by: Obaid K
Posted on 04.24.10 in All Horror Films > Slasher
Release Date: 2009

In his review of Friday the 13^th: The Final Chapter, film critic Roger Ebert called the film “an immoral and reprehensible piece of trash” for the way it depicted the indiscriminate slaying of teenagers, and added that it sent a nihilistic message to young people (“It’s just mindless bloody violence.”). Since that unintentional plug the series has worked its way into horror movie history and become one of the longest running horror franchises with an iconic killer familiar to successive generations who’d never seen a Friday the 13^th movie.

His Name was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13^th (released this month on DVD in the U.K.), chronicles the legacy of the series with actors, producers, directors, screenwriters and journalists explaining why these simple slasher films have become such a phenomenon. Personally, it was something about the combination of a hockey mask and a machete that helped Jason seem so much cooler than Freddy Kreuger or Michael Myers.

Pretty much everything a casual fan might want to know is discussed in the documentary, from gripes about breaks in continuity to the best kills and how the early releases were loathed by the MPAA and parent groups for their unadulterated violence. Tom Savini serves as host and guides the viewer through a mock-up horror movie set.

While the documentary itself is great, the extra features are where this DVD really shines with four hours of additional footage. People who preferred certain films can watch extended interviews with every director (with the exception of Steve Miner, who was behind parts two and three) or the screenwriters, who all explain their vision for their particular movie.

Sean Cunningham (producer and director of the original Friday the 13^th) notes that the franchise owes a large part of its success to Paramount Pictures who got behind the movie with the necessary promotion, giving it a wide release much like a major motion picture. Cunningham said his goal was to make a simple, low-budget scary movie and, surprisingly, he hadn’t seen any of the classic giallo films of the 60s and 70s, which supposedly influenced the film.

The various actors that played Jason offer some insightful commentary into what they brought to the table. For example, you find out what a sweet old man Ted White is (in contrast to his menacing on-screen presence in The Final Chapter) and that he didn’t get along with director Joseph Zito, whom he felt was being too hard on the young actors. Judie Aronson (who played Samantha) said that she got hypothermia after filming her death scene and White was the only person who stood up for her, demanding that Zito get the shot so that she could get out of the freezing lake.

We’re also told that the memorable theme music was actually made up of the sounds “ki” and “ma”. Composer Harry Manfredini said he got the idea after watching a scene where Mrs. Voorhees is mouthing the words “Kill Mommy” and decided to use the consonants, which were fed through an echoplex.

The fan videos are good but there’s an outstanding spoof of antidepressant commercials that features Jason as the subject who’s experiencing “overwhelming feelings of sadness, disinterest, loneliness, fatigue”, all of which are getting him laughed away from potential murders – he’s ok after being prescribed “Voorexia”.

This is what all DVDs should be like: plenty of bonus features, interviews, Easter eggs and stuff you can’t get anywhere else. Hardcore fans may not find much new stuff here but it’s essential viewing for any Friday the 13^th or Jason fan.

• ★★★★★

  Acting:

• ★★★★★

  Blood:

• ★★★★★

  Violence:

• ★★★★★

  Partying:

• ★★★★★

  Language:

• ★★★★★

  Humor:

• ★★★★★

  Predictable:

• ★★★★★

  Girls:

• ★★★★★

  Gore:

• ★★★★★

  Sexuality:

• ★★★★★

  Torture:

• ★★★★★

  Overall: