the actor who plays Jason, Kane Hodder. From the onset, Buechler unabashedly volunteers his disdain about having many parts of the film cut for the theatrical release. Both men get a long very well and has some pretty interesting banter throughout the entire commentary. One can also obtain some interesting background information about the making of this film from the commentary.
Finally, on the last film, "Jason Takes Manhattan", the audio commentary track features writer/director Rob Hedden. Hedden provides great information about the film, especially the budget constraints that could have made the film better. This is perhaps the weakest commentary track as Hedden has a tendency to "describe" the action on the screen instead of volunteering information about the making of it.
Okay, now that we are done with the four audio commentaries, let´s move on to the bonus features on the separate bonus material disc, also called "Killer Extras".
The most extensive and engrossing feature is titled "The Friday the 13th Chronicles", an 8-part set that devotes one part for each film in chronological order. On the first part, which is also the longest, director Sean Cunningham introduces the audience to the series and proceeds to talk about the production details of the first film and how he had the title in mind before he even had a script. Other interviewees on this segment include Betsy Palmer (Mrs. Vorhees), Adrienne King (Alice), horror make-up artist Tom Savini and Ari Lehman, who played the young Jason rising up from under the lake.
For Part 2, there are interviews with Sean Cunningham, Amy Steel (Ginny), Warrington Gillette (the first Jason) and Adrienne King (who appears briefly in Part 2 reprising her role as Alice). Gillette, who graduated from a prestigious acting studio, talks about how he ended up with the Jason role. In the Part 3 segment, there are two interviews, one with Larry Zerner (Shelly) and cinematographer Gerald Feil. This segment is mainly devoted to the 3-D process as they talk about how they did the effects. Zerner, who played the practical joker, Shelly also mentioned his small contribution to the now infamous hockey mask used by Jason. For Part 4 "The Final Chapter", director Joseph Zito, together with Corey Feldman talked extensively about their experiences making the fourth film. Both men were generous in offering very interesting nuggets of information about some behind-the-scenes stuff, especially the final chase scene. There is also an interesting story about casting Crispin Glover. Tom Savini also appears here to talk about how he was asked to come back to do the make-up for this film.
The segment for Part 5 "A New Beginning" is the shortest one, clocking in at only a little less than six minutes. Although Feldman only appears briefly in this film, he provides interesting information about how this film was initially structured around him but since he was working on "The Goonies" at that time, they had to change the direction of the movie. For Part 6 "Jason Lives", you will see interviews with director/writer Tom McLoughlin and the actor who plays Jason, C.J. Graham. McLoughlin, an avid horror fan opens with his vision for this film. He then goes on to detail some of the aspects about making "Jason Lives". Graham talks about his role as Jason and the various stunt work.
In the Part 7 "The New Blood" segment, you will find interviews with director John Carl Beuchler, Kane Hodder (Jason) and Lar Park Lincoln (Tina). Hodder starts off by talking about the stunts done for the film and then Beuchler talks about his vision for this film. Lincoln, the heroine, admits her surprise that the script that she had signed on to do was actually a "Friday the 13th" movie. For the final segment, "Jason Takes Manhattan", Hodder, who reprises his role as Jason, continues his talk about the stunt work. Director Rob Hedden then chimes in with his original vision for this film, which was to take place entirely in New York City but was scrapped due to budgetary problems. Bottom line is, "Manhattan" could have been a much better film.
Next up is a 3-part half-hour featurette titled "Secrets Galore Behind the Gore". It concentrates on the make-up work done for the first film, "The Final Chapter" and "The New Blood". None other than the venerable Tom Savini comes on to talk about his work on the first and fourth films. For Part 1, Sean Cunningham talks about how almost everything that they were doing on the film was new and they had to come up with innovative ideas on how to get certain make-up effects accomplished. Savini then details how the effects were done. For those who are looking to get into this field of work, this segment will definitely interest you. There is also a section about Savini´s make-up school and interviews with his students. The last part contains interviews with John Carl Beuchler and Kane Hodder as they talk about the various versions of Jason and how the effects were created.
