December 24, 1999: a day that will live in infamy. Paramount Home Video released a DVD edition of the original slasher classic, "Friday The 13th," which was not only bare bones and given not even a hint of special edition notice, but it was granted a list price of $29.99.

This was a Christmas to dismember. As it remains, there was only one outrageously popular hack and slash parade throughout the 1980s, and it was the "Friday The 13th" movies. Freddy was only five films for eight by the end of the decade, as was Michael Myers, which is a respectable track record, but undoubtedly paling in comparison to the amount of Voorhees Family gorefests that was bred from the 1980 up until 1989, which totals to eight. Paramount Pictures, the same studio that brought you "My Bloody Valentine," "Student Bodies" and "April Fool's Day" (the middle movie has yet to make its DVD debut, Paramount!), released a whopping octet of movies in just 10 years. With the exception of 1983 and 1988, every year had its own "Chi-chi-chi-ka-ka-ka" chant to adore. And the fanfare that has developed over the years has been nothing short of wildly devotional.

So that legion of fans had all the right in the world to be vehemently frustrated and disappointed and ANGRY at Paramount for gradually releasing all eight movies on extras-bereft single disc catalog DVDs from December of 1999 to September of 2002. Furthermore, they also were cheesed at the studio for not understanding that the appeal of DVDs is that consumers get more than just the movie they grew up with, something along the lines of, I don't know...an UNRATED edition!

The reason the Friday series endured was not only because of the iconoclastic Jason persona, but because of the outrageously violent quotient of the movies. Catering to the masses who craved blood like the Romans to the Coliseum crowds, each Paramount-released film in the series sported inventive, gruesome, unnerving death sequences. From slashed throats to guttings to handsaw decapitations to handstand vivisections to crushed heads and machete-impaled faces, the series has always been about the gore. Nobody who saw "Friday The 13th" thought Kevin Bacon had a future. Who thought that Crispin Glover would use being killed by Jason as a launching pad towards working with Robert Zemeckis, David Lynch and Milos Forman? And Corey Feldman...please! It was the gore!

I purposely, with the exception of "Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter," my hands down favorite in the entire Friday canon (including the New Line releases), held out from picking up any of the single-set DVD releases. I was just waiting for Paramount to come to their senses. In fact, the jury is still out on whether or not the studio will EVER give "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut," one of the funniest movies of the 1990s, the special edition treatment (let this be a memo to the studio, especially with the release of "Team America: World Police" in theaters: GET CRACKING! To Trey and Matt: GET IN THE RECORDING STUDIO, PLEASE!). I even remember a petition went out to have Paramount release at least the seventh "F-13" movie in its uncut format, with the approved participation of the director, who combated the MPAA in 1987 over the editing of the film's vivid death scenes. But alas, despite the mild enthusiasm, it never materialized.

However, in the post-"Scream" era where the fake-jump orchestral shriek experienced a grating revival, old school slasher films started to warrant intention. New Line damn near cleaned out their vaults in order to present the definitive "Elm Street" boxed set, and even the recent Jason Voorhees epics that New Line unleashed (Jason Goes To Hell and Jason X) were awarded with at least a full-length commentary and trailer as extras. Paramount let their movies just sit there alone, unwarranting of even the most rabid fan's attention. The anticipation for a boxed set of all eight movies, hopefully in their uncut, blood-soaked first prints, rose heavily.

Then, something happened. A little thing called "The Adventures Of Indiana Jones: The Complete Movie Collection." Surely, if Indy could warrant his own boxed set, why couldn't Jason, who Paramount devotedly flogged for eight movies! Besides, it's not as if there was a rush to have Indiana Jones vs. The Goonies (although Data did meet Indy for "Temple Of Doom"). Paramount revealed plans in the year 2004 for a 5-DVD boxed set containing not only the original 8 movies (split up into 4 DVDs, with two films a disc), but a bonus fifth disc loaded with all-new extras and even the hint that the juicy deleted murder scenes that made the movies so appealing in the first place would finally come to light.

Paramount were clever, but again their bluff was called. A Region 2 DVD of the original "Friday The 13th" came out and it simply was something to be outdone. Warner Bros., distributor of the film internationally, released their international version of the film, which was noted for containing all the extended murder scenes those prudes at the MPAA edited down to two-second-long cutaways for the American theatrical release. It contained a full-length audio commentary with Sean S. Cunningham (director), Victor Miller (writer), Bill Freda (editor), Adrienne King (Alice), and Betsy Palmer (Pamela Voorhees), one which was rumored to be full of fun anecdotes and production details. And there was also "Return To Crystal Lake," a new documentary with interviews featuring the above participants as well as composer Harry Manfredini, who confessed that the legendary noise Jason makes is really "Ki-ki-ki Ma-ma-ma." And Adrienne King, recalls in particularly frank and almost dour fashion, her decision to give up film after this particular credit (should one look at her death in the sequel as metaphorical?).

So what could Paramount possibly do to outdo the original? Well, we're about to find out, because FRIDAY THE 13TH: FROM CRYSTAL LAKE TO MANHATTAN - THE ULTIMATE EDITION DVD COLLECTION is coming to kill all you skinny-dipping beautiful people at a store near you!

But first, something I always wanted to for quite a while...capsule reviews of each of the movies. I'll try to keep them to at least three or four paragraphs minimum for the sake of longevity. All movies are Paramount Pictures presentations and rated R for reasons all too obvious to mention.

FRIDAY THE 13TH
(released May 10, 1980; 93 mins.)
Budgeted on a measly estimate of $700,000 but eventually grossing over $39 million in the U.S. alone, the original Sean S. Cunningham-directed feature has now become tainted by age. In fact, Bart Simpson said it best when he mentioned it in an early "Treehouse of Horror" episode: "It's pretty tame by today's standards." Perhaps so, Bartman, but those Space Mutants aren't exactly fresh ectoplasm either (I must sound like such a dork, now). Anyway you slice it (and believe me, Jason can do it in 180 different ways), "Friday The 13th" is still one of the epochal slasher movies ever. Cunningham attempted to make a movie centered around the youthful fear of death, but undesirably ended up following in John Carpenter's equally-disavowing footsteps in making a movie that laid the rules for slasher movies, in particular, as Jamie Kennedy once put it, "Rule #1: You can NEVER have SEX!" You see Kevin making Bacon! He's as good as DEAD! You see those naughty campers engaging in Strip Monopoly? I don't think so! Hell, even an innocent young counselor lost in the woods and a man in a raincoat offering a friendly salutation aren't safe! And by the way, here's the plot in a nutshell: in 1958, a series of brutal murders occurred at Camp Crystal Lake about a year after the drowning death of a small child. Over 20 years later, a group of carefree youths (including Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, and Kevin Bacon among others) decide to give the place a renovation, unawares that they have ticked off someone who has decided to commit copycat murders.

I'm sure those of you who got the "Scream" reference will know who the killer is, and to those who didn't...well, I normally wouldn't do this, but you've had 24 years and Wes Craven's film to tell you this, so I'll just f*cking say it: PAMELA VOORHEES IS THE KILLER! Now that the bomb is dropped (again!), back to the movie. How can I say it like I want to: this is one movie that has indeed had imitation become its most uncomfortable form of flattery. From the mostly unknown cast (Kevin Bacon appeared in "Animal House," and yet they could afford him...explain that to me, Mr. B) to the "boo" moments punctuated by the infamous loud chord to the remote woody setting to the shadowy, unseen killer to the said killer’s POV dolly crane tracking shots to the strategically placed corpses lying about the cabin and the eerie townspeople who look as if they had seen a ghost yet snidely warn the young victims-to-be, this is truly "influential."

The charm of this film indeed is that it is essentially a cheap thrill, one that offers a couple of surprising jolts that work best both if you watch in the dark and you've seriously cleansed any previous viewings of this film out of your memory. The ending, for instance, is one of them, although it is indeed surprisingly reminiscent of the epilogue of "Carrie." However, what that movie didn't have were two things: Betsy Palmer and Tom Savini. Whilst DePalma's movie may have had Piper Laurie in a convincingly melodramatic wicked mother role, slapping about Sissy Spacek like an ugly stepchild, Betsy Palmer actually had to take this movie SERIOUSLY! Indeed in the interview she gives on the bonus disc, she’s blunt about her opinions of this film's quality. So we get that one-of-a-kind drive-in performance that is not simply laughable, but also dare...I say...BELIEVABLE! But then again, who else could said "Kill her, mommy!" to herself like a seven-year-old boy and get away with it straight-faced? And Tom Savini, of course, was the Vietnam-stationed photographer who found his niche working on Dawn Of The Dead, creating some memorably innovative gore 'n' guts FX. Here, he creates several highly convincing murder sequences that don't skimp on the gushing red syrup.

"Friday The 13th" is like a rip-off artist working with the paint collage, borrowing and devolving heavy loads of Carpenter, Hitchcock and Bava, and even Clark (that's the director of "Black Christmas" to those willing to forget "Baby Geniuses"), but in the end, it demands so precious little other than satisfactory horror/mystery. Besides, plot is not the strongest point of all Friday The 13th films from hereon out. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy this often poorly-paced, hopelessly amateurish, but never deadly boring credit to the genre.

Mrs. Voorhees' body count is a total of nine victims, and she gets her comeuppance at the finale.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2
(released May 1, 1981; 87 mins.)
Apparently, it's 1985, five years after the killings at Camp Blood. "Legend has it that Jason saw his mother beheaded," says Paul (John Furey) to a new group of teenaged meat ready to be butchered by the diabolical unseen murderer, only this time it IS Jason Voorhees himself. However, in a simultaneous nod to "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" and Homer's Odyssey, Jason (Warrington Gillette) is presented as some overalls-wearing country boy with a pillowcase over his head and one eye hole. I'm just trying to bring some high art mentioning to this movie, which is just really a tedious remake of the original, only this time it has the audacity for a seemingly endless prologue lifting footage from the original, just so we can find out who the hell this Alice character is and why it is important she die before the credits roll along (that big "Friday The 13th" logo doesn't break glass this time...it blows up to reveal "Part 2").

The attractive heroine role is instead filled out by Amy Steel, a rather fetching blonde actress who went on to star in both the campy "April Fool's Day" and the dreadful Howie Mandel vehicle "Walk Like A Man." Her psychology student Ginny manages to commit several of the classic slasher movie no-no's, in that she doffs her shirt (but remains wearing her bra), has some hanky panky with boyfriend Paul, and starts wandering into dark places all alone. But she also has what may be the most brains of any "F-13" heroine next to the resourceful Tommy Jarvis. Although she does make one forgivable mistake in her attempt to effectively kill Jason via mindf*ck, it's the thought that counts.

Thought, however, is slashed across the melon with a machete this time around, perhaps even more so than the original. Part 2 is basically the same movie as the original, only more uninspired (director Steve Miner of "House" and "Warlock" fame doesn't improve upon Cunningham's second-tier directing job outside the prologue), less gruesome (the violence is intense, but not highly bloody due to excessive MPAA trims in the year of "My Bloody Valentine" and "The Burning"), and with more gratuitous T&A shots. Aside from the aforementioned sight of Steel's skin, we also get one other female character who changes her panties, another female character who engages in nude sex [the death scene is a knock-off from a Bava movie called "Twitch Of The Death Nerve (Bay Of Blood)"], and in the most eye-dropping shot in the movie, the gorgeous Kirsten Baker decides to go out into the lake butt-naked. However, when one of the movie's only redeeming assets are the half-naked/fully-naked girls on parade, the movie just clearly isn't worth anything other than exploitation and an exercise in detecting continuity mistakes.

Look for the return of Crazy Ralph, whom Jason finally puts to sleep in this installment, and also enjoy a highly similar soundtrack via Harry Manfredini and his "Chi-chi-chi-ka-ka-ka" chant (oh, come on...Mommy's dead anyway!). Ralph is just one of nine more to fall under Jason's wrath, and we also see a dead animal.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3
(released August 13, 1982; 96 mins.)
"Friday The 13th Part 3" is remembered mainly via two things. First of all, it was one of the earliest horror titles in the 1980s to capitalize on that whole "third installment...in 3-D!" bandwagon, before "Amityville" and "Jaws" equally came out. And without a doubt, this is better than either of those movies. Secondly, Jason (played here by Richard Brooker) finally got rid of that burlap sack and those hillbilly threads in order to dress more viciously normal, and also ends up picking up his famed hockey mask at the hands of one of his victims, a fat prankster named Shelly (Larry Zerner) who dies in a most befitting manner, when one of the other campers refuses to believe his throat really has been slit, and he dies depressingly alone.

The plot is all too obvious to mention, except that this time the hook is that the camp is next to a vacant barnyard and that fairly brief outside tension is provided when Shelly and a female accomplice run afoul of a trio of bikers at a market, who get back at the youths by draining their truck of gas before they all end up progressively dispatched by a vicious Jason. Speaking of vicious, Steve Miner, who once again maintained directorial duties and has indeed tightened up the pacing and death scenes more since the mediocre second film, has decided to milk the 3-D technology for all that it can excrete. As a result, we are treated to shots of wooden poles, disembodied eyeballs, spear-gun arrows, and even marijuana joints & yo-yos flying directly at the audience. Now I'd cannot be sure if the 3-D technology works here. I have a remote control which allowed me to switch between on and off on the "3D" option, which was all fine and spiffy, but I had no glasses. But I'm guessing that the movie is still stuck in 2D, which means that its basically just the same old two-dimensional Jason making practice of slaughtering one-dimensional characters, which include the obligatory screaming heroine, Chris (Dana Kimmell), who supposedly escaped Jason's grasp before but ends up having to do it all over again.

If there is one moment that absolutely surprised me, it was when the character of Andy, who handstands his way out of the bathroom as his girlfriend showers, bumps into Jason upside down and ends up getting a machete down the groin and up to his stomach, nearly splitting him in half. This is one clever death sequence that breaks away from the constraints of technological format and actually delivers even in 2D. However, from the obligatory predecessor recap (complete with the opening credits' "Jason disco theme" and protruding titles) to the rip-off of Part 1's already wholesale-borrowed jump scare, this is just another disappointing entry in the series (kudos to Tracie Savage though, who is the resident sexpot victim in this installment and who ended up having a fruitful career as a network journalist in L.A.).

The body count continues...12 people are killed in this installment.

FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER
(released April 13, 1984; 90 mins.)
This was perhaps at one point in 1984 intended to bring the series to a nice finale, but judging from the evidence now, that was clearly not the way to be. And wouldn't you know that this installment is actually one of the better "F-13" sequels to come out in the 1980s? Three reasons: one is that Joseph Zito, who previously directed The Prowler from 1981, actually seems to be more involved with actual directing, particularly since we end up with a elementary school hero and he turns out to be the least annoying character in the movie. That's a sign of at least intermediate talent; the second is that Zito's FX artist from the last film, Tom Savini, came back to finally provide some fascinatingly gory new murders as well as giving Jason the long-deserved kiss-off he deserves (it's a bloody delight); and finally, there's an actual B-list cast in this movie, which couldn't be said of previous installments.

The usual assortment of dopey, photogenic teenagers show up at Crystal Lake to have sex, watch stag films, and get stabbed in the noggin by Jason, who has avoided the cold solace of the hospital and is once again exacting vengeance on the turf his mother claimed in 1958 and 1980. The two most enjoyable (and most notable) presences in this movie belong to Lawrence Monoson, the ill-fated hero of The Last American Virgin who is convincingly boorish as Ted, and Crispin Hellion Glover, who makes the best of a perfunctory role as the dweebish Jimbo, hung over because of a messy break-up and who confides to his best friend "God, I'm horny!" The all-out T&A factor is provided by a skinny-dipping Judie Aronson, who later starred in "The Sleeping Car" with David Naughton and John Carl Buechler, who ended up working on his own "Friday." And of course, Corey Feldman, who ended up fighting gremlins and vampires in his film career, plays Tommy Jarvis, the young occult fanatic who rises to the challenge after Jason has killed his mother, threatened his sister (Kimberley Beck), and has dispatched in one lone night all of the teenagers next door.

I laughed and I squirmed at this one, from the witty(!) rapport between Jimbo and Ted involving the computer that coins Jimbo "a dead f-ck" to the non-stop series of brutal, gory murders (Jimbo gets it the worst when he asks Ted for a corkscrew). Tom Savini, perhaps aware (at the time) that Jason might actually die, decides to really up the ante in gore, and, surprisingly, the version presented on this DVD is full of graphic violence. And Zito actually manages the effort to make a truly sympathetic hero in this movie, and indeed the Tommy character managed to hold out for two more installments of the series. Whilst story and dialogue isn't worth the entrails on Jason's sneakers, for what it's worth, I have to say that this installment is one of the guilty pleasures I righteously adore. Unafraid to wallow in the shallow end of the slasher pool, but with more of a sense of fun this time around, this would've been the perfect conclusion to the series.

Speaking of perfect, the body count is an exact 13 plus one dead dog, bringing the total so far to 43 dead bodies and two dead animals.

FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING
(released March 22, 1985; 92 mins.)
After the clever yet predictable fourth installment of the series, some fuse blew out the moment producer Frank Mancuso, Jr. decided he should bring back Paramount's most profitable series for another quartet of inferior (except for one) sequels. Titled "A New Beginning" perhaps as some way of saving face on the lie that was now tethered to the fourth movie's subtitle, this movie follows an older Tommy Jarvis (Peter Shepherd) as he travels towards a peaceful halfway house for mentally unstable citizens. His long-winding memories of his encounter with Jason aren't easily tempered when one of the kids (the fat one) is hacked up by an angry lumberjack, and immediately afterwards another rash of Jason Voorhees-style murders occurs.

I'd be tempted to say it's Tommy doing the killings, but director Danny Steinmann isn't sure if he's making a "Friday The 13th" movie or if he's making Sleepaway Camp. This is easily one of the most poorly done, painfully idiotic, and altogether maddening entries in the series, one that ridiculously tries to pin a murder mystery sheen that just doesn't fit, especially when the killer's identity is telegraphed in advance (and, as many a fan pointed out, it AIN'T Jason!). There's literally an inherent laziness to this movie. Take for instance, the moment after we see the death of the slob, and the shot of one of the paramedics making an ominous gaze at the camera that fades-out in the manner of a TV movie and then cuts to a double slasher homicide sequence and then to Tommy having a hallucination about Jason. About a moment later, we get the exact same formula: creepy glare, violent killings, Tommy's nightmare. In the meanwhile, every single ancillary character is a stiff caricature (the mascara-wearing rebel, the jive-talking child, the gorgeous blond survivor, et. al) and the dialogue is unapologetically rank.

But there are some high points. Those who come expecting a sleazy slasher movie will get it, in the form of a surprisingly gruesome horror flick with a couple decent kill sequences and plenty of hot naked girls for your erectile pleasure. The Tommy Jarvis character is the only character given at least a semblance of an arc in this film, and there is one rousing moment where Tommy ends up defending himself against a buffoonish, dirty village idiot. There is one particularly deviating moment in the series where one of the mental patients, a terminally shy guy with a speech impediment, tries to come on to a girl whilst they watch "A Place In The Sun" on TV. And Corey Feldman shows up for the brief opening dream sequence.

