His Name Was Jason / Moving Day

His Name Was Jason (2009) is the third horror doc from Achor Bay/Starz, and like Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006), Daniel Farrands' doc comes loaded with extras not included in Paramount's old boxed set of the first 8 films.

What's great about these feature-length docs is how each one compliments the other, and there's little repetition, although it's worth checking out the first, Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006) beforehand, just because it adds a lot of context to the first Friday the 13th film (and acknowledges Paramount's uncomfortable relationship with the violent but hugely successful series).

Pretty much everything else in this exclusive doc deals with Jason's evolution, and it's good to hear Paramount exec Frank Mancuso, Jr. get some praise for taking a low budget series and opening it broad, and really kick-starting the slasher wave of the early eighties.

Once the computer's been reconnected to the weird wired world, I'll have a review of Cold Prey (2006), an intriguing nod to the slasher genre from Norwegian director Roar Uthaug.

- MRH