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

Friday the 13th is everything I hate about horror films and slasher films in general. There is nothing subtle about them and though I guess that's the point, the fact that the story made no sense whatsoever makes me dislike them even more. Unlike Halloween or even the Nightmare on Elm Street films were they at least tried to explain what was going on, these films simply did not care, it was basically: Jason is going to kill everyone who just appeared in the title sequence, except maybe one or two. This documentary and the rest of the footage goes through the history of the films and much like the films themselves, it is a mess. Hosted by special effects legend Tom Savini it does not go from beginning to end as you would imagine logic would dictate. Instead it goes in and around and weaves through all the films until you get lost at what film they are talking about. I understand that if they want to talk about the make-up or the killings or the actors that they may want to do them in block sections, but there seemed to be no rhyme or reason into what I was watching and because of this, the documentary suffered.
Those speaking are a wide range or cast, crew and fans of the series and they do have some interesting stories to tell, but some are far too short or seem to just be commenting without really having any real relevance to the topic being discussed at that time. With a more ordered construction it could have been a lot better.
The two disks have a vast amount of extra footage includes Final Cuts, another hour of footage and unused interviews which really should have been added to the feature and Under the Hockey Mask is a great look at those who played Jason and really shows you the vast array of people who played him over the years. Crystal Lake Survival Guide is a funny look at all the things you should do if you want to survive a night at Crystal Lake with comments from cast, crew and fans including 'Don't go up the stairs, don't go down the stairs' 'If you show your boobs, you're dead.' Script to Screen' is a long interview with original writer and the other writers who go through all the creation and ideas behind the films. Friday the 13th in four minutes is a tongue in cheek look at all the films and what happened in them. Dragged from the Lake is a bizarre collection of memories from the films that don't seem to be connected in any way. Fox Comes Home and Closing the Book on the Final Chapter is a look at the sets from Friday the 13th Part 3 and 4 and Inside Halloween Horror Nights is a look at the Universal Studios attraction. These three are more for the die-hard fans as there is very little that you would actually want to know and if you planned to go to Universal Studios to view the attraction, this spoilt most of it. Finally we have Fan Videos which is a collection of homemade spoofs and videos which are hit and miss.
The documentary and the extras that go along with it are perfect for fans of this franchise, but for others you might want to give this a miss.