Other than that, it's slim pickings in this one. "Friday The 13th: A New Beginning" is hopelessly stuck adhering to general slasher principle, but without the campy fun that the previous movie brought. It's got the blood and the breasts, but little else.

The body count for this installment is a bit strange to consider seeing as how it's not the real Jason Voorhees killing everyone, but even he had to take a vacation. Not counting the dead impostor or the fat guy who died by one of those "red herrings," the man in the mask takes down a whopping 17 victims. Look out for Miguel A. Nunez, Jr., Spider from Return Of The Living Dead, as one of the victims, because, oddly enough, one of his costars appeared in the next "F-13" film.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI: JASON LIVES
(released August 1, 1986; 87 mins.)
Part IV was surprisingly good, Part V was nearly atrocious, and Part VI ends up taking the prize as my second favorite sequel in the series. Those who were won over by Part 5's emphasis on pervasive nudity and bloodletting over anything resembling diversion will have mixed feelings about this film, which basically forgets about the existence of the fifth film and has absolutely NO T&A and quickly-edited, nearly bloodless murder sequences. In fact, the most gory kill occurs in before the credits, when Hawes (Ron "Horshack" Palillo) gets his guts punched out by an invigorated Jason Voorhees. Beforehand, he and previous survivor Tommy Jarvis had went down to the graveyard so that Tommy could cremate Jason's already lifeless body. But Tommy, of all people, should know that a dark and stormy night isn't the exactly the right time to dig up a psychotic madman, because a bolt of lightning bulks up and energizes Jason, who frightens our hero away into the custody of Sheriff Garris (David Kagen), who refuses to listen to Tommy and suspects him when Jason continues upping the body count. And wait till the sheriff finds out his counselor daughter (Jennifer Cooke) is aiding and abetting a known felon!

Tom McLoughlin, who wrote the script as well, is perhaps the only director of the seven helmers in the Paramount series who seems to realize that the slasher movie has become all too stiff and rigid of a genre, one that caters only to the most undiscriminating gorehound. Given the opportunity to make his own movie with the Jason character, McLoughlin takes us on an entertaining, stylish, scary, and even comical ride through Crystal Lake, presenting a Jason (courtesy of C.J. Graham) who is at once again an expressive, unstoppable force of nature that lives up to his hulking status as the most powerful slasher in horror history. The murders are obligatory and wince-inducing, but I enjoyed one particular moment when a female victim (Lizabeth, who is played my McLoughlin's wife, Nancy) makes note of the "unfriendly" man in the hockey mask to her husband Darren (Tony Goldwyn from "Ghost") as they are lost in Forest Green (a renamed Crystal Lake) and then later tries to bribe him with an American Express card for her spared life. And unlike the past films, an aura of real menace is provided when a busload of very young children actually SHOW UP at the camp the moment Jason is on his way home.

The acting is all uniformly good for this go-round, if not highly spectacular. Thom Mathews, of the first two "Return Of The Living Dead" movies, makes a very sympathetic leading man as the twenty-something Tommy Jarvis, Cooke proves a fetching female counterpart, and David Kagen exudes a believably tough disposition as the father/lawmaker. And McLoughlin makes a couple of surprisingly subtle allusions in the movie, from the sleeping child reading No Exit to the senile gravekeeper who breaks the fourth wall talking about how “Some folks have a strange sense of entertainment!” to the nifty opening titles sequence where Jason struts on the screen like 007 and hacks up the screen. All in all, McLoughlin keeps the tradition alive with humor, vigor, and a sense of urgency, and the result is one of the least reprehensible "F-13" flicks in the series. Besides, they got Alice Cooper to do the theme song, and isn't that something to be proud of?

When Jason got out of that grave, he sure was p*ssed. A total of 18 victims are killed in this installment.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD
(released May 13, 1988; 90 mins.)
From the maker of Troll and "Ghoulies III" comes "Friday The 13th: Jason Vs. Carrie." After the tongue-in-cheek thrills of Part VI, the series falls back on its typically hokey "teenagers-in-peril" device without the benefit of winking comedy, believable dialogue, or exceptional performances. The gimmick to this film is that the screaming heroine is no longer a weak coward, but a disturbed young woman with levitating powers named Tina (Lar Park-Lincoln) who accidentally killed her hot-tempered father as a tot and is residing at Crystal Lake (what happened to Forest Green?) under the exploitative professional care of Dr. Crews (Terry "Bernie Lives" Kiser). When she tries to bring back her father from his watery grave, she unwittingly frees Jason, who was anchored to the bottom of the lake thanks to Tommy Jarvis, whom the series gracefully retired alive in the sixth film. Without his service, Tina must go it alone in making sure Jason once again dies.

Part VII is responsible for introducing Kane Hodder and his beloved take on the physical ticks of Jason. A hulky, muscle-bound figure himself, his work as the bitter, decaying monster in parts 7 & 8 is as close to Karloff and Chaney as it got in the 1980s (did I just say that aloud?). And director John Carl Buechler provides some realistic make-up effects for the new-and-improved "zombie Jason." This brings me to one of the gripes I have about this series, in that Jason Voorhees has take heaping amounts of abuse in the past, and yet in the last film, he looked like he's hardly ever had a long, gaping machete wound in his past. In part IV, which is recapped in the opening prologue alongside some of the end of Part VI, he lost an eye and had a machete almost slice away the top of his head. Thankfully, every single wound he had in his past is taken into account when Buechler created the FX for Jason in this particular installment. You can see from where axes and machetes have been driven into him from past movies, and the unmasked Jason presented here is nothing less than absolutely frightening.

Part VII is an unfortunate dry spell. Pitting a telekinetic heroine against an unstoppable killer was a nice idea, but the Tina character is underwritten and performed only vaguely by Park-Lincoln. Every single character other than Tina's is just begging for an impalement because they don't matter that much, and when they finally do die, the result are clumsily-edited, dry murders that the MPAA literally gave the Dracula treatment to. The DVD boxed set's bonuses make up for this unfortunate lack of splatter, but I'm still sore. Those interested in topless ladies will be happy by the nudity factor in this film, though, because that's basically the most dominant R-rated aspect of this film besides the bloodless violence. When it's said and done, all that makes a good "Friday the 13th" film is in limited supply for this outing, and it shows that Paramount's fortunes were flagging thanks to these films (despite grossing $19 million, a nice 1980s sum for a low-budget slasher film).

