Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th

Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)

**** (out of 4)

Honestly, what can you say about a documentary that clocks in at six hours and forty-minutes? This look at the FRIDAY THE 13TH series is without question a dream come true for fans of the horror series since, for the longest time, Paramount really didn't do too much in regards to special features for the series.

Although Paramount finally came around and delivered some extras, this here is basically all you F13 fans will need when it comes to details about the series. I eman, the first two hours are devoted to the first four films so that tells you how much detail is given to each one of them. What's so great about this series is the fact that it looked at all of the films and even the television series and thankfully most of the cast members and directors are here.

I'm not going to list all of the actors and directors that were interviewed but lets just say that Steve Miner is the only one that really stands out as being missing. Oh yeah, Kevin Bacon too but did we really expect him to talk about the film? The interviews are rather priceless because you're hearing from a lot of the actors for the very first time unless you were able to catch them at a convention. All of them are obviously happy about getting to discuss the films, their work in them and what it means to be involved in the series.

We get great stories about all aspects of the production. We learn about ideas that weren't used. We learn about the box office take as well as the various issues with MPAA. We learn about alternate endings as well as scenes that were shot but deleted or other scenes that were never shot. All of these stories are just what F13 fans have wanted and to have them in one film, all together is just wonderful.

CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES is a very long documentary but the second time I watched it I watched it in on sitting and I must admit that I loved every second of it and wished it had been twice as long. If you're not a "fan" of the series then you might just want to watch this film-by-film. In all honesty, if you are a fan I really don't see what you'd complain about here.

Crystal Lake Memories is a lengthy six and a half hour documentary on the popular Friday The 13th horror franchise. This documentary was made after the documentary on the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise and features several cast and crew members from all twelve films of the series. This is a very well made and interesting documentary, although it is hard to watch anything that's nearly seven hours long in one sitting, but this is interesting enough that is might be possible to do. The only real complaint is there is a moment when an actress from the seventh Friday film is said to have died, and it turns out she might not be dead. The people who made the doc reportedly had the obituary of the wrong woman. I'm not sure if that's true, but it's the story going around on the internet. Other than the possible misinformation, this is a great documentary for fans of horror. Those films were really entertaining and it seems like the people who worked on them had a wonderful time. It is important to note that Kevin Bacon and a few other beloved Friday stars are not present in this documentary, but that really doesn't take away from its greatness.

Being a long time fan of "Friday the 13th" and, well of course, Jason Voorhees, I was thrilled to sit down to watch this documentary, although I had no idea about the length of the feature. It was a pleasant surprise that it ran for just about 400 minutes, because this was just cramped with goodies and inside information crucial and long sought by the hardcore fans of the franchise.

I am not going to go into detail here about every single installment, but you have one for each of the movies and for the TV series as well. Each is done with a lot of care, determination and touch of details. And it was a real treat to sit through the entire franchise from the very first movie up to the reboot in 2009.

We all have our own individual favorites in the franchise, being it complete movie, singular moment, kill scene, and what not. And "Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th" does get around just about everything crucial to each movie.

"Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th" is a definite MUST own and watch for everyone who enjoys the "Friday the 13th" franchise.

This is an 8 out of 10 stars from me, no questions asked.

GREAT documentary about all the "Friday the 13th" from the 1980 original to the terrible 2001 "re-imaging". They talk to actors, writers, producers, composers...basically anyone who worked on the movies. Even better they show footage that had been cut out and explain why. Also the documentary has interviews with some of the actresses who hated their directors (for good reason) and they don't hold back. It's refreshing to see a documentary where people are telling the truth.

It's well-narrated by Corey Feldman and it is very long (6 hours and 40 minutes) but if you're a fan (like me) you'll love it.

I wasn't blown away by the Friday 13th franchise, I think they were ground breaking and positively genre defining but none of them exactly blew me away.

I recently watched the Friday 13th documentary His Name Was Jason (2009) and wasn't exactly impressed with what I saw.

How can a person like myself who found the franchise lackluster enjoy a documentary about the material? Well, I did. This documentary is so in depth, so thorough that I was positively fascinated. Giving around 30 minutes of stories, background and factoids about each movie the documentary stands at over 5 and a half hours so isn't swift viewing.

With countless interviews from the creators and cast to unseen footage and deleted scenes this is one of the most competently made fan service documentaries I've ever seen and is a must watch for any fans or even just horror addicts like myself.

Want to know why some of the movies were so cut? Interested to find out why Kane Hodder didn't play Jason in Freddy Vs Jason? Eager to discover which movies succeeded and which bombed? This documentary covers these questions and so much more.

Brilliant viewing and that's coming from someone who as mentioned doesn't consider the franchise as critically acclaimed as most others.

The Good:

Corey Feldmans opening and closer

Essential viewing for fans of the series

Extremely in depth

The Bad:

Uses the same interview segments as His Name Was Jason (2009)

Some key figures weren't interviewed

Things I Learnt From This Documentary:

You can make a good documentary about anything if you just handle it right

Across all 12 movies and a total of 120 potential points on IMDb they only garnered 63 from me