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On the other corkscrewed hand, those who haven’t had the chance to check out the books and documentaries are in for a serious treat with HIS NAME, out February 3 in a double-DVD set from Anchor Bay (Pre-Order Here). Director Dan Farrands (screenwriter of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS) and writer/producers Anthony Masi (who explored another archetypal slasher with HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR) and Thommy Hutson have created a fun journey that covers just about all the bases.

This might get sentimental, so hang on. Tom Savini hosts the 90-minute docu, walking around recreated scenes from the film (at Universal Studios Hollywood), hamming it up like a goofy uncle. For fans, it’s like seeing old friends when cast members from all the FRIDAY features are onscreen, even if they’re spinning familiar yarns. And it’s like visiting favorite teachers and professors while watching the directors, writers and FX folks explain their decisions, triumphs and hardships. So even when the disc becomes increasingly redundant, it’s easy to forgive (you’ll have many quotes memorized, thanks to the bonus features’ tendency to revisit interviews and offer longer versions of stories told in the documentary proper). When some of your favorite actors don’t show up to chat (tell us about the dance, Crispin!), it’s still super-cool to see the tons of others who are here. Additionally, we get a pack of journalists and filmmakers cracking wise and speculating on the movies, including directors such as WRONG TURN 2’s Joe Lynch and HATCHET’s Adam Green, and Fango’s own Tony Timpone. To list all the contributors here would be insane, but rest assured—it’s chock. Chock, baby.

Now. Before we delve into the first and second discs’ bonus bonanza: Grrrrrrr. PART 2 and III director Steve Miner and his accompanying writers are totally absent, which is decidedly infuriating. FRIDAY III’s production history is absolutely swollen with behind-the-scenes dirt and dammit, these people have some things to answer for. THE FINAL CHAPTER director Joseph Zito shows up to defend his creative choices, take us on a tour of the Jarvis house and generally kick enough ass to make any fan develop more of a crush on him than they already harbor. Makes you wish those other folks could’ve joined us. As a scholar of FRIDAY III’s mysteries, I don’t think I’m alone in wishing Miner and co. could’ve shed some light on the following:

1.) There’s an alternate ending that continues to offer aggravating stills for fans to dryly choke on, and is mentioned only in passing in HIS NAME. Can someone do anything to help resurrect the footage? Co-star Larry Zerner swears it was shot…

2.) Steve, actor Richard Brooker mentions in the film that you told him he “had no motivation” for killing, and should be like “the human version of the shark in JAWS.” Why? And how did you feel when Brooker turned Jason into a smiling, hissing Hell-On-Two-Legs for the final reel?

3.) Jason’s arm was almost hacked off at the end of FRIDAY 2. A few moments into FRIDAY III, he’s bigger, healed and bald. Why? He’s seen hanging around a small shop in the film’s beginning…did he steal razors and bandages? Yes, yes—new makeup team, new look. But still…?

4.) The Final Girl, Chris, recounts a horrific tale about a previous encounter with Jason. He corners her in the woods with a knife, she passes out from fear and wakes up in her bed. I’ve never seen Jason kill anyone who was asleep or passed out. Is he above that sort of thing? Did Jason take advantage of her? Did Jason put her back in her bed? Does the novelization shed any light on this? It’s out of print, and the copies on eBay are outrageously expensive.

5.) Chris has a terrible hallucination at the film’s end in which Jason’s mother drags her into the lake. Does Chris know who Jason’s mother is? If not, why would she visualize her in the sweater? Why would Jason’s mother have her head? Do ghosts have regeneration powers?

Yes, I realize that FREDDY VS. JASON director Ronny Yu doesn’t take any lumps in this review for being absent, but that flick speaks for itself, no? It’s FRIDAY III that needs some serious investigation. That results in a skull demerit for HIS NAME itself. And so much for that.



The first disc offers the docu, plus a collection of bonus interviews called The Men Behind the Mask. Here, fans get brief chats with every gent who ever played you-know-who (yes, the Steve Daskawisz/Warrington Gillette and FREDDY VS. JASON controversies are addressed). Disc two…whoa boy. Final Cuts are bonus interviews with all the directors (except Miner and Yu)—very cool for providing quite a few frank, earnest, weird and remorseful confessions. From Script to Screen offers more additional chats with writers including the first film’s Victor Miller, FINAL CHAPTER’s Barney Cohen, JASON X’s Todd Farmer and FVJ/remake scribes Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. Listening to the latter two try to explain what the upcoming FRIDAY flick “is” is fascinating: not a remake, not a reimagining, not a reboot, could be a sequel…whew. Dragged from the Lake includes random thoughts, memories and stories from all involved—the most harrowing of which is original heroine Adrienne King’s tale of a stalker that caused serious problems for her for many years. Fan Films is a series of just that—some of which are really cute, some of which are damn funny. Fans of on-line weirdness such as the Angry Nintendo Nerd and the 30-Seconds Bunnies are in for a pleasant surprise.

Deep breath…

Closing the Book on THE FINAL CHAPTER is the aforementioned tour with Zito, accompanied by actor E. Erich Anderson (Rob). They explore the “Jarvis house” and surrounding grounds, and FINAL CHAPTER fans will likely sit with little smirks on their faces the whole time, wondering how many others out there delight in watching the two simply wander through the house and point out what happened where (there are still a few machete marks lingering in the house’s woodwork—nice, eh?). Fox Comes Home is actress Gloria Charles running around PART III’s location, and having a blast. She’s a doll—wait till you see her. FRIDAY THE 13TH in 4 Minutes is a montage of the journalists and filmmakers on board quickly yammering every plot point in the franchise. It’s funny. And stupid. And funny. And stupid. Jason Takes Comic-Con features the remake’s cast and crew conducting interviews with the Dread Central boys at the fan extravaganza. “Heavy is the crown that wears the mask,” says 2009’s Jason, Derek Mears. Those who aren’t pulling for him should re-evaluate. He seems incredibly genuine about doing his best to make the character survive in the best possible fashion. The producers most certainly have their agenda, but so does Mears.

The Camp Crystal Lake Survival Guide is a pretty damn adorable bit, with everyone interviewed giving you advice on how to live through an encounter with the masked one. Inside Halloween Horror Nights takes us through Universal Studios Hollywood’s elaborate FRIDAY area, entitled Friday the 13th: Camp Blood, complete with distributed scents of manure and pine to evoke the essence of barns, woods, etc. Whoa. Our guide, Hollywood Horror Nights creative director John Murdy, also informs us that a number of the trees displayed in the attraction came from their old E.T. attraction from the ’80s. Double Whoa. Shelly Lives! is something that truly need not be spoiled. The only thing that should be mentioned is that Larry Zerner is now a lawyer. And a rock star. Just like ol’ Hockey Mask himself. All together now: ki, ki, ki…

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