January 10, 2009

FIRST LOOK: HIS NAME WAS JASON: 30 YEARS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH (Jan. 09) by Robg.

I know that reviewing this documentary might immediately come off as somewhat of a “biased” opinion considering the fact that myself and ICONS co-creator Mike C make brief on-screen appearances, but… despite that, I’m still just a huge fan of the series, and as a gushing fan, I wanted to be able to talk about what other fans can expect from this double disc set!

Firstly, HIS NAME WAS JASON is not what you’d expect from a documentary covering an entire series of films from one specific franchise. At first, I assumed that the doc would probably play out in chronological order, from film to film, sequel to sequel, much like the HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR documentary. (After all, Anthony Masi served as a producer on both projects.) But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that instead, HIS NAME WAS JASON tackles various subjects from the entire series (for example, people’s perceptions of Jason, Jason’s appeal to fans, the “Friday formula”, his “greatest” hits, the sole survivors, etc.) and funnels them through the people involved in their creation, as well as various horror journalists, filmmakers and fans. It’s an interesting choice from director Dan Farrands, and because of the doc’s structure, you won’t want to skip past any of the chapters because you might miss something! Plus, considering this doc boasts well over 80 interviews, I didn’t want to take my eyes off the screen because I wanted to be able to catch glimpses of various actors through out the series and see what they looked like now. Like Erich (aka Rob “He’s Killing Me”) Anderson from PART 4! Let me also take this chance to say that practically every single female from the series looks even better NOW then they did in the film’s themselves! (See: Jensen Daggett for proof.)

Tom Savini does the honors of hosting FRIDAY-esque segments that lead into each of the documentaries topics. His bits are fun and humorous, totally embodying the “FRIDAY” feel and make for nice segue ways between each subject, especially considering his influence to the earlier movies of the series.

As a fan of the FRIDAY films, you can’t help but be entertained for 90 solid minutes. However, it’s not a totally perfect doc. Rather then delving in depth into the specifics of the makings of each film, tid-bits are instead revealed sporadically during various discussions, such as the FRIDAY franchise’s formula or the analysis of Jason’s continued popularity. This isn’t a bad thing! Fans will enjoy the hell out of it, but it might not be what they’re expecting. From a commercial point of view, the doc definitely strives to hold a steady balance of catering to the average viewer that might not know the basics about the FRIDAY series, while mixing in enough to keep the die-hard fan’s fairly satisfied. For those die-hards, there’s of course the tons of bonus material on the 2nd disc, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

There’s one sequence that currently resides amongst the “Dragged From The Lake” (aka deleted/extended scenes) section of Disc 2 that I thought would’ve made for the perfect center piece to the whole documentary. FRIDAY THE 13TH star Adrienne King talks in great detail about the trouble’s she had following the original film’s release with a stalker. It’s impossible not to get a bit misty eyed for King during this heartfelt segment, especially considering it ends on a positive note with the fans really helping her come back to the limelight. Horror fans often get a bad rap from the general public, but I just thought this beautifully illustrated how important the fan’s genuine love and support means to people like Adrienne. Again, from a commercial stand point, I can understand why the full version of this scene would’ve changed the tone of the doc had it been in the middle of it, but thankfully it’s here in it’s entirety on the 2nd disc.

There’s also a brief sequence talking about the upcoming Platinum Dunes remake/reboot/re-imagining of FRIDAY THE 13TH. I can understand that the producers of the remake are trying to be very secretive about their new film, but they offer very little insight into what their version will be about and how it fits into the FRIDAY franchise. It’s mostly everyone saying “We tried to be respectful. And we think everyone will love our new movie.” Obviously, I’m glad the remake is talked about in some capacity here, but this disc streets the week of the new film’s release & they revealed next to nothing about it. In 10 years when you rewatch this doc, I’d imagine you’d probably skip over the remake scene because it’ll be irrelevant. However, these are all honestly very tiny little nit-picks in the grand scheme of things.