Whilst not gory enough as I hoped, I still made out that there were 15 dead bodies, unfortunately less than the last two installments.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN
(released July 28, 1989; 96 mins.)
Paramount makes these movies very cheaply, if the first movie's budget that I mentioned before didn't make it clear. Writer/director Rob Hedden had a $5 million budget, and yet for a movie called "Jason Takes Manhattan," the Big Apple isn't that much an integral part of the fruit basket. Shot largely in Vancouver, and taking place almost entirely on a boat full of the typical young waifs and libidinous losers, this eighth installment finds Jason (Kane Hodder) once again shocked back into life by an underwater power cable, where he promptly begins the festivities with two gruesome murders and then continues to plow through the residents of the Lazarus cruise liner, carrying a group of students on their way to New York. Only a few survive, and only one of them ends up getting killed in Manhattan. Once again, we have a frightened female hero, Rennie (Jensen Daggett), who, not unlike Chris from part 3, had a nasty encounter with Jason earlier in life that causes her to experience some sort of frailty.

But nothing in this movie works. Hedden's writing and directing is as limp as yarn, all the characters should come with a TM sign next to them (and yes, that even includes the one played by Kelly Hu, the awesome Deathstrike from "X2: X-Men United"), all the murders are pedestrian and mainly bloodless (the body count is 23, bringing the grand total to 116 total human casualties in these 8 films), and the setting is so dull, I gave it its own paragraph...

The movie grossed $14 million, five figures less than the past film, and yet one wonders why an extra $5 million couldn't have been tossed in for additional photography in the real New York. As it is presented here, it's not unlike the New York you saw in Bob Giraldi's "The Warriors"-damning "Beat It" video for Michael Jackson. Lots of grime, nothing authentic. Most of the small exterior shots of Times Square and such tease you as to what could've been done with a better budget. But Paramount has always been a distributor of little faith, especially now when it comes to releasing these movies on DVD.

The eight films in this DVD boxed set have accumulated a total box office gross of $206,063,896, and that's minus what it would be nowadays if you figured in inflation. And I'm willing to bet that the combined budget of all eight films is less than a one-fourth of that overall figure. No matter how you add it up, it amounts to Paramount's most lucrative series of movies to date, and easily one with a bad reputation to prove it. Perhaps that is why they fail to really give movies of this caliber the treatment it deserves. In other words, the title statement that this is the "Ultimate Edition DVD Collection" is a misnomer.

Now, don't get me wrong, the extras are good, and I will be getting to those in a moment, but I will also run through the things that they're missing overall.

Anyway, having only seen one of the movies previously released on DVD, I'm hoping to be assured that the DVD transfers of all eight movies are relatively similar to their single-disc counterparts. All movies are presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, except for "Part 3," which was shot in 2.35:1, and that means they had to matte the conclusion of the second film in that glorious aspect ratio. The series overall looks really good, compared to those cropped-up and drab VHS copies I still own. The first two Fridays have aged surprisingly well, and the DVD transfers offer a picture mostly free of flaws, highly consistent in terms of sharpness and color delineation. The hues are expectedly drab for 80s movies though, and instances of specks and tiny instances of haloing are the only impeding elements. Part 3 suffers from obvious lapses in sharpness quality due to the 3-D effects, a slight increase in marks on the negative, and fairly average uniformity in the color palette and shadow levels. When we get to "The Final Chapter," things finally...well, maybe not. The movie contains some persistent grain/flaws around the early part of the proceedings, an erratic contrast presentation, and well-transferred colors from what is definitely a movie of its shoestring-budgeted technical merit.

“Part V” finally presents a picture of surprisingly strong stature, where there is basically no intrusive softness, only minimal defects, and perhaps the most vivid and tightest colors so far. However, “Part VI” one-ups it by not only ridding any edge enhancement or ill-defined picture contrast, it also presents extremely solid colors, tiny instances of film grain, and some of the better blackness/shadow detail of the set. And both parts 7 and 8, while wholly watchable, have their specific flaws: “Part VII” suffers from a some poor low-light sequences and unstable control of sharpness levels and blemishes, whilst “Part VIII” is in particular is the only entry in the series to actually develop instances of compression trouble via some shimmering and moiré effects, which keep the otherwise positive picture quality from achieving greatness.

Parts I-V are all presented with their original mono soundtracks. This means that everything in terms of music, speech and effects is audible and with reasonable enough clarity, but hasn’t the right type of force for it to excel past the two speakers the music originated from. Still, I guess I wouldn’t prefer listening to the freaky synth-dance theme of “Part 3” any other way. Parts VI-VIII all come with Dolby Surround 2.0 tracks, and both VI and VII benefit from this newfound sonic landscape even better than the mono tracks. Music and effects are imaged more fashionably and definitely have more dynamic range than the previous films’ 1.0 tracks, and the dialogue is crisp and edge-free. Part VII also comes with a new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which is just another way of saying “it’s the 2.0 track with reinforcements from the rear speakers and the subwoofer.” At least they kick in when you want them to. Part VIII is on the same scale as the 2.0 mixes of the previous two, although both low-end frequency and the quality of the effects deteriorate in comparison. This is probably the best (and only) way to view or hear these eight movies until Paramount manage to really give the series the special treatment it deserves. All eight titles also come with additional French mono tracks and optional subtitles in English or Spanish.

Paramount have finally had the gumption to provide audio commentaries for a select few of the movies. Unfortunately, the audio commentary track from the overseas DVD of the original "F-13" wasn't salvaged here, which really sucks. However, four brand-new full-length yakkers have been produced exclusively for this set. First of all is a "Friday The 13th Part 3" audio commentary hosted by Peter Bracke, author of the forthcoming "Crystal Lake Memories" book, and featuring cast members Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka, Larry Zerner and Richard Brooker. Brooker speaks in an English accent, and Bracke opens the commentary indeed with that odd realization. However, this is a really interesting audio commentary that opens with all four members discussing how they got involved, and Brooker indeed has a fine anecdote. The cast members reminisce on working with Steve Miner, their reactions and stories as related to the making of the 3D sequences & the screening of them, character issues, the setting, excised footage and many other instances. Trivia buffs will enjoy the arduous amount of takes it took for the fire poker murder, as well as the instance when outraged crew members publicly rallied against the Luma crane. I also liked the revelation how Tracie Savage's mother was Paul and David Kagen's (the sheriff from "Part VI") agent and the cast's recollections on the alternate endings for the film. This is quite entertaining for fans of the film.