One of the most anticipated bonus features among fans is the deleted scenes section. Titled "Tales From the Cutting Room", it contains deleted, extended and alternate material from Part 1, "The Final Chapter", "Jason Lives" and "The New Blood". Most of the cuts were made in order to pass the MPAA´s rating system. From Part 1, the extended scenes are shown in a split screen with the actual cut that made it to the theaters. There´s a scene with Kevin Bacon where more blood is shown squirting from his throat. For "The Final Chapter" or Part 4, there is less gore but actual deleted scenes. One scene has Tommy playing a practical joke by "cutting off" his fingers with a mini guillotine, another one is a scene between Trish and her mother and finally an extended scene before the guy gets killed in the shower scene. In "Jason Lives", the deleted scenes are again compared to the final cut. The goriest are the paintball scenes where heads literally rolled. Also shown are the extended death scenes of the couple in the VW Beetle. From Part 7 "The New Blood", you can hear a commentary with John Carl Beuchler and Kane Hodder as they provide some information on the cut scenes. Most of the scenes that were cut were really gory and pretty over the top. One can understand why they had to be removed. I would rather not describe them in detail here and I´ll let you fans go experience them yourself. Some of the deleted material you see here are not of the best quality and some are downright grainy and in a terrible condition.
Next is "Crystal Lake Victims Tell All!". As the title suggests, this is a featurette where Jason´s victims come forward to talk about their experiences working on the various films. Many of them talk about the fun they had and also provide some interesting anecdotes. Overall, this is quite a fun feature to sit through.
Finally, we have "Friday Artifacts and Collectibles" where the various directors and some fans show off their collection of "Friday the 13th" memorabilia and theatrical trailers for all eight films (only Part 6 is a Teaser Trailer).
Packaging:
All five discs are house in THINpak cases, the same ones that Paramount is using for their box set releases of classic television series like "Happy Days". The external box that holds the five DVD cases is quite attractive and sturdy, featuring an embossed image of Jason´s infamous hockey mask in the front.
Film Value:
As you can imagine, it took me a while to sit through all eight movies. No mean feat, considering that most of them are--I know some of you are going to hate me for saying this--just not that good. I´m as big a horror movie fan as the next guy but having sat through all eight of these movies one at a time makes me feel kind of like the guy in "Super Size Me"--bloated, nauseous and just plain sick. Come to think of it, I could probably make a "documentary" out of this experience! Just ask my wife. Better yet, don´t remind her!
No matter how well you spin it, the "Friday the 13th" franchise is really made up of movies that are just not very good. All of them would score between 4 and 6 on DVDTown´s "Entertainment Value" scale. However, if you look at them from the standpoint of the cultural impact and their unique contributions to the slasher genre, then all the eight movies here deserve the attention lavished on them by their true fans.
Even though Paramount made a ton of money on all the "Friday the 13th" films throughout the 1980s, when it comes time to release them on DVD, the company did not bestow on them the proper attention necessary for such a beloved franchise. Only released as bare-bones DVDs before, this new box set of the "Friday the 13th" movies carries almost indistinguishable video transfers, the same audio tracks but with a heck of a lot more bonus features. Those fans looking for the extended and unrated versions of their favorite "Friday the 13th" films will definitely be disappointed. On the strength of the bonus features alone, most fans of this franchise should be plenty happy. Whether a casual fan should upgrade is another story. If you don´t already own all of these eight movies, this is your chance to own all of them in a single convenient package, with some nice extras to boot. If you do, then it gets dicey. You have to decide whether the extras are worth a double dip.
Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan (Part VIII)
Rennie: There´s a maniac after us!
Waitress: Welcome to New York.
Phew! Here we are, the final movie in the Jason Vorhees saga (for Paramount, anyway). For the series´ last hurrah, director/write Rob Hedden decides to throw in the biggest gimmick of all, have Jason start killing again but this time, not at his favorite haunt, Crystal Lake but in the Big Apple! How´s that for ending with a bang? Sadly, instead of a bang, the franchise bowed out with hardly a whimper. "Jason Takes Manhattan" is perhaps the weakest of the eight, right down there with Part 3 and Part 7. Even though Manhattan is in the title, the city is only featured during the last third of the film. The setup took too long and the scenes on the streets of Manhattan are purely cosmetic. In fact, most of the scenes were shot primarily in Vancouver.
