Too much of everything

Best movie ever!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Friday the 13th movie series retrospective with lots of actors, directors, producers, etc. associated with the series, as well as other celebrities and fans. The best part of the documentary is that they were able to get so many of these people back to talk about the films. As a matter of fact, they got just about everybody I think except Corey Feldman and Thom Mathews. But, as great as that is, it's also a problem. They have so many commenters they don't spend a significant amount of time on any subject. It moves quickly from talking head to talking head, allowing for no stories just sound bites. Whether this is because they wanted to squeeze in every single person they could or because they believe the audience is suffering from ADHD, I do not know. Still, it's a fun watch for fans of the series.

His Name Was Jason takes a serious (or self-serious and half-kidding) look at the horror icon, Mr. Voorhees (son of that old friend of the Christie's), and the saga of Friday the 13th and its impact on film and culture. It goes quickly through the stories and events of the films through 1980 to 2003 (since it was released on the day the remake came out- and they knew better- they left the most recent one out), and then it goes on to dissecting everything Jason. Who is this character? Why does he kill? And does he even have a soul? The cast and crew talk about Jason like he's a misunderstood being, and as well the notorious villain that he is and his status of being just another kid looking for revenge in his twisted mind (hence seeing his mother from time to time). Then it goes into talking about the legacy - the actors telling their stories, the make-up people (i.e. Tom Savini, who also graciously and wonderfully hosts) discussing techniques of killing people, and its status in popular culture.While His Name Was Jason has merits in terms of some, if not most, of the interviews accumulated from cast and critics and other filmmakers (the director of Wrong Turn 2, oddly enough, becomes something of an authority), and seeing the clips brings some nostalgia, nobody comes clean with certain things. For one thing, Sean S. Cunninghamn practically says that Friday the 13th invented the slasher genre, without noting a certain movie called Halloween a few years before (or just as inspiration), and that everyone ripped the series off as it if was, you know, always a good thing. And while everybody is quick to heap praise on certain scenes and kills and effects (some warranted if only in the slasher realm) nobody is seen criticizing anything - A New Beginning, come on! - and there's a constant nu-metal soundtrack accompanying the clips and the interviews. It almost defeats the purpose of a tribute when you can barely have the noted "Ccch-maaaa" sound effect that is the franchise's trademark.There's also the danger of having information in here that is nothing really new for die-hards of the series, whom this is marketed to most, but this isn't too much of a concern. If there is a problem with the information accumulated it's that it doesn't always have a clear focus: a topic is started up by Mr. Savini, and there's some time devoted to it (i.e. how kills are done, who Jason is) but then it trails off into something else. Some interviewees are interesting, like Kane Hodder and Savini himself. Others look like they could really use some work and desperately want anything, let alone to reprise their old characters... although an idea mentioned about bringing the surviving women from the 80's series together is a nifty idea. Certainly would be right up there in guilty-pleasure world like the bikini-girls hallucination in Jason X.So, it's not essential, and some horror fans that just find Jason "ok" may be insulted by some of the super-high adulations made to a series that is even admitted by its makers to be formulaic fantasy. But as a propped-up DVD extra, it's not too painful to watch.

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.

In 1980, a little film called 'Friday the 13th' was released and it changed the horror genre forever. Now, thirty years later, director Daniel Garrands has gathered some of the most important members of the 'Friday the 13th' crew. . . and some random people (like the dude from 'Psych' (?)). . . to discuss the series as it is, was, and will be.Approaching a documentary like this and giving it a review is difficult. The main reason is because, well, it's just not all THAT informative. The majority of the film is made up of the opinions of cast & crew & random useless people. The main plus of the film, as with many of his horror films, is Tom Savini. As the host, he commands the typical creepiness with the mixed-in humour well. He's a good relief when the sloppy editing and occasionally trite discussions get to be too much. . . luckily, that doesn't happen a whole lot. Technically, the documentary does look a little cheap. I liked that Savini's scenes take place at the Universal Studios Horror Nights set for Jason, and the effects they used during his scenes were quite fun. However, the other Powerpoint-ish effects used for title cards and name tags were a little low-grade. As said previously, there really isn't that much information that a fan of the series won't know. This lack of information really puts the documentary in a weird purgatory. . . there's not enough information to make it informative for the casual viewer and there's not enough new stuff for a hardcore fan (like myself). I would've liked to see some more behind-the-scenes segments showing the productions of the various films, or maybe revisit more sets (they did once) to show us how the places are now. It was nice, however, to see a gathering of the old stars and crew, but the most entertaining parts with them weren't shown until the credits when they were all repeating their most famous lines and having fun. Also, it seemed that the majority of them were treading lightly as to not insult anyone (though I did like when one person comments on 'Jason Goes to Hell' as his not having a clue what the plot was (because, really, who the hell did?)). Overall, the documentary is entertaining and a good watch for both casual viewers and hardcore ones, but there's not enough for either group to make it great. Is it worth the $14 that it's currently listed at? Not the movie itself, but the features might be worth a look.Final verdict: 7/10.-AP3-