The “Friday The 13th Part VI” audio commentary features writer/director Tom McLoughlin going it solo. All of these commentaries are very interesting to listen to, although I guess I'd have to say that McLoughlin's is the cream of the crop. This man instantly comes off as someone both knowledgeable and appreciative of film in general, and making a "Friday The 13th" movie with the general carte blanche he received from Frank Mancuso, Jr., McLoughlin made a movie built on his influences (which ranged from Capra to Carpenter), his knack for often subtle/often deliberate humor, and the basic long-time experience he took from making his first film. This track only seems a bit spotty, if only because McLoughlin has so much to say and he says them in constant streams. Aside from providing his own witty and energetic spin on an all-too-familiar film series, McLoughlin also spends time here talking about the cast, the locations, the themes, the script, the deaths, the allusions, the music, etc. littered throughout. In fact, what's really great is that of all the commentaries, his is so personable and reminiscent that it actually runs from the starting classic Paramount logo to the ending classic Paramount logo.

John Carl Buechler and Kane Hodder are on hand for the “Friday The 13th Part VII” DVD commentary. They spend some a lot of time on this track talking about make-up effects issues, and how Buechler felt cheated that Jason never look damaged in previous films. The goal was to present a Jason that had obviously looked like a zombie who survived becoming fish food and looks like 100 miles of rough road. Buechler is hot on technical and cast-related aspects, whilst Hodder relishes how he got involved as Jason and anxiously awaits all the kill scenes (he even points out as in relation to actress Susan Blu the chance he had to kill a Smurf). Both men recall how peeved they were with the cuts demanded by the MPAA, recalling the backlash against the slasher genre by "some housewives from Encino" that left to the removal of gore scenes both extreme and miniscule in terms of graphic quality. In fact, in pointing out all the various trimmings forced by the censors throughout the movie, by the time they reach the death of Dr. Crews, a depressed and peeved Buechler throws off the word "cut" as a generic term. This track is noticeably spotty, as awkward silences pop off at moments during the track. But both Buechler's extensive knowledge of the happenings behind-the-scenes as well as Hodder's valuable information on the stunt sequences and such make for yet another superb, fascinating commentary.

And last of all, the “Friday The 13th Part VIII” audio commentary belongs to writer/director Rob Hedden. One of the most fascinating early nuggets of info was the fact that the boat that the director received was lost three days before the shoot, and everything had to get rearranged. Hedden goes over intentions for some of the fake scares, divulges on dozens of instances of foreshadowing in terms of plot and imagery, takes note of all the various shooting locations, and, of course, mentions some of the obligatory censored splatter instances. However, the main thing I liked about this commentary is when Hedden talks about the original screenplay's intention to have Jason actually take Manhattan, and goes over elements that would have made it into the film. It really makes you feel as if Paramount felt obligated to keeping the budget minimal for movies like these, which really detracts from what the marketing of the movie would have you believe (schedule problems also accounted for the alternate reality of this film). I'm pretty sure that if Jason spent more time in Manhattan, there would have been better word of mouth and a better box-office gross. Hedden does provide another robust commentary track, in the meantime, and overcomes instances of dulling on-screen narration and blank spots to provide another highly informational commentary.

Disc 5 is the one called "Killer Extras," and here is where the set should've truly excelled in bringing in all the great bells and whistles from the series history. We start with the obligatory series retrospective, The Friday The 13th Chronicles which was newly created for this DVD set. This is a collection of eight individual interview pieces, one for each film, which can be played via single access or for a consecutive viewing which runs about 103 minutes. I've provided a brief paragraph devoted to the contents of each title:

"Friday The 13th" - Sean S. Cunningham, Tom Savini, Adrienne King, Betsy Palmer, and Ari Lehman, who was the original Jason, are on hand for this segment. The most interesting (and familiar) trivia arrives from the start: Cunningham, oddly enough, had the idea for a horror movie called "Friday The 13th," but hadn't the story. He took out a spread in Variety on the fourth of July to promote the movie, and the plot had yet to be conceived. He employed Victor Miller's help in writing the screenplay, got shoestring financial backing, employed a no-name cast and the rest is history. Tom Savini doesn't get much into the specifics of the gore FX, but into the significance of them (wait until a little while for that behind-the-scenes stuff). Adrienne King and Betsy Palmer recall working with Cunningham, whilst King herself recalls a bloody FX instance that caught her off guard and Palmer talks about how she got into the job simply because she needed money for a new car (it couldn't have been due to that lovely story). Ari Lehman, the original Jason, recalls his infamous cameo. At 20:28, the longest piece of the eight featured, this probably isn't as detailed as one wishes (I would've liked some alternate/older interview footage to fill in the blanks), but it sure whets one's appetite for a good featurette, and the inclusion of classic B&W production stills is a treat.

"Friday The 13th Part 2" (14:02) - Cunningham and King return, and we also hear from Amy Steel Pulitzer and Warrington Gillette. King and Cunningham only appear for their respective reasons: Cunningham in how he couldn't deal with churning out a sequel, and King in some remembrance of her guest appearance at the start of "Part 2." This leaves Steel and Gillette, who talk about their auditions (Gillette graduated from acting school and then landed this gig, something which he will never live down), the experience working with Steve Miner, and, in perhaps the most loving and comprehensive detail one would like, the hardships in mimicking the first film's misdirecting boo scare. Miner's absence is a real loss, and it would've been nice to hear from the make-up artists or notable victims involved in this film, but the presence of Steel and Gillette once again make this one an easy sell.

"Friday The 13th Part 3" (8:49) - Larry Zerner, who looks completely different now than he did then, and cinematographer Gerard Feil. The two talk highly about the 3-D process used in the theatrical film, a few of the more memorable sequences in the film (the "popping eyeball" in particular), and the reactions from crowds. Zerner also talks about how stoked he was in introducing Jason to the iconic hockey mask.

"Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter" (13:11) - Joseph Zito, Tom Savini, and Corey Feldman are on hand here. Zito spends his interview time talking about making a slasher movie with the newer elements he wanted to see (dogs, kids, twins, etc.), the initial decision to make this "final," and the casting of Jason, which went to a man named Ted White. Feldman is his usual wiseacre self here, noticeably on the introductory casting statement. Here, he remembers the most shooting the finale in the Jarvis' house, where he was unsure of the choreography during a one-take shot and really got a jolt from Ted White's arrival through the window. Savini also is on hand to talk about how this was to be the curtain call for the monster he created.

