His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th

The 2009 remake of Friday the 13th (the 1980 original granddaddy of slasher movies) was the obvious catalyst for this double-disc grab-bag of material related to the franchise, which has certainly proved longer-lived than most of the characters in the 13 movies released over the last three decades. The first disc offers the feature-length documentary His Name Was Jason, which blends film excerpts with reminiscences from actors, crew members, and fans (some of the interviewees try to invest the series with some deeper significance, or cast hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees in the light of a heroic protagonist—interpretations that will come across as absurd to many). Bonus features on the first disc include an interview featurette with the actors who have played Jason. But the majority of extras are found on the second disc, including interviews with the various directors and screenwriters, four “fan films,” a location tour, a gag film chronicling the overall plot of the series in four minutes, footage featuring Comic-Con fans, a jokey Camp Crystal Lake “survival guide,” a tour of a modest Friday the 13th “theme park,” and a spoof lawyer's commercial aimed at Jason's victims. Technically first-class, His Name Was Jason will appeal to fans of the blood-drenched series, making this a strong optional purchase for collections carrying the feature films. Aud: P. (F. Swietek)