Jason Vorhees (Kane Hodder reprises his role from the previous film) gets to wreak havoc once again, thanks to the healing powers of electricity. Once again, electricity is used to resurrect Jason from his watery grave, this time with the help of an underwater power cable. After his batteries are charged, Jason stows on board a ship headed for New York City. On board are a group of high school seniors celebrating their graduation. The heroine in this film is Rennie (Jensen Daggett), who has a slightly befuddled history (don´t they all?) with the young Jason on Crystal Lake. Ten slashes and twenty stabs later, Jason ends up in New York City and he takes out his wrath on the muggers and other miscreants of the city.
Well, thank God Paramount finally called it quits after this eighth film. I don´t think anyone could have taken much more of Jason Vorhees after this disastrous outing.
Video:
All the eight films are presented in anamorphic video (enhanced for 16x9 television sets) and in their original aspect ratios. Except for Part 3, which measures in at 2.35:1, the rest have an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. From a purely visual standpoint, all of them look almost identical to their single disc predecessors. There may have been slight visual improvements made here and there but none that will make you jump up from your seat. While all the eight films suffer from their primarily dark settings, exhibiting grain and inconsistent blacks, parts 5 and 6 look the best, with clarity that is unmatched by the rest. Of course, specks of dirt still plague the prints on all of the films but not to the point of distracting the audience from the films. To sum it up, all the eight films in this box set look almost identical to their previous DVD releases, which were already quite good to begin with. Subtitle options include English and Spanish.
If many of you are disturbed by the fact that two films are crammed onto one disc in this box set release, don´t be. In the previous single disc release, the films are transferred onto a single layered disc. Now, they are simply put into a single-sided, double-layered disc, which essentially means the same amount of space for both films.
One interesting thing about Part 3, which was shot in 3-D, is that when I used my son´s 3-D glasses to view the obvious 3-D shots, I was quite amazed to see the objects actually pop out at me. However, one should not use the glasses to watch the entire film because you lose the natural colors that are filtered out by the blue and red lenses. It is a fun gimmick to experience but not an absolute must-have.
For all the fans out there waiting for Paramount to release their favorite "Friday the 13th" films in their "unrated" or X-rated glory, unfortunately your prayers have still not been answered. All the eight films featured here are presented in their R-rated theatrical versions. The only unrated versions available on DVD are the first film´s Regions 2 and 4 releases. The only noticeable difference and one that has been discussed among fans recently can be found on the first film. It concerns the death scene of the very first victim, Annie. Paramount´s previous single-disc release was not actually the R-rated theatrical version. In that previous version, Annie´s death was shown uncut. On this new disc, the last few moments of Annie´s death scene faded into white, which is essentially the original theatrical version. It does, however, as a consolation, restore the final death scene of Mrs. Vorhees, which is now uncut, unlike in the previous release.
Audio:
The audio options for the films on this box set here are identical to the previous single disc presentations. Unfortunately, no extra effort has been made to upgrade them. Parts 1 through 5 are presented in Dolby Digital Mono, Parts 6 and 8 get surround capabilities with Dolby Surround 2.0 tracks (described as Dolby Ultra-Surround on the disc cover) and Part 7 features both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround 2.0 tracks. The Mono tracks concentrate the entire sound field at the center channel. At times, it sounds one-dimensional but overall, it does a competent job of conveying a scary atmosphere throughout. One thing that I took notice was the fact that the Mono audio track actually makes the films more convincing, like a Saturday night horror flick at the drive-in, watching classic Universal black and white horror movies.
Parts 6 and 8 expand the sound field further and both films sound much better than the Mono tracks on the first five movies. As for the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track on Part 7, the aural experience is improved but I don´t feel that the film takes full advantage of the technology. The surround channels are used mainly for environmental sounds and the sudden musical cues that accompany some of the scarier scenes. Also available are French Dolby Digital Mono tracks on all the films.
Extras:
The special features included in this box set will make or break the success of this release. Anyone looking to upgrade their single disc bare-bones versions will ultimately base their purchasing decision on whether the bonus features are worth the extra money. As the versions of the movies included here are the exact same ones as before without any noticeable changes to the video and audio quality, the only thing left to consider are the bonus features.
