Friday the 13th: 8-Movie Collection (1980-1989)

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by HarrisonJohn

3 is the best chase sequence but I think also the best setting with the house, barn, bridge, dock, lake... it's the location I think of when I think Friday the 13th.

And Richard Brooker was awesome.

Dana Kimmell's acting didn't bother me either. There is far worse in horror movies.

[DNSK]

The 8 movie set is all I need as that’s all I care about. They’re the 80’s films. I think 1-4 are the best films that really arc the whole story. Parts 5-8 aren’t as good but they wrapped up the decade to the point where I no longer cared anymore as a kid that grew up with the films. I really stopped watching and caring after Part 8.

[RandomMovieFan]

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

I'm one of the big fans of the 3rd movie. The best finale in the series.

I think its the best because Chris Higgins fights back most of the time and the characters are fun like Mitch and Shelly

[Scoot79]

I'm a major Friday the 13th fan so even though I have the Scream Factory set, I also picked up this one.



The artwork was just too cool and the red case really makes it stand out, although it looks like the set is now being packaged in a blue case.

As for the films, I absolutely love 1-6. The first four are really all you need, but part 5 really captures the dark atmosphere of the first four and part 6, while stylistically different in tone, still contains a lot of suspense, a really beautiful filming location, and an awesome looking Jason. In fact, I think Jason looked his best in parts 3, 4, and 6.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by RandomMovieFan

I think its the best because Chris Higgins fights back most of the time and the characters are fun like Mitch and Shelly

I love normal written female characters that fight back.

People talk about how the old hippie couple doesn't really fit, but most of these characters are kind of light hearted besides Catherine Parks kind of snobby character.

Yes, there is an age gap, but the characters are largely fun.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by Scoot79

I'm a major Friday the 13th fan so even though I have the Scream Factory set, I also picked up this one.

[Show spoiler]



The artwork was just too cool and the red case really makes it stand out, although it looks like the set is now being packaged in a blue case.

As for the films, I absolutely love 1-6. The first four are really all you need, but part 5 really captures the dark atmosphere of the first four and part 6, while stylistically different in tone, still contains a lot of suspense, a really beautiful filming location, and an awesome looking Jason. In fact, I think Jason looked his best in parts 3, 4, and 6.

I disagree... I do need Jason Lives in my collection.

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by Matt89

I like Part 3 more now than I used to......Can't really go wrong with the first four, they were the golden age of Friday the 13th.

One thing I've found is how much I've come to love and appreciate the first film in recent years. Mind you I was always a fan, but for a long time Part 2 was my fav, then it was The Final Chapter and now I think it's probably the first film. It has atmosphere in spades and the setting and tone of the film is just great......I think the film sets up the lore extremely well, and it has excellent pacing for a slasher film.

The more you revisit the broad array of films in the entirety of the late-70's/early-to-mid 80's slasher genre, the more you come to appreciate just how solid of a piece of horror cinema Friday the 13th Part 1 actually is, given the context, the budget, and its contemporaries....and, even without Jason as the primary malevolent force.

I will admit that as a kid watching these roll out in order, I loved the first film for its atmosphere even back then. But the thing I found most disturbing about the franchise was the grotesque enigma of Jason himself, and at the time, I just didn't feel afraid of Mrs. Voorhees. As a result, Parts 2, 3 and 4 were more impactful back then. The images of rotted-corpse youth-Jason popping out of the lake to swamp the canoe are unforgettable. Now I enjoy the first four films with their respective quirks and qualities, almost equally. 4k uhd, hello? 1 through 4, please....

[Scoot79]

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

I disagree... I do need Jason Lives in my collection.

I do too. I just meant they could have ended it with part 4 like they once intended. 1-6 for me. I can leave the rest.

[Jay H.]

The first hour of part III is pretty bad; it's basically just showing off the 3-D, which becomes very tiresome when you watch it in 2-D. However, right at the hour mark, Jason walks onscreen wearing the hockey mask for the very first time. From this moment on, part III is one helluva ride. The kills are nasty (poor Andy!) and the intensity is on high.

It still doesn't make sense that Chris dreams of Mama, though. She doesn't know who she is, and never sees her face in the dream anyway. Just more of the silliness that is the F13 franchise.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

The first hour of part III is pretty bad; it's basically just showing off the 3-D, which becomes very tiresome when you watch it in 2-D. However, right at the hour mark, Jason walks onscreen wearing the hockey mask for the very first time. From this moment on, part III is one helluva ride. The kills are nasty (poor Andy!) and the intensity is on high.

It still doesn't make sense that Chris dreams of Mama, though. She doesn't know who she is, and never sees her face in the dream anyway. Just more of the silliness that is the F13 franchise.

