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MSRP $29.98
RATED Not Rated
STUDIO Image Entertainment
RUNNING TIME 400 Minutes
The Pitch
An in depth documentary covering the Friday the 13th franchise that includes interviews and commentary from directors, actors, producers, special effects artists, writers and more.
The Humans
Corey Feldman, Sean S. Cunningham and as many members of the franchise’s cast and production teams as possible.
“I’m gonna give it to ya straight about Jason.”
The Nutshell
Crystal Lake Memories documents the making of every Friday the 13th film in the series. Even the television show and the comic adaptations are mentioned. We are given in depth coverage of all the Friday films from the directors, cast and crew members, and we get tons of stories about all the goings on off screen. It’s a great way to further explore the iconic franchise.
The Lowdown
I love how much insight this documentary gives into the impact each film had on the talent involved. Actors from the series talk about how fans treat them at conventions and how they think their performances were good or bad, producers and writers go on about whether or not they think their films were crap and the directors tell us about how they managed to keep it all together. It’s really entertaining stuff and it really shows how much impact the films had on these people.
Crystal Lake Memories really gets into the cultural impact of the movies, but more than that it is an opportunity for everyone involved to tell their stories. The actors who played Jason get to talk about how they worked as the character, and then they get to explain what playing the role means to them. Kane Hodder talks in depth about some of the insane stunts he did, and then he gets to really lay out what happened with Freddy vs. Jason. Robert Englund and Wes Craven also show up and give their inputs as well and it really makes for great viewing.
Getting to hear how Sean S. Cunningham worked to make the first film is a treat. The stories behind the first Friday the 13th are fun and definitely revealing. I liked how the film focuses on each of the films’ survivors still want to do a team up at some point. The cast interviews are entertaining and the discussions with Harry Manfredini about the scores and iconic themes are enjoyable. Alice Cooper even shows up to talk about how He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask) got made for Jason Lives.
Overall this documentary is a great watch for any fan of the Friday the 13th franchise. When the doc focuses on films and adaptations that were poorly received by fans and critics, it does a great job of keeping it all entertaining while giving us often hilarious commentary about what was going on during the productions. Everyone involved is invested and you can definitely tell that it was all made as a labor of love for Jason and all things Friday the 13th. Even with the long running time of nearly seven hours, this is a film that is definitely worth checking out.
The Package
The discs look great and the packaging is slick. The design is a mashup of the iconic ‘I Love NY’ poster for Jason Takes Manhattan and the cover of the Crystal Lake Memories book. The backside features a handful of the behind the scenes images featured in the film, and a quick list of names are included just to give you an idea of how many people they got together for this. It’s sharp.
Hawkins’ Rating:
Out of a Possible 5 Stars
“It’s porno isn’t it.”