His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th

Tom Savini hosts this documentary on thirty years of "Friday the 13th", complete with some cheesy segue scenes of girls getting killed by a stalking killer. Just about anyone who was anyone in the film's history (besides Crispin Glover and Corey Feldman) make appearances to talk shop.

If you're a fan of "Friday the 13th" (and I am), you'll probably enjoy this documentary. It's fast-paced, covers plenty of ground, catches us up with "stars" we haven't seen in a while. If you don't know the stories behind the films, this is a great way to learn them in a fairly short time.

If you're not a "Friday the 13th" fan, I'm not sure why you're watching this one. Is your boyfriend making you do it? Most of the information covered is something you won't care about unless you're familiar with the movies. Does the casual fan care what some minor character from part six thinks? I doubt it. But the more serious fans will eat it up like rice pudding.

That's really all one needs to know here. After you've purchased all twelve movies in the latest special edition, this film acts as sort of a nice summary piece. They even have a feature that sums up the entire series in four minutes (sadly not so much focusing on death scenes as on Joe Lynch ranting). With two discs of special features, there's really no way you can expect more "Friday the 13th" love... if you need more, you're beyond help. Go to a convention and have Kane Hodder strangle you or Ari Lehman make a "rock" pose with you. That should do the trick.

"His Name Was Jason" is a recount of all of the "Friday the 13th" movies with some of the actors, directors, writers, and producers. It's a gory walk down memory lane. You get to learn some trivia such as when Kane Hodder became Jason Voorhees, when Jason donned the hockey mask, and the fact his name was going to be Josh. Mostly, it's many of the various participants giving their take on Jason, the franchise, and what it all meant.

Free on YouTube.

His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2009)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Entertaining documentary covering the nearly thirty-years that Jason has been stalking movie goers and cutting up film critics along the way. Fans will certainly see this as a dream come true considering the large number of people they've gathered from all the movies. The only noticeable people missing are Steve Miner and Corey Feldman. I'm really not sure why Feldman wasn't involved since he was interviewed on the Paramount disc from the box set but a few of the interviewees take a couple pot shots at him. It's also worth noting that there's really not too much discussion dedicated to parts four and five but then again I'm sure fans could take 90-minute documentaries on each film and not just the entire series. On the whole this is a fun documentary as we get to hear from countless victims, fans, producers, directors and so on. Tom Savini hosts the doc and does a good job, although they could have left out all the newly filmed horror sequences, which usually just features cheap death scenes and women screaming. Some of the best moments deal with the surviving women trying to give their ideas on all all-star revival of them going after Jason. If you're a fan of the series then I'm sure you've already heard or read these stories countless times but it's nice to have all of them together.

If you are a real Friday The 13th fan or if you want to know more of one of the earlier slashers then I surely recommend this documentary. Especially disc one is extremely well done. You will have first of a one hour and a half about the whole franchise, even the remake. All you want to know you will know, secondly, all actors who played Jason are giving their view over their version.

Disc two is more about entertainment. Here and there there are some interesting things to learn but there are also some stupid things on it. Luckily the items on disc 2 are all shorts. The only thing that I regret is the fact that when some actors are talking about some scene's they aren't shown, so if it's a while since you have been watching the movies you will have some questions about what they are talking about. But still, if you have the book and this DVD, I guess there's isn't more to learn.

In spirit of the upcoming (reboot? remake? re-imagining?) of Friday the 13th comes a ninety-minute retrospective of the series thus far. What the fans get is a mixed bag of interesting interviews and fascinating tidbits of one of the largest franchises and yet critically maligned series in the history of cinema.

pros: The cast/crew that they gathered is very impressive, covering a good portion of the series. Anchor bay, the DVD's distributor, was able to use footage from all of the films, so it's fun to view the footage as it's being talked about. The whole experience is nostalgic for die-hard fans and for others as well.

cons: The documentary itself comes off as tacky at times. One would wish they would stick to a topic instead of going off on a few different rants all at the same time. Tom Savini's hosting was just fine, but the whole 'ride' device was distracting and unneeded. The funnest bits end up being the extras on the two-discs.

Ultimately, it's enjoyable for what it is: an hour and a half reliving the history of Jason Voorhees and thirty years of his body count.