"Friday The 13th: A New Beginning" (5:47) - Perhaps because the fourth film was to be the last, part V is viewed in a more negative light by many (including me) more than the fact that Jason wasn't some maggoty corpse with a vendetta in this installment. And I guess those who made this movie want to stay as far away as they can away from it now (I'll get into that later). Joseph Zito and Corey Feldman are talked to here, although they mainly talk about the intent to make a spin-off featuring Feldman's Tommy character, and in the end it relegated only to Feldman shooting his brief cameo the Sunday off from working on "The Goonies." Pangs of disappointment are to be expected after watching this, and they're not because of the fact that Feldman didn't return.

"Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives" (14:37) - Tom McLoughlin and C.J. Graham join the bloody fiesta. McLoughlin talks about how both his love of gothic horror and the unbound ability to add humor to the series allowed him to make a movie he felt proud of. He also remembers casting Graham late in the film (one sequence in particular is a gaffe due to the fact that original Jason performer Dan Bradley looks physically different from Graham), various production information and press screening observations, and, in the first of three instances, shooting the movie under the guise of something besides the "Friday The 13th" moniker. Graham recalls mainly how his impersonation of Jason at the nightclub he owned led to him later getting the call to come down to Georgia.

"Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood" (11:33) - This time, we get comments from John Carl Buechler, Lar Park Lincoln, and Kane Hodder. Hodder indulges us with tales of his introduction into the series, a few neat stunt sequences, and the power his physique brought to the role. Lincoln talks about working with Buechler, the involvement of the alligators, and also a few of the stunts she decided to do on her own. And Buechler, coming from his own FX background, talks about his prized creation in the new-and-improved Jason design specifically for this film, as well as the challenges of shooting in continental America during the winter and how he decided to go about guiding some of the actors (he has two different directions: "over-the-top" and "wooden").

"Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" (14:25) - Rob Hedden dominates this final piece, although we do hear from Hodder for a fairly brief moment once again getting into the stunt work (although, oddly enough, he doesn't mention a certain stunt supervisor for the film named Ken Kirzinger). Hedden rehashes information about the original Manhattan-based script (from which we get some storyboards) as well as his comments on the dull Jason flashback subplot, but only because he wants to wrap up as much pivotal information as he can about this film before he makes his final thoughts about the series he ended for Paramount Pictures.

Sadly, this entire 8-part retrospective piece, despite its efforts, isn't as complete as I dreamed it would be, as lot of potential interview participants have sadly been excluded from this one: Victor Miller, writer of the original (or for that matter, any writer excepting McLoughlin and Hedden); Frank Mancuso, Jr., the series' producer; Harry Manfredini, the man who brought you the "ki-ki-ki ma-ma-ma" chant; Fred Mollin, his replacement composer for the last two Paramount slasher flicks; Steve Miner, who directed two consecutive "Friday" films and who is continually given praise by those involved with those movies; a few of those involved with the third movie, such as Dana Kimmell and Richard Brooker, but whose voices are heard on the commentary track (or for that matter, Peter Bracke, the Jason historian who could've voiced on the other films); Danny Steinmann, who directed Part V but who seems to have distanced himself from this film as humanly possible; and some of the more notable performers from the trilogy, such as Kevin Bacon, Crispin Glover, Kimberley Beck, Melanie Kinnaman, Paul Shepherd, Thom Mathews, Peter Blair, Jensen Daggett, and others. This provides a lot of unspoken topics and gaps of comprehensively interesting information each film, perhaps the most obvious for Part V, whose only comments come from those who barely had anything to do with the film. As a result, you don't really get the final word on the series, and despite the fact that those who did comment are fairly worthy for their time, the daunting lack of additional interviewees, even through the use of archival clips, leaves for one surprisingly unsatisfactory program.

The same can be said of Tales From The Cutting Room Floor, which is a run-together assortment (at ) of cut footage from a mere half of the eight movies on display. We get deleted material from parts 1, 4, 6 and 7. Part 1 contains 3 uncut death scenes, but they're show in small boxes so that we can compare them to the cut theatrical versions. This is a considerably good idea, but it's also very distracting and quite a letdown to those who simply just want to see the uncut footage. We see the deaths of Kevin Bacon (Jack), and Betsy Palmer (Mrs. Voorhees) in all their gruesome glory, but we sadly miss out on the original opening death of Claudette (Debbi S. Hayes), as well as the throat-slitting of Annie (Robbi Morgan), which was seen uncut on the previous single-disc release but has somewhat faded into white for this DVD's presentation, just as the theatrical edition did.

Part IV, which looks to have had its gore scenes less tampered with by the censorship committee, contains a trio of actual deleted scenes in full-frame format, including a scene where Tommy psyches out the secretively Jason-hunting Rob (Erich Anderson) via a fake guillotine. Unfortunately, I have seen these clips and more on some old composite VHS version I bought through a horror fanboy, including another fake scare bit during the scene where Trish and Tommy can't get the car to start. Besides, where's that scene where Trish finds her dead mommy in the bathtub?! I haven't seen that one ANYWHERE!

Part VI contains six alternate murder sequences (some in fairly worn-out different takes) and one dialogue-based outtake, and just like the original, they are presented in contrasting split-screen. Aside from a bit where Sissy and Paula (Renée Jones and Kerry Noonan) chatter as they tuck the kids in bed, the rest is pure fun with play plasma. Such delights include the complete tri-decapitation of the paintball crew, the original version of the deaths of Darren and Lizabeth (the couple in the car), and also Sheriff Garris’ complete “body bent backwards” demise. Most other gory material, such as insert shots of Jason stomping on Hawes’ guts in the graveyard and the close-up of the broken booze bottle stuck in the caretaker’s throat, are most likely lost, as McLoughlin points out.

The most anticipated part of this feature is the inclusion of Part 7’s infamously excised kill scenes, and we get a whopping 12 instances of uncut footage, presented in their full-screen workprint editions (expect lots of bad sharping) with commentary by Buechler and Hodder. You’ll love these scenes, as we get extremely nastier killings of Michael Schroeder’s Dan (we see Jason’s arm go through his chest, clenching his insides, and also snapping his neck), Deborah Kessler’s Judy (the sleeping bag girl smacked against a tree six times, although Buechler actually prefers the cut version), Craig Thomas’ Ben (his head is crushed into putty), Terry Kiser’s Dr. Crews (the tree-trimmer actually causes his guts to fly), and a few others. Also featured is the original make-up FX done on Tina’s undead dad (John Otrin), and the original ending where Jason takes a fisherman to his watery grave. I have to say I got my fill on this particular segment, which only leads me to the flaws.