It is silliness, but the whole franchise is... But it's not silly enough to bother me like stuff that came later in the franchise. Like Jason's demise in part 8.

I'm used to the 3D stuff. It doesn't bother me.

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by Scoot79

I do too. I just meant they could have ended it with part 4 like they once intended. 1-6 for me. I can leave the rest.

I do get what you're saying here... Jason's demise in The Final Chapter was about as final as you can get For that character besides of a beheading... Yeah, I know we get the ordeal of Feldman at the end.... But the idea of how the franchise would carry on from that point and direction is better left to the imagination. The folks that wrote those movies wouldn't have made that concept or idea work in any meaningful way.

[HarrisonJohn]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

It still doesn't make sense that Chris dreams of Mama, though. She doesn't know who she is, and never sees her face in the dream anyway. Just more of the silliness that is the F13 franchise.

I take the ending of 1 & 3 more like Crystal Lake is haunted, ghostly apparitions sort of thing.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Over the weekend I watched the first 3 movies in the series.

[Show spoiler]The first film was the only one I had seen on the blu-ray release (borrowed from a friend) and I'm glad I opted to get the new set with the remastered transfers because there is a definite image improvement with more suffused colors and finely rendered grain. The night time sequences of which there are many, look much improved in this newer version. Part 2 also looks pretty damn good in most part and I assume is superior to previous releases. Part 3 is a mixed bag because there are many shots that look soft and slightly out of focus, I don't know if it has something to do with the fact that it was originally shot in 3D.

As regards the films themselves, again 1&2 have a reasonably similar quality. It's not amazing cinema, but it's decent popcorn fodder. In part 2 the MPAA seems to have taken a heavier hand because several of the kills appear a lot more abrupt than in the predecessor. But I liked how the child psychology student heroine manages to overcome Jason at one point. Part 3 is actually the tamest and lamest of the lot so far (although it has some historical importance as the first installment where Jason wears the hockey mask he is identified with). Apart from having the most disjointed script with a very unlikely band of characters - who are John Lennon and Yoko Ono and why are they hanging about with the other people in that group? - this one is also devoid of naughty thrills. Even when the girls are having sex or showering they only display PG-rated levels of flesh (which is a waste since it got an R-rating anyway). The kills are nicely conceived for 3D, as are other moments with characters pointing or throwing stuff at the screen. Since I don't have a 3D capable display anyway, even if I had the Shout release I would not have been able to get the full effect.

Apart from the extras on the individual movie discs, I saw the corresponding chapters on the CLM documentary, which is how I intend to go with the rest of the set.

Going on, I saw the 4th installment captioned The Final Chapter (that turned out a little hasty). If I thought the third one was kinda tame (although some of the kills were nicely framed for 3D), this one certainly got a booster shot of what made the first two films work. Apart from the wholly unnecessary recap of the previous movies (director Joseph Zito says he didn't want it), the film feels 'bigger'. There's the opening shot of the police staking out the scene of the last massacre, complete with helicopter trail (even if said copter is quite obviously a spotlight on a crane paired with the sound FX of a rotor). The names in the opening credits are like a who's who of 80's genre movies - Judie Aronson (who I had a crush on as a kid from seeing her in American Ninja), Crispin Glover and best of all Corey Feldman, who is very impressive as the precocious kid brother of the female lead who is into horror movies and make-up FX - I was vigorously nodding when Tom Savini in the extras says that Corey was basically him as a kid. Ted White dons the hockey mask and provides a suitably intimidating presence, moving with surprising agility for someone that was nearly 60 at the time of the movie.

My issues with the deficiencies of gore and titillation in the 3rd installment were also swept over quite early. While keeping the killings brief to minimize MPAA interference, they are definitely more visceral and the red stuff flows a lot freer. In the titillation department, Judie Aronson and the More twins provide ample charms before going to their grisly demises (Judie apparently developed hypothermia from being naked in the freezing water for long periods, prompting Ted White to argue with the director that either she be let out to thaw in between takes or he would walk off the shoot). Jason's death is a doozy both in terms of the VFX techniques as well as the very emotional transformational moment it has for the person that kills him.

So yeah, a great finale for the franchise...at least till they relented on it being the finale. That's for another day.

I saw all the featurettes on the disc (other than the Lost Tales from Camp Blood short film homages, which I thought were quite meh) as well as part of the CLM chapter on this movie. Corey Feldman seemed thrilled and happy to talk about the movie. His performances as a child and teen actor and later in movies like 'Burbs were the zeitgeist of the 80's, and it's sad that his personal life turned out so troubled. Zito in the retrospective pieces seems a good-natured guy, and Ted White gives him the excuse that perhaps the pressure of finishing the movie on time made him behave badly with Aronson (who in the CLM episode only says she had a hard time in part of the shoot, without blaming anyone). Interestingly enough, White thinks Feldman was a mean brat, while most of the other crew were quite fond of him. I imagine it's because Feldman was more an actor than a normal kid, and some of that attitude may have rubbed this movie's Jason the wrong way.

