If there's one word to describe 'Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History Of Friday The 13th (2013)', it's "comprehensive". That's a good thing, too, because this taking-head documentary clocks in at a whopping six hours and forty minutes. Working its way through all twelve 'Friday The 13th' films and even spending some time on the anthology television series of the same name, the franchise retrospective oozes enthusiasm and somehow keeps you entertained and informed for its entire duration. It spends an equal amount of time on each picture, and it isn't biased towards one over the other; it treats even the most universally derided entries with the same care and attention, never unduly focusing on their flaws (although never outright ignoring them, either). Almost everyone interviewed seems down to earth, friendly and grateful to have been part of the iconic series. That's even more surprising considering that the documentary manages to nab an incredible amount of people, seemingly almost everyone with even a small connection to any of these movies. Actors, directors, editors, composers, producers, and special effects wizards all show up to say their piece and it truly feels like - outside of a handful of notable exceptions that include but aren't limited to Kevin Bacon, Crispin Glover and Steve Miner (although most significant missing people, alive or dead, are mentioned in some capacity by the other interviewees) - anyone who's anyone in this space is given time to reminisce and enlighten. Following a consistent structure, the film successfully navigates its chapter-based structure. Its narrative flows fairly seamlessly within each of its segments, despite one or two slightly jarring transitions here and there, and it pretty much never takes a tangent that isn't interesting to some degree. It's remarkably compelling, although a certain degree of restlessness is inevitable when you're sat in front of the television for as long as this requires. The information presented is as intriguing as it is entertaining, presented by mostly charismatic people (including narrator Cory Feldman, who also features in the piece itself) who each bring their own perspective to proceedings (sometimes, the same events are covered from different points of view). Even someone like myself, who's already seen multiple behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews, will likely discover plenty of new and unexpected tidbits. If you're a fan of this series, this is kind of essential. It's definitely the most complete retrospective I've come across, and not just in terms of this series. It's really fun and filled with the kind of stuff that I delight in, both as a fan of the franchise and of films and filmmaking in general. It's worth mentioning that I've never given a single 'Friday The 13th' film more than 6/10 here on IMDb, yet the series has enough charm to it that I happily watched this almost seven hour documentary. Imagine how much you'd love this if you'd given even one of these movies 10/10...