Onward to the special features! On disc 1, we get a section called “The Men Behind The Mask” which features extended interviews with every actor to portray Jason in the series. Highlights include Ted White who played Jason in FRIDAY 4, fan fave Kane Hodder and new Jason Voorhees Derek Mears. White talks candidly about his difference of opinions with director Joseph Zito and how difficult it was to work with the “spoiled” Corey Feldman. Mears interview alone will give you full confidence that they at least got the right person behind the hockey mask for the Platinum Dunes update. You’ll love him after watching how sincere he is about this character in this interview. Disc 2 opens up with the “Final Cuts” section, which is extended interviews with just about all of the director’s from the FRIDAY franchise. (Minus Steve Miner who apparently didn’t want to talk about his FRIDAY experiences.) Highlights include John Carl Buechler, who talks about the various obstacles while making FRIDAY 7 from associate producers hating Jason’s unmasked look to the on-going battle with the MPAA. He had to lobby hard for Kane Hodder to play Jason! (Which is ironic considering Hodder would go on to play the character more then any other actor.) He also goes on to talk about his disappointment with FREDDY VS JASON. After all, we all really wanted to see Hodder’s version of Jason go up against Englund’s Freddy. Adam Marcus’s stories on JASON GOES TO HELL are also fun considering he was only 23 when he got that directing gig!

“From Script To Screen” features extended interviews with a handful of the writers from the FRIDAY series. Damian Shannon & Mark Swift, writers on the new FRIDAY and FREDDY VS JASON offer some of the funniest tid-bits about both those projects, explaining how they’ve had to “sneak” references into their scripts and they claim their script for F V J never said anything about Jason being afraid of water. “Dragged From The Lake” are a series of deleted scenes from the actual doc. Amongst them you’ll find humorous bits such as “Homoerotic Shaving” referencing the infamous scene from JASON GOES TO HELL, as well as “Rat Pee” discussing the scene when Ginny (or is it the rat?) pee under the bed while hiding from Jason in FRIDAY 2. “I’m A Proud Freak” is an impassioned & heartfelt declaration of love for these films and a call of defense for all the fans by Dread Central’s Uncle Creepy. (Love ya, Creepy. We’re all proud freaks!)

Next up is a “Fan Films” section. You’ll find the hilarious FREDDY VS JASON in 30 seconds “with bunnies” animated clip here, as well as “The Angry Video Game Nerd”, which if you’ve ever played the FRIDAY THE 13TH Nintendo game, you’ll totally “get”. “JASON HURTS” is a short film by Dave Neabore that we actually posted HERE on ICONS last year! So it’s great to see it here amongst the disc’s features! “Closing The Book On THE FINAL CHAPTER” features Erich Anderson and FRIDAY 4 director Joseph Zito touring the original house from the film, while in “Fox Goes Home” we get to tour the barn and locations from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 with Gloria Charles. “FRIDAY THE 13TH IN 4 MINUTES” is a 4 minute account of the entire series as told by filmmakers Adam Green, Joe Lynch and Dread Central’s Uncle Creepy. “JASON TAKES COMIC-CON” is a video segment of Dread Central’s FRIDAY interviews from last year’s San Diego Comic-Con. “THE CAMP CRYSTAL LAKE SURVIVAL GUIDE” is a fun featurette laying out all the do’s and don’ts when visiting Crystal Lake. “Inside HALLOWEEN Horror Nights” is a tour of the Universal Studios attraction from last year. And last but not least, “Shelly Lives!”… well, has to be seen to be believed. And hey, if you highlight the red marks on Jason’s mask in the menu screen’s, you just may be treated to a few DVD “easter eggs”.

Overall, as a FRIDAY fan, this double disc is a must-own for your collection. You will undoubtedly devour all of the disc’s contents in a single sitting, much like I did. And considering this comes out the same day as new special editions for the first 3 FRIDAY movies (with more to follow!), and a week prior to the new movie’s release, 2009 is easily shaping up to be the year of Jason Voorhees! -Robg.