[Matt89]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

The more you revisit the broad array of films in the entirety of the late-70's/early-to-mid 80's slasher genre, the more you come to appreciate just how solid of a piece of horror cinema Friday the 13th Part 1 actually is, given the context, the budget, and its contemporaries....and, even without Jason as the primary malevolent force.

I will admit that as a kid watching these roll out in order, I loved the first film for its atmosphere even back then. But the thing I found most disturbing about the franchise was the grotesque enigma of Jason himself, and at the time, I just didn't feel afraid of Mrs. Voorhees. As a result, Parts 2, 3 and 4 were more impactful back then. The images of rotted-corpse youth-Jason popping out of the lake to swamp the canoe are unforgettable. Now I enjoy the first four films with their respective quirks and qualities, almost equally. 4k uhd, hello? 1 through 4, please....

Oh man, 100%. It's such a slick little slasher movie. So much of it works so well. The score gets a bit repetitive with the later films, but Manfredini's music is one of the best things about the first movie. It really adds to the mood and atmosphere. In particular, the dream sequence at the end has such beautifully composed music, which in turn makes the jump scare work so well. I've introduced tons of friends to the first film, and that jump scare is just as effective now as it was back in 1980. Also, the characters aren't simply set up just to die, which sort of became an issue with the later films, someone would be introduced with zero background only to be killed minutes later. I know that there are fans out there who love that sort of stuff, and while none of the characters are really that deep, personally I like them to at least be fleshed out a little bit.

Oh, and the US 1-sheet is one of the greatest posters ever created in the history of cinema.

~Matt

[badfingerboogie]

Originally Posted by Matt89

Oh man, 100%. It's such a slick little slasher movie. So much of it works so well. The score gets a bit repetitive with the later films, but Manfredini's music is one of the best things about the first movie. It really adds to the mood and atmosphere. In particular, the dream sequence at the end has such beautifully composed music, which in turn makes the jump scare work so well. I've introduced tons of friends to the first film, and that jump scare is just as effective now as it was back in 1980. Also, the characters aren't simply set up just to die, which sort of became an issue with the later films, someone would be introduced with zero background only to be killed minutes later. I know that there are fans out there who love that sort of stuff, and while none of the characters are really that deep, personally I like them to at least be fleshed out a little bit.

Oh, and the US 1-sheet is one of the greatest posters ever created in the history of cinema.

~Matt

When I first got the 8-movie set some years ago I actually kept the US Blu edition of the first movie that I had for the sole purpose of the cover

Eventually I realised that was a bit eccentric, even for me, so I sold it on, but boy do I miss having that around!

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by Matt89

Oh man, 100%.....The score gets a bit repetitive with the later films, but Manfredini's music is one of the best things about the first movie. It really adds to the mood and atmosphere. In particular, the dream sequence at the end has such beautifully composed music, which in turn makes the jump scare work so well.......

~Matt

Absolutely. I watch and enjoy all sorts of B and C grade slasher funk, and while most folks love to hate The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985), I've always been irrationally fond of that warped trainwreck of a production disaster, in large part because of Harry Manfredini's killer, instantly-recognizable score, from his peak era. Those trademark shrieking violins and haunting, eerie synths throw gobs of vintage 80's dread all over the films he fortunately graced with his talents during that era. Manfredini is an inseparable part of the Friday 13th legacy.

Anyone that thinks otherwise should go take the Tangerine Dream score from Ridley Scott's "Legend" and put it over the chase and kill sequences from Friday the 13th, and see how that works out for them.

[RandomMovieFan]

Why cant they restore the deleted part 7 footage

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by RandomMovieFan

Why cant they restore the deleted part 7 footage

The elements were destroyed by Paramount.

[bigdaddyhorse]

Originally Posted by RandomMovieFan

Why cant they restore the deleted part 7 footage

You can't do anything with VHS workprints, and that's all that is left sadly.
My Bloody Valentine has me hoping that maybe the film footage wasn't destroyed, but all signs and people in the know say it was. On the bright side, they said the same about MBV and (some/most of) it was discovered. Just like Jason, hope might not be dead even though it seems to be.

[Rich1983]

Originally Posted by Scoot79

I do too. I just meant they could have ended it with part 4 like they once intended. 1-6 for me. I can leave the rest.

I really love The New Blood. I consider that to be the last of the classic films.