First, there are a total of four audio commentaries, one each for Parts 3, 6, 7 and 8. It is too bad that there is no commentary track on the first film. Part 3´s commentary features Peter Bracke, Dana Kimmel (Chris), Richard Brooker (Jason), Larry Zerner (Shelly) and Paul Kratka (Rick). As some of you may know, Peter Bracke is the editor of the DVDFile.com website. Here, he acts as a kind of moderator or interviewer, posing questions to the four cast members in attendance. Bracke does a very good job at asking the right questions and you can at once sense that he came to the recording session fully prepared. They first talk about how they were cast for the film and also volunteer plenty of interesting information about many behind-the-scenes incidents. I am not a very big fan of audio commentaries but this one turned out to be quite a fun one to listen to.
Part 6 "Jason Lives", happens to be my favorite of the eight films here. The audio commentary track here features a solo session with writer/director Tom McLoughlin and I am glad it is a good one. As you will immediately sense, McLoughlin is a big horror movie fan and he starts off talking about his love for the genre, especially the Hammer films. McLoughlin talks almost non-stop, sprouting nuggets of information about his own motivations for making the film as well as some alternate shots that were changed to get the MPAA´s R-rating.
The next commentary is on Part 7 "The New Blood" which features director John Carl Buechler and the actor who plays Jason, Kane Hodder. From the onset, Buechler unabashedly volunteers his disdain about having many parts of the film cut for the theatrical release. Both men get a long very well and has some pretty interesting banter throughout the entire commentary. One can also obtain some interesting background information about the making of this film from the commentary.
Finally, on the last film, "Jason Takes Manhattan", the audio commentary track features writer/director Rob Hedden. Hedden provides great information about the film, especially the budget constraints that could have made the film better. This is perhaps the weakest commentary track as Hedden has a tendency to "describe" the action on the screen instead of volunteering information about the making of it.
Okay, now that we are done with the four audio commentaries, let´s move on to the bonus features on the separate bonus material disc, also called "Killer Extras".
The most extensive and engrossing feature is titled "The Friday the 13th Chronicles", an 8-part set that devotes one part for each film in chronological order. On the first part, which is also the longest, director Sean Cunningham introduces the audience to the series and proceeds to talk about the production details of the first film and how he had the title in mind before he even had a script. Other interviewees on this segment include Betsy Palmer (Mrs. Vorhees), Adrienne King (Alice), horror make-up artist Tom Savini and Ari Lehman, who played the young Jason rising up from under the lake.
For Part 2, there are interviews with Sean Cunningham, Amy Steel (Ginny), Warrington Gillette (the first Jason) and Adrienne King (who appears briefly in Part 2 reprising her role as Alice). Gillette, who graduated from a prestigious acting studio, talks about how he ended up with the Jason role. In the Part 3 segment, there are two interviews, one with Larry Zerner (Shelly) and cinematographer Gerald Feil. This segment is mainly devoted to the 3-D process as they talk about how they did the effects. Zerner, who played the practical joker, Shelly also mentioned his small contribution to the now infamous hockey mask used by Jason. For Part 4 "The Final Chapter", director Joseph Zito, together with Corey Feldman talked extensively about their experiences making the fourth film. Both men were generous in offering very interesting nuggets of information about some behind-the-scenes stuff, especially the final chase scene. There is also an interesting story about casting Crispin Glover. Tom Savini also appears here to talk about how he was asked to come back to do the make-up for this film.
The segment for Part 5 "A New Beginning" is the shortest one, clocking in at only a little less than six minutes. Although Feldman only appears briefly in this film, he provides interesting information about how this film was initially structured around him but since he was working on "The Goonies" at that time, they had to change the direction of the movie. For Part 6 "Jason Lives", you will see interviews with director/writer Tom McLoughlin and the actor who plays Jason, C.J. Graham. McLoughlin, an avid horror fan opens with his vision for this film. He then goes on to detail some of the aspects about making "Jason Lives". Graham talks about his role as Jason and the various stunt work.
In the Part 7 "The New Blood" segment, you will find interviews with director John Carl Beuchler, Kane Hodder (Jason) and Lar Park Lincoln (Tina). Hodder starts off by talking about the stunts done for the film and then Beuchler talks about his vision for this film. Lincoln, the heroine, admits her surprise that the script that she had signed on to do was actually a "Friday the 13th" movie. For the final segment, "Jason Takes Manhattan", Hodder, who reprises his role as Jason, continues his talk about the stunt work. Director Rob Hedden then chimes in with his original vision for this film, which was to take place entirely in New York City but was scrapped due to budgetary problems. Bottom line is, "Manhattan" could have been a much better film.
