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

"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.

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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.

If you grew up watching these films, you will be pleasantly surprised to see many faces you probably won't recognize, all characters from each film. Love him or hate him, Jason became THE face for horror slashers. Such a great piece of work bringing everyone back together to celebrate Mr. Voorhees life...or um death. Tons of extras, even $5 bucks off the remake which comes out next week. This documentary will sit beside each Friday film, proudly. Don't worry about cheap edited shots or school room interviews. Nothing is edited here, you see most of the deaths again from every film. Don't worry about this being nothing but a rehash of the films as a cheap way to fill minutes. You get interviews with every Jason actor, the victims, they go back to certain sets and key locations. This documentary is pieced together very well, and will be something to watch over and again just like all your favorites. I imagine this being a staple on the Sci-fi channel every Halloween for the next 10+ years easily.

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 this exciting documentary for the true fans of the series. Which it has honest interviews with the cast & crew from each film including fans & journalists. Hosted by Tom Savini, who worked in the original "Friday the 13th" and "Friday the 13th:The Final Chapter". He takes you inside into the entertaining horror series. Which the cast and crew tells you how much fun they had making these movies including hard work, difficulty on the set and the motion picture association of America (MPAA). Which the rating board wanted the studio Paramount or New Line Cinema to trimmed down some of the memorable death sequences.

Directed by Daniel Farrands (Screenwriter of "Halloween 6:The Curse of Michael Myers) made an amusing documentary for the ultimate fans of the series. This is a much bigger improvement comparing to the "Friday the 13th" box set from 2004. Which the bonus disc from that edition was certainly lacking in bonus features. This new documentary interviews most of the memorable characters of the series, including each actor/stunt man who played Jason as well.

The two-disc set from Anchor Bay. Disc one has an decent anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) transfer and an good Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD extra on the first disc are the extended interviews on the actors/stunt man who played Jason. Disc two includes "Final Cuts" interviews with the directors of each film (expect Steve Miner, who directed "Friday the 13th Part 2 & 3" and Ronny Yu, who directed "Freddy Vs. Jason"), "From Script to Screen" interviews some of the screenwriters of the series, fan films, two hidden features and much more. "His Name Was Jason:30 Years of Friday the 13th" is a much better documentary than you expect to be. You could tell the filmmakers behind this... including the actors, fans and journalist had so much fun doing this. It was certainly an labor of love for Sean S. Cunningham, who directed the original "Friday the 13th". Non fans of the series will find some of the interview segments intriguing and hilarious. Don't miss this one. (****/*****).