Deluxe Edition DVD
Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood
Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan

Paramount Home Video 2009

Here we go again.

Just in time to fill your favorite horror fan's dirty X-Mas stocking, Paramount has released the next 2 in the F13 Deluxe Edition DVD series, with less impressive results than the previous discs making up this ongoing cash cow. The films look and sound as good, and each installment comes with the prerequisite deleted scenes, theatrical trailer, and a commentary tracks. All cool, but not anything out of the ordinary. Missing from these DVD's are any new installments of the "Crystal Lake Massacre Re-Visited" featurettes, which were my favorite element of the previous disc's special features. They were a campy mocumentary-style collection of short films featuring horror industry insiders doing their best "acting" as they play family relatives and peripheral characters who discuss, and wax over the killings and situations from the films themselves as though they were living in the F13 universe.

Also missing are any new short films making up the "Lost Tales from Camp Blood" saga. Hmmmm....this smells like Paramount decided to meet a release date, rather than really deliver the kind of in-depth bonus features that I would associate with anything called a "DELUXE" edition.

As a whole, there is certainly nothing wrong with these DVDs. If you're a long standing fan, you'll want them for the few new goodies. And if you're just entering the F13 universe, you'll find clean, sharp picture and precise 5.1 sound mixes to help you take your first steps. I personally would have liked to see the attention to detail that went into the previous discs applied here, but then again I'm just nerdy that way.

3 out of 5
MARS

Synopsis & Features:


FRIDAY THE 13th Pt VII: THE NEW BLOOD

Tina (Lar Park Lincoln), has returned to Crystal Lake to face her nightmarish guilt over the death of her father. A death she in fact caused thru the use of her rather unusual mental abilities. It seems Tina is a telekinetic, and when she's all shook up...you'd better stand back. After one mental freak out too many, Tina's unchecked powers manage to resurrect Jason from his watery grave beneath the lake. In no time Jason is back to his old bad habits, and many a nubile teen gets the patented Voorhees slice-n-dice treatment as Tina tries desperately to harness her abilities in time to put Jason down for good. This installment in the F13 series is noted as being one of the most heavily censored in the series. I don't find this surprising considering the film's director, John Carl Buechler, was also a notable SFX make-up artist who had delivered lots of flowing grue on classics like RE-ANIMATOR (1985). Also notable is the addition of Kane Hodder in the role of Jason. Kane is easily the most famous of the actors to portray the masked killer, and there is something especially frightening about seeing Kanes eyes peering out from behind that make-up.

Special Features:

Commentary: - Killer Commentary by director John Carl Buechler and actors Lar Park Lincoln and Kane Hodder
Jason's Destroyer: The Making of Friday the 13th Part VII
Slashed Scenes with Intro
Mind Over Matter: The Truth about Telekinesis
Makeover by Maddy: Need a Little Touch-Up Work, My Ass


FRIDAY THE 13th Pt VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN


Kind of misleading title here when the reality is that 2/3 of the film takes place on a boat, and Jason arrives in NY for only the final 20 min of the film. Still, it is awesome seeing Jason roaming thru the city, hacking his way with relative impunity. The drastic MPAA edits that plagued the previous F13 flick, seem to have lessened here, and much of the film's blood is intact. Jason literally knocking someone's block off during a rooftop boxing match is probably one of the films most memorable kill scenes, and it exists almost as the director (Rob Hedden, who also did many episodes of the F13 tv show) intended.

Special Features:

Commentary: - Killer Commentary by writer/director Rob Hedden and actors Jensen Daggett and Kane Hodder
New York Has A New Problem - The Making of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Gag Reel
Slashed Scenes