His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2010)

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 a Starz Documentary titled "Going to Pieces : The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film" (Great doc by the way for fans by fans) the girl who played Angela in "Sleepaway Camp" refers to Italian gaillo cinema as first coming up with a lot of original deaths aka, spear through two lovers backs. Then the documentary shows us that "Friday the 13th" actually stole that bit from I believe an Argento picture but then in this documentary she claims it to be ORIGINAL Wow just wow!!! I mean that's beyond changing your mind. It's on the same exact shot!!! Oh my take on this documentary it's totally unstructured 100% unstructured. It doesn't build a story or to a climax or even start at 1 and go to the end it's all over the damn place. I like it but it's not really a true documentary. There is almost no craft too it, but I still enjoy watching it. I'm a fan so it's really like watching one of those well edited but semi cheesy holiday vacation videos of a truly great vacation. This film makes me nostalgic for good slasher movies and despite desperate editing. (And I understand that) it is a truly enjoyable picture as a fan of Jason. Despite being a documentary where most of the stories I've already heard before it still managed to feel fresh which is one step better than "American Nightmare" which is a very stale documentary.

I was about to enjoy this documentary at least as much as I loved the 20 minutes bonus featurette on the first DVD edition of "Friday the 13th" Part 1. Alas, even if it has some irresistible elements (Tom Savini tremendous hosting, all the cast and crew reunited, occasional nice info...) I began to get quite irritated by some pretty obvious flaws half way through: what is it all about this horrible and distracting heavy metal score endlessly spoiling the viewer's pleasure? It sounded as if I had an inconsiderate neighbor having his stereo playing out loud just to p*** me off.At times, I could also get fed up with the bloody effects systematically interrupting the interviewee just when he or she was about to tell us something interesting. Will anyone tell me what guideline exactly the editor used to do his work? It is as if the interviews had been put together pretty much at random, for all I could understand. Finally, the last 10 minutes outrageously promoting the so called remake recently released (which I didn't much like by the way, but that's another story!) was the last straw. And I ended up almost hating what I was bound to love in the first place. So paradoxically, I put 5/10 because the good elements just couldn't be overlooked. But, please Mr Farrands, try to be a little more modest next time. YOU'RE NOT the interesting part of the show, the SUBJECT IS. Be a little more at the service of it, not the contrary. When you get that, try and make another documentary.

There is an army of loyal Friday the 13th fans who have waited for a documentary like HIS NAME WAS JASON and will get their money's worth.. it's fabulously informative documentary that details everything about the franchise and it's popular hockey-masked psychopathic icon, featuring a plethora of anecdotes from cast and crew who worked in the films in one way or another. Make-up effects legend, Tom Savini directs our tour through the genesis of the film's beginning until the "re-imagining" coming out to theaters February, Friday the 13th, 2009, highlighting the impact such a popular franchise had on those who were a part of it and pop culture in general.I do, however, recommend seeing "From Crystal Lake to Manhattan", a documentary which dissected each film from the original until JASON TAKES MANHATTAN, individually(..it's featured within the Paramount packaged box set with all the films released a few years ago)because Corey Feldman isn't associated with HIS NAME WAS JASON, and had a great deal of input in his interviews for THE FINAL CHAPTER and THE NEW BEGINNING..which were not featured or discussed at any length on the new documentary. HIS NAME IS JASON benefits from(..and is it's greatest strength, in my opinion)from very entertaining and enlightening interviews from victims and survivors of Jason Voorhies and his loony mama. Also present are directors of the movies(..except, like in FROM CRYSTAL LAKE TO MANHATTAN, director of parts 2 & 3, Steve Miner, is again absent, which is a shame since he would be able to add a great deal of information for fans regarding the pains of making and distributing films highly scorned by film critics), those who were cast in the role of Jason, make-up artists, and others vital to the process which created a franchise so recognizable on a global scale. There are also familiar faces who were not directly involved with the franchise(..like Adam Green, director of HATCHET, Seth Green whose own ROBOT CHICKEN beautifully parodied Jason, James Roday of PSYCHE who was very funny, and Felissa Rose of SLEEPAWAY CAMP fame)but add to the fun of the whole documentary. While HIS NAME WAS JASON covers an enormous amount of territory regarding a franchise consisting of 11, soon to be 12, films, I still think true fans should see "From Crystal Lake to Manhattan" because it, despite the lack of participation from a number of cast members who add so much to the quality of the new documentary, spends more time with each film. There's still a wealth of information here for those of us who watched these damned movies over and over again as teenagers growing up, and to see so many actors and actresses who playfully acknowledge their participation as both victims and survivors was just a blast. We even get their Freudian opinions about Jason and his plight, which is awe-inspiring in itself;I'm pretty sure those critics who just hate everything about Jason and his franchise would be banging their head against the wall. We also get interviews from a number of those associated within the horror universe, those who run popular Internet websites(..like Bloody Disgusting and DREADCENTRAL)to festival organizers. Tom Savini takes us through the documentary inside the Universal tour of Friday the 13th, having a little fun in the process using grisly sight gags made popular in the movies. If you are a beloved Friday fan, this will be a real treat. If you're not, why are you watching this anyway?!