Return to Crystal Lake: Making 'Friday the 13th'

This is the only documentary on the DVD of the original Friday the 13th from 1980. It's a making of said film, and it consists of interviews with the cast and crew(unfortunately not everyone, Savini and Bacon are mysteriously absent, and the former greatly missed), clips of the film(some of them ironically used, to OK effect... note that this featurette spoils the flick) and behind the scenes photos. They get into the script, the history of putting it together, the score(with the infamous echo), the star's stalker(there's an incentive to never get into show-business), etc. And they reveal the reason it looks so awkward in the movie when they fight... those fire pokers and such are *real*! They detail and look into the reaction from both viewers and critics(and in the latter... camp(I know, it's terrible, I had to and you know it), also parents and "educators"). This is 21 minutes sans credits(one extra with them), and it's an informative little package... I didn't love the picture itself, and still found this to be interesting. I recommend this to any fan of the franchise. 6/10

Documentary short consisting of newly filmed interviews with some of the primary cast and crew. There are too many people with too many stories to tell for this only 22 minutes long doc; it ends up feeling clipped and truncated. A longer run time would have been beneficial, allowing more time for all parties involved to go into more detail, and maybe divulge something the fans haven't heard already.

Some of the information is interesting, but a lot of it has already been gone over (no one had high expectations for the film, Betsy Palmer only did it because she needed money to buy a new car, Adrienne King's stalker)

This 22-minute documentary for some reason can't be found in the USA on any of the "Friday the 13th" releases. One needs to look at other region editions of the movie, This is a pretty cool featurette, featuring a lot of the primary players who created "Friday the 13th" and I would wholeheartedly recommend it as a perfect supplement to anyone who has even a passing interest of the film. The documentary goes into the casting, filming, locations, as well as other aspects of the horror classic such as the special effects. and Paramount dropped the ball by not including it on the Region 1 version of the Friday the 13th box set.

My Grade: C+

It was nice to see some of the people involved with the making of this classic slasher film finally come out of hiding to speak about it. However, this documentary left me with the impression that there was no motivation to make this film other than to make a quick buck. Sean S. Cunningham, the producer and director, seemed to want to make family films but was pigeon-holed into making horror films after "Last House On The Left". Victor Miller, who wrote the script, basically says that he copied all of the elements from "Halloween" and just changed the scenery. Betsy Palmer, who played Mrs. Voorhees, was very funny and this is the first time I've ever heard her speak about "Friday the 13th" - but again, her motivation for starring in this film was only to pay for the car she had just bought (and apparently used to drive her to and from the set). And all seem to agree that, at the time, the idea of Jason coming back to be the killer was a stupid and outlandish one. Obviously, the rest of the world disagreed.

It amazes me how with all of this indifference, such a scary and enjoyable film and such a successful and never-ending series would be the turnout. It seems to amaze the producer, director, screenwriter and stars as well! Adrienne King, the survivor of "Friday the 13th" (but not "Friday the 13th Part 2"), is also on board for this documentary. She is very cute and funny, and looks better now than she did in the movie. She also reveals why she decided to quit acting after these films with a behind-the-scenes tidbit I've never heard before this. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable snack for "Friday the 13th" fans who have been starving for some type of supplemental material other than Paramount's disgraceful bare bones DVDs. Unfortunately, this documentary is included only on the Warner Brothers uncut DVD release of "Friday the 13th" which is distributed in every country except the US.

Overall, Return to Crystal Lake: Making 'Friday the 13th' is good, but I was left wanting more. The stories that are presented are interesting enough, but with a series that I've enjoyed since 1980, it's difficult to find new ground that hasn't already been covered. I've seen interviews in the past with Sean Cunningham and Tom Savini, so I didn't learn much new from them. I always enjoy seeing Adrianne King interviewed regardless of whether she's got anything new to say or not. She has a real infectious way about her that I find appealing. Finally, I'm not sure I've ever seen Betsy Palmer discuss her remembrances with Friday the 13th, so this part was a highlight for me. I appreciate her honesty in answering why she took the role - to pay for a new car. Good stuff!

As I always do, I'm rating this as I would any other documentary - using my two pronged approach. First, was it informative? Second, was it entertaining? Informative - like I said, I didn't learn a ton that I wasn't already aware of. Because of that, I can't give it more than 2/5 points for this part of the rating. Entertaining - a big yes. Ms Palmer's contribution was a treat. A 4/5 for entertainment.