Friday the 13th The Ultimate Collection

BY Serena WhitneyPublished Oct 12, 2011

Studios know that all it takes to dupe an overly nostalgic horror fan into buying a DVD box set for all the movies they already own is by adding a colourful adjective in front of the word "collection." It's because of this that Camp Crystal Lake is back in business and aficionados of the dated slasher franchise will once again be duped into shelling out their hard-earned cash for the new Friday the 13th Ultimate Collection DVD box set. Originally released in 2004, to disappointed horror buffs expecting to see extra shots of gore and breasts, the new box set features the uncut and deluxe editions of part one to eight (which were released individually two years ago) in an eight-page booklet equipped with trivial facts and body counts for each entry. Fans of the franchise will be able to relive all their treasured moments, such as Shelly's "tragic," yet necessary demise, in part three, Crispin Glover's inspiring dance moves in four and Axel's hilarious Tourette's-like screaming in the beginning of five. However, for those uneducated in the "intricate" world of killing machine Jason Voorhees, the franchise will play out like the softcore porn they watched when they were little. What was once so shocking years ago surprisingly features only paper-thin plots, brief female nudity and very few moments of ultra-violence. Although the series gets a bad reputation for being misogynistic, it's clear after watching all eight parts that Jason was an equal opportunity destroyer; he killed women, men, white, black, crippled and even a dog. Love him or hate him, the mass murdering Detroit Red Wings fan was the slasher genre's ultimate villain. The box set is loaded with hours upon hours of special features, including a geek-out fan commentary by directors Adam Green and Joe Lynch, appalling "Lost Tales from Camp Blood" fan shorts, deleted scenes of gore, fake documentaries starring horror webmasters pretending to be celebrities and footage from conventions where Kane Hodder is worshipped like a god. Although if you're not a horror virgin living in your parents' basement, it would be best to skip those features and just watch the "making of" featurettes, which actually are far more interesting than the franchise itself. The box set also comes with a cheap Jason mask that can fit an infant and two 3D glasses for Friday the 13th Part 3.
(Paramount Pictures)

Latest Coverage