Friday the 13th – The Ultimate Collection

I love horror movies. You might not guess that about me if you met me in person, but I really do! I don’t like over-the-top, beyond gross horror movies. I can do without brains and body parts galore. I much rather a horror movie that leaves you on the edge of your seat, ready to jump out of your skin at the next scary moment. A little gore is OK. I just don’t like movies that go beyond what is necessary to make the scene.

I love this time of year because there is usually an assortment of scary movies on, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. For those nights when I can’t find a good horror movie on TV I can always turn to one of my DVDs or Blu-ray movies.

Friday the 13th is one of the well known horror movie franchises. I remember watching the first movie when I was about my kid’s age. Oddly enough I won’t let my kids watch the movies. It’s not so much because they might be too scary for them, but more so for the nudity and foul language that is not uncommon in the movies.

Jason Voorhees is an iconic symbol of horror. Even though there hasn’t been a new movie in a few years you often see Jason’s famous hockey mask on young trick or theaters on Halloween.

If you are a fan of the movie series you might be interested in knowing that there is a Friday the 13th: The Ultimate Collection DVD box set available. The set includes movies 1 – 8 including…

– Friday the 13th – The original movie (released in 1980)

– Friday the 13th Part II

– Friday the 13th in 3D

– Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (aka part IV)

– Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (aka Part V)

– Friday the 13th: Jason Lives (aka Park VI)

– Friday the 13th: The New Blood (aka Part VII)

– Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan (aka Part VIII)

All of the DVDs are neatly arranged in a solid, book-like holder. Included in the set are 3D glasses you can use to watch Part III with if you want.

The original is still my favorite of all the Friday the 13th movies. Sadly I think they got sillier as time when on. For a teen or someone who is easily creeped out by movies then the later versions will certainly make them jump out of their seats or hide under the covers. For a die hard horror movie fan they are not so much scary as they are entertaining.

What I really love about this set is that is jam packed with interesting facts about the movie series. Each “page” that holds the DVDs have facts and interesting tid bits on them (including body count! LOL).

For example…

– The original working title was A Long Night at Camp Blood.

– Friday the 13th used these simple rules of the horror gere.

   1. Create a prior evil.

   2. Put a bunch of honor teenagers together.

   3. Remove any help from adults.

   4. Kill them off one by one.

–  The movie’s budget went from $550,000 in the first movie to $1,250,000 with the second movie.

– There is a shot in part 2 where you can see Jason walking across the street. This was the only time in the series that Jason was played by a woman (Ellen Lutter – the film’s costume designer).

– The working title for part V was Redemption.

– Alice Cooper wrote 3 songs for Part VI

There are so many more facts within the pages of the DVD holder.

I love how each movie has the body count and weapons used listed as well. Jason used just about anything he could find including a tractor (part V), party horn (part VII), exploding car (part VIII) and a crochet needle (part III).

If the interesting facts found within the pages of the DVD holder were not enough, each DVD also contains bonus features. I like seeing the original movie trailers. I actually like movie trailers. My favorite bonus features at the ones that give you a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie and commentary that gives you some insight into the things that go on behind the scenes. The Tales from Camp Blood bonus features are my favorite.

FYI… Both A New Beginning (Part V) and Jason Takes Manhattan (Part VIII) each had a body count of 21. Jason Takes Manhattan also has the highest weapon count (17). The original movie only had a body count of 10 and only 4 weapons were used? Can you name what four weapons were used in the film? I’ll post the answers below my signature line.

Friday the 13th: The Ultimate Collection also comes with a special Jason hockey mask too. It’s not an adult size (you can’t use it for Halloween) but it would fit a small child. I have mine on display on my desk.

The boxed set has a $55 retail value, but you can find it for a bit less then that. Amazon currently has it for $38.00.

This would make a great gift for the horror movie fan in your life. Yes, believe it or not horror movies make a great gift for those who are fans of the genre or the movie series.

Kimberly

*I received a sample copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

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