Next up is a 3-part half-hour featurette titled "Secrets Galore Behind the Gore". It concentrates on the make-up work done for the first film, "The Final Chapter" and "The New Blood". None other than the venerable Tom Savini comes on to talk about his work on the first and fourth films. For Part 1, Sean Cunningham talks about how almost everything that they were doing on the film was new and they had to come up with innovative ideas on how to get certain make-up effects accomplished. Savini then details how the effects were done. For those who are looking to get into this field of work, this segment will definitely interest you. There is also a section about Savini´s make-up school and interviews with his students. The last part contains interviews with John Carl Beuchler and Kane Hodder as they talk about the various versions of Jason and how the effects were created.
One of the most anticipated bonus features among fans is the deleted scenes section. Titled "Tales From the Cutting Room", it contains deleted, extended and alternate material from Part 1, "The Final Chapter", "Jason Lives" and "The New Blood". Most of the cuts were made in order to pass the MPAA´s rating system. From Part 1, the extended scenes are shown in a split screen with the actual cut that made it to the theaters. There´s a scene with Kevin Bacon where more blood is shown squirting from his throat. For "The Final Chapter" or Part 4, there is less gore but actual deleted scenes. One scene has Tommy playing a practical joke by "cutting off" his fingers with a mini guillotine, another one is a scene between Trish and her mother and finally an extended scene before the guy gets killed in the shower scene. In "Jason Lives", the deleted scenes are again compared to the final cut. The goriest are the paintball scenes where heads literally rolled. Also shown are the extended death scenes of the couple in the VW Beetle. From Part 7 "The New Blood", you can hear a commentary with John Carl Beuchler and Kane Hodder as they provide some information on the cut scenes. Most of the scenes that were cut were really gory and pretty over the top. One can understand why they had to be removed. I would rather not describe them in detail here and I´ll let you fans go experience them yourself. Some of the deleted material you see here are not of the best quality and some are downright grainy and in a terrible condition.
Next is "Crystal Lake Victims Tell All!". As the title suggests, this is a featurette where Jason´s victims come forward to talk about their experiences working on the various films. Many of them talk about the fun they had and also provide some interesting anecdotes. Overall, this is quite a fun feature to sit through.
Finally, we have "Friday Artifacts and Collectibles" where the various directors and some fans show off their collection of "Friday the 13th" memorabilia and theatrical trailers for all eight films (only Part 6 is a Teaser Trailer).
Packaging:
All five discs are house in THINpak cases, the same ones that Paramount is using for their box set releases of classic television series like "Happy Days". The external box that holds the five DVD cases is quite attractive and sturdy, featuring an embossed image of Jason´s infamous hockey mask in the front.
Film Value:
As you can imagine, it took me a while to sit through all eight movies. No mean feat, considering that most of them are--I know some of you are going to hate me for saying this--just not that good. I´m as big a horror movie fan as the next guy but having sat through all eight of these movies one at a time makes me feel kind of like the guy in "Super Size Me"--bloated, nauseous and just plain sick. Come to think of it, I could probably make a "documentary" out of this experience! Just ask my wife. Better yet, don´t remind her!
No matter how well you spin it, the "Friday the 13th" franchise is really made up of movies that are just not very good. All of them would score between 4 and 6 on DVDTown´s "Entertainment Value" scale. However, if you look at them from the standpoint of the cultural impact and their unique contributions to the slasher genre, then all the eight movies here deserve the attention lavished on them by their true fans.
Even though Paramount made a ton of money on all the "Friday the 13th" films throughout the 1980s, when it comes time to release them on DVD, the company did not bestow on them the proper attention necessary for such a beloved franchise. Only released as bare-bones DVDs before, this new box set of the "Friday the 13th" movies carries almost indistinguishable video transfers, the same audio tracks but with a heck of a lot more bonus features. Those fans looking for the extended and unrated versions of their favorite "Friday the 13th" films will definitely be disappointed. On the strength of the bonus features alone, most fans of this franchise should be plenty happy. Whether a casual fan should upgrade is another story. If you don´t already own all of these eight movies, this is your chance to own all of them in a single convenient package, with some nice extras to boot. If you do, then it gets dicey. You have to decide whether the extras are worth a double dip.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]12433[/release]