The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

First up is a new audio commentary by director Tom McLoughlin, editor Bruce Green and actor Vincent Guastaferro (Officer Cologne). McLoughlin did an independent audio commentary on the 2004 Ultimate Collection, so fans may find a lot of similar information. All men are easy going and attentive to the scenes on screen and many back stories and production issues are discussed. Accounting for his Friday the 13th editing experiences in the audio commentary, Green mentions that Friday VI was a fun experience but Friday V was not a fun experience. They talk to the very last second and clearly have an enjoyable time with great memories of making this film for a great commentary.

Next up is the featurette (7:14) Lost Tales from Camp Blood – Part 6. More Harry Manfredini score (old-school Friday the 13th style score) augments this ongoing drama of some young folk running from a stalker. The ending is frustrating, because the victim doesn’t fight back at all – he waits and winces before his death. Not great, but, eh.

Following that is another featurette (9:35) The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited Part III.  More zany interviews random folk (actors) regarding Crystal Lake, Jason, and this Friday film. It’s unnecessary, but I suppose it’s a hoot all the same. Folks who are…I don’t know…Weird Al Yankovick fans would probably love it.

A good featurette (12:56) Jason Lives: The Making of Friday the 13th Part VI is worth checking out. Interviews with director Tom McLoughlin, intense special effects guru Gabe Bartalos and a few other film crew talk about the genesis of the film, challenges and rating board wars. Great stuff here.

Following that is a storyboard featurette (2:46) Meeting Mr. Voorhees. This brings Jason Voorhees’ father into the picture. It was a concept for the ending, but it got axed before any production of it. All that’s left are some story boards (that look suspiciously newly drawn). And over the storyboards is an actor’s voiceover for what Mr. Voorhees may have been saying.

Then we have some deleted scenes (6:04) called Slashed Scenes. Much of this is very rough but some of the kills are simply extended. The most dramatic is the “reverse back folding” of an officer. Jason doesn’t play fair. Yikes.

After that we have the original theatrical trailer for Friday VI, and a trailer for The Uninvited (2009).

The 87-minute film is organized into fourteen chapters.

Final Thoughts

Another tidy profit in the can for Paramount Pictures comes from another Friday the 13th sequel back in 1986. Jason Lives is more of a monster film where he is back from the dead for the first time. Director and writer Tom McLouglin does a solid job of bringing us back to Crystal Lake with strong direction, some thrills and an infusion of extra humor. Yeah, we’ve seen it before, so it is not exactly compelling cinema, but the film worked fine for me and the majority of fans out there despite its detractors. Picture quality is very strong in this third release of the film onto DVD, the audio is remixed into 5.1 rather well and a couple of supplements should make fans happy. If you like this film, you’re probably going to want to get this; all others might get some kicks from renting it.