HIS NAME WAS JASON

(A.k.a. HIS NAME WAS JASON: 30 YEARS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH)

Despite starting his filmmaking career as the screenwriter of 1995's HALLOWEEN 6, Daniel Farrands clearly has a yen for celebrating modern cultural horrors by way of making documentaries on the subjects. Just one glance at his subsequent resume shows that he's worked on a few TV exposes on the Amityville phenomenon, and directed examinations of the stories behind A HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT and the A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series (the definitive "Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy").

He was even behind 2009's "The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited", a mockumentary that purported to interview witnesses and survivors of Jason's reigns of terror.

But it is HIS NAME WAS JASON that Farrands is best known for at present. And with good reason. The FRIDAY THE 13TH film series is revered by horror fans worldwide, and Farrands has made a comprehensive if not overly exhaustive review of the unkillable Mr Vorhees' enduring appeal over the years - charting the series' progress from when Sean S Cunningham first began shooting the original (September 4th 1979) to the eve of the 2009 remake.

Tom Savini hosts (taking us through the "Friday the 13th" ride at Universal Studios along the way, no less) and also offers good trivia regarding his own FX work on parts 1 and 4 of the series, along with opinions on all matters Jason. Savini has come across as self-serving and insincere at times previously (the commentary track on Anchor Bay's MARTIN disc, for example), but is a warm and highly agreeable companion here. He's also a lot of fun, as the tone is kept light by Farrands and script writers Thommy Hutson and Anthony Masi (another dab hand at this horror documentary malarkey).

From there, we get a formidable array of cast and crew members from years gone by, mostly filmed separately but sat in front of nifty video footage of various FRIDAY highlights as they offer memories of filming experiences and cod insights into what makes Jason tick (yes, it appears many of them believe - or have been advised to behave that way by the filmmakers - that Jason is real).

There's not a lot here that true fans won't already know. For instance, we've all heard how Cunningham pitched the idea successfully on nothing but a title; the struggles the sequels have suffered against the American censors, the MPAA; how the 12 films had - by 2009 - accumulated over half a billion dollars at the worldwide box office; the make-up designs and acting methods of the various Jasons ...

Kane Hodder turns up and obviously has a great deal of respect for having played Jason in episodes 7, 8, 9 and 10 (JASON X). He speaks with enthusiasm about his time on those sets, and has committed notions about his character's motivations. But he also harbours a grudge about not being chosen to portray Jason in Ronny Yu's 2003 film FREDDY VS JASON.

Cunningham is a little too self-congratulatory and although he makes mention of films that have ripped his little 1980 effort off, he forgets to acknowledge the films that predated his own (BLACK CHRISTMAS? HALLOWEEN?!).

Elsewhere, it's nice to see part 4 director Joseph Zito, as well as Betsy Palmer - Mrs Vorhees from the original FRIDAY - and FX artists such as John Carl Buechler and Greg Nicotero. Ari Lehman is here too (the very first Jason), looking in his adulthood like Kirk Hammett. In fact, all the Jasons get in on the act.

The list of people who've been roped in to contribute is indeed most impressive, and it was great to see key early players such as Adrienne King and Harry Manfredini also getting involved. There are also a few faces that have little to do with the franchise, but obviously wanted the work anyway: HATCHET's Adam Green is one; comedian Seth Green (no relation) is another. In fairness, while neither has anything informative to offer, they do enter the spirit of the piece as a whole in joyously celebrating the FRIDAY legacy and indulging Farrands' desire to treat Jason as a genuine rock 'n' roll legend.

One glaring omission from this documentary was Steve Miner, director of parts 2 and 3. That's a real shame, as his non-appearance prevents this from being definitive. Also, where was Corey Feldman (Tommy in episodes 4 and 5)? Too busy appearing in PUPPET MASTER VS DEMONIC TOYS, perhaps ...

There's no Kevin Bacon either (small role in part 1), but ho-hum ...