Steve Miner, who made parts 2 and 3 back-to-back, is the most sorely missed, as his involvement could've perhaps led to the inclusion of rough material from either films (particularly the heavily trimmed killings from Part 2 and Part 3's alternate ending), whereas the most disappointing realization is that despite Rob Hedden's involvement in this set, both on commentary and in the flesh, not a single outtake from Part 8 is visible, which indeed has some particularly gruesome murders that ended up getting shish kabobed by the MPAA. Part V is a hopeless case, because God knows how they’re going to get those bloody goods if Danny Steinmann isn’t talking. Beside those and the gripes I had mentioned before, I must say that I got cheated considerably, but I still liked how they at least gave a few gallons more gore to go with the main course.

Secrets Galore Behind The Gore is a three-piece dinner of slasher goodness featuring Tom Savini and John Carl Buechler on their work for their respective films: "Friday The 13th" (9:28), "The Final Chapter" (22:56), and "The New Blood" (11:06). Savini is backed up by Cunningham on the first one, who talks about the magician-like quality of the gore FX before Savini launches into the tricks involved in each of the memorably graphic killings. Clips and stills are presented as a complement. The documentary on Savini's work on "Chapter" not only focuses on creating some of the gore FX (he talks about an alternate death of Jason via electricity that was nixed for the traditional machete killing, whose videotaped FX test is seen here), but also works in Savini's recent job as a teacher for a whole new generation of young wizards seeking to make their own mark via self-designed creature/make-up designs. The presentation of "The Make-Up School" is a pretty nice bonus, if only because it shows where Tom is now after giving up the gore FX torch to KNB and it allows you to see what other people hope to accomplish, even if they cannot achieve the plateau of sickness Savini built up in his career. Buechler and Hodder recall creating the new version of Jason, how Hodder coped with this elaborate full-body creation and also such deaths as the great sleeping bag killing.

Crystal Lake Victims Tell All is somewhat of a cheating title. When I first heard it, I thought that they'd actually drag some of Jason's victims out of retirement and give them a few minutes apiece to talk about the experiences on the set, shooting their spotlight splatter moments, and how they reacted to watching themselves die. Silly me, as the 15-minute piece assembles additional interview clips with such non-victims as Amy Steel, Corey Feldman and Lar Park Lincoln as well as actual Crystal Lake victims Larry Zerner, Adrienne King and, in his first appearance on the DVD, William Butler, who got killed in Part VII and would later bite the dust in both "Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III" and Savini's 1990 "Night Of The Living Dead." Most of the stories relate how each particular cast member were sucked into the franchise (Zerner was a film house usher, King was coaxed by some friends, Butler was a friend of Buechler, etc.) as well as tidbits about shooting the films themselves in the various locations and a few other worthy anecdotes (when Lincoln read the script for Part VII, called "Birthday Bash," a friend also peeked at it and pointed out "It's a 'FRIDAY THE 13TH!'"). These aren't expendable comments at all, and the nostalgia catches on, but someone should've really had the effort made to round up other stars from the series and to actually live up to the title. Sidenote: Joseph Zito does provide a few fun comments on how the M.I.A. Crispin Glover was cast in his movie and what he brought to the role.

Friday Artifacts And Collectibles runs 6:58 and catches up with some of the directors and fans who have kept some of the props and merchandise in their grasp. Rob Hedden still has the mock Gibson V guitar used in the first central boat killing during Part VIII, as well as one of Jason's post-toxic mess hockey masks and a framed slate card. Tom McLoughlin has Jason's gravestone and casket still lurking about (he uses the stone to scare away the water meter people). And J.C. Buechler has the mask that was originally used for the zombie image of Tina's father in "Part VII." However, we also get to hear from Nicole Puzzo, an associate designer from the NECA who talks about the "F-13" lunchboxes and 18" Jason figures, and an avid fan named Brooks Burton, who owns a rad Jason Voorhees electric guitar with signatures from all of the Jasons. It's rather brief, but it's got plenty enough going for it.

Finally, we have theatrical trailers for all eight films presented on one menu, and they all are clearly with their charms. The first three have the gimmick where we count the 13 poised victims, including such obvious cheats as Crazy Ralph (who dies in Part 2), Jason (who is the reason why these people are dying), and Alice, who dies TWICE according to the original’s trailer and dies yet again for the sequel (she still must have six more lives!). By the time of part IV, the death of Jason was to coincide with the "Friday, April 13" release of the film. Part V is actually a nifty trailer to a bad movie, and Part VII plays up at least one ancillary teenage character as the surviving hero. The trailers for VI and VIII are your basic teasers, although VIII is a teaser in two ways, in that it presents no clips of the actual movie and it also exploits the idea that Jason actually kills random strangers in New York, when the finished movie couldn’t have been more of a downer.

Whilst FRIDAY THE 13TH: FROM CRYSTAL LAKE TO MANHATTAN - THE ULTIMATE EDITION DVD COLLECTION satiates those who wanted to wait to purchase all eight titles together so that they could also get the bells and whistles, it will end up disappointing to many. Aside from complete, uncensored versions of each film, a gripe amongst thousands, there's also too many things missing from this DVD that would really help make it "Ultimate." If Paramount really wanted to deliver, they should've increased the number of interview participants threefold, purged their libraries for as many deleted scenes they could find, include a few little fan boy bonuses [Alice Cooper's video for "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)"], and maybe dig deeper into all the resources they have accumulated over the past 24 years if there's any (I am still peeved that Universal chucked the dailies for "Fast Times At Ridgemont High"). It's finally great to have these eight exploitation anti-classics in my library, and it was a pleasure to watch the hours of bonus material promised, but Paramount really should've gotten it much more right this time. I recommend this package, but only at four stars, because the studio who prepare these films don't believe in Jason as something other than the slayer of revenue. Chi-chi-chi ho-ho-hum.

Footnote: The copy I purchased at Best Buy contained yet another disc, JASON FOREVER, which contained an additional bonus feature not included on disc five. Actors Ari Lehman, Warrington Gillette, C.J. Graham, and Kane Hodder were on-hand for a convention taped exclusively for this DVD set, where they answered Q&A from fans of the films and provided additional interview comments on how they look back on the legacy they altogether formed. It's great for spotters, but Paramount should still take the time to understand the value of an "easter egg."

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age