Overall, this is a well-edited and attractively produced effort that moves at a lightning-quick pace and is never anything less than entertaining. Peppered with colour and black-and-white stills, plus archive clips (included some unrated murder scenes, albeit brief), HIS NAME WAS JASON is an excellent examination of a cult legend.

Working against it are the fact that too much of what's offered from the interviewees is simply repeating the plotlines to each film, and it all feels a little rushed to meet a 90-minute running time. Also, it must be said that this is probably best suited to being a brilliant extra on a FRIDAY disc, rather than a stand-alone film. Having said that, Paramount's US FRIDAY series box-set already has the reportedly great "From Crystal Lake to Manhattan", which apparently looks at each film in more depth.

Stax Entertainment's 2-disc set is a very tantalising prospect indeed.

The film naturally appears on disc 1. Its uncut and presented in a highly attractive, problem-free 1.78:1 transfer which has been enhanced for 16x9 TV sets.

English audio is presented in a nice, reliable 2.0 mix.

The disc opens with a static main menu page that leads into a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 12 chapters.

There are two substantial extras on disc 1: "The Men Behind The Mask" and "Final Cuts".

"Mask" is a 44-minute featurette that affords the various Jasons the opportunity to elaborate on their own recollections from the films they were in. There are some fascinating titbits to be had here, and this 4:3 offering really could've done with be integrated into the main feature - there's some good stuff here!

"Final Cuts" is 74 minutes with several of the directors of the FRIDAY films. Cunningham is smug; Buechler is gracious; James Isaac (JASON X) is highly respectful; Adam Marcus (JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY) has the post-modern cool of Kevin Smith.

Again, these more insightful interviews should've made it into the finished article. But they're here anyway, so all is good.

Over on disc 2, we open up with an identical static main menu page to that on disc 1. Only this time, the extra features can be accessed directly from there.

"The Crystal Lake Survival Guide" is an admittedly disappointing start: a sepia-tainted mock archive information service programme featuring various FRIDAY cast and crew members from over the years giving advice such as "if the locals tell you 'you're all doomed', they're probably right" and "don't go skinny-dipping in the lake". 4 minutes.

"From Script To Screen" is a 30-minute expansion on the screenwriting process for several of the FRIDAY films. Again, you have to ask yourself - why didn't this stuff make HIS NAME WAS JASON? Again, you have to tell yourself - it doesn't matter, it's here regardless, and this is shaping up to be a pretty awesome 2-disc FRIDAY tribute.

"Friday The 13th in Four Minutes" is a quick summary of the series from various fans, such as Adam Green and Joe Lynch (WRONG TURN 2).

"Dragged From The Lake" is 23 minutes of fans and insiders talking about their favourite moments.

"Fox Comes Home" is a 3-minute featurette that returns to the set of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3, 26 years after the fact.

"Closing The Book On The Final Chapter" is the same as the above, with Zito returning to the location of THE FINAL CHAPTER's gory action. 12 minutes.

"Inside Halloween Horror Nights" is another 6 minutes, this time offering a walkaround of the ride/tour that Savini presents the main feature from.

The US trailer for HIS NAME WAS JASON follows, clocking in at just 30 seconds in length.

Finally, we get 13 minutes of fan videos. Which includes two cheap SOV cheap spoofs that tap into depression (hmm, saddos?), and a bizarre review of some naff fake Jason video game. Ultimately these make for quite decent viewing.

HIS NAME WAS JASON - the actual 90-minute documentary by Farrands - is an enjoyable, often light-hearted affair that races along with brisk editing and lots of gushing comments about how cool Jason is. It's also met by a little too much in the way of nondescript metal music for my liking.

The supplementary stuff - a good 4 hours' worth - really adds to this set though, especially the two featurettes on disc 1.

Those two featurettes really seal the deal, but the main feature is great fun too. It's debatable how much a hardcore FRIDAY fan will gleam from it, and it's a shame some key names haven't been cajoled into appearing, but nevertheless ... I'd like to see someone try and produce a better love song to this franchise.

And, Stax's DVD is great.

Review by Stu Willis