Now that I've watched every Friday 13th movie I can confidently say that though they are certainly entertaining and undoubtedly genre defining they really aren't for the most part that good.This documentary does not really follow the movies per say, its more about Jason himself and bounces around across his 12 outings at random through interviews with both cast, creators and celebrity fans.Sadly for a documentary it really isn't very enlightening, it recycles information you'll already know if you've seen the films and the interviews are surprisingly tame.A few revelations came up regarding difficulties in production and censorship issues but outside of that I was very unimpressed.Kudos to Tom Savini for playing host but truth be told the whole thing felt extremely rushed. How do you make a documentary about such an iconic household name that spanned 12 movies in one 90 minutes documentary? For Friday 13th fans I'd say this is a logical watch, for everyone else I'd pass.The Good: Tom Savini hosts A few interesting tit bitsThe Bad: Feels like an advert for the 2009 remake Comes across as rushed Very little new content Things I Learnt From This Movie: The twins from part 4 are even dumber in real life than they were in the movie

If you are a real Friday The 13th fan or if you want to know more of one of the earlier slashers then I surely recommend this documentary. Especially disc one is extremely well done. You will have first of a one hour and a half about the whole franchise, even the remake. All you want to know you will know, secondly, all actors who played Jason are giving their view over their version.Disc two is more about entertainment. Here and there there are some interesting things to learn but there are also some stupid things on it. Luckily the items on disc 2 are all shorts. The only thing that I regret is the fact that when some actors are talking about some scene's they aren't shown, so if it's a while since you have been watching the movies you will have some questions about what they are talking about. But still, if you have the book and this DVD, I guess there's isn't more to learn.

I think that there is something very special about the 'Friday The 13th' franchise.As a huge fan of the series, I have always loved at how Jason stalked and killed his victims.Every weapon that ranges from spears to machetes and the gore and mayhem that they cause always entertains me and I don't think that I will ever be bored by it.But we all know that every movie has some haters.While the 'Friday' films may not be loved by critics, fans such as I don't care about the critics and we just watch the movies and enjoy them for what they are.There is a documentary of the slasher genre called 'Goin To Pieces: The Rise And Fall Of The Slasher Film'.This was a superb film that demonstrated how the slasher genre worked and why people like me were into horror films such as the 'Friday' films.Now we are given 'His Name Was Jason', a documentary that explains the franchise and why people love them.Although I can't say that this Doc was as good as 'Going To Pieces', I do think that it is nothing more than a good Doc and really should be seen by fans of the movies.

In preparation of the newest (of, say 50) reboot(s), 'Friday the 13th' in 2009, I re-watched all 11 original movies (including 'Freddy Vs. Jason.') Upon hearing of this documentary, 'His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th,' I was stoked as I am a huge fan of the Jason mythology. And this doc didn't let me down. If anything, it just wet my appetite for the upcoming re-imagining and made me (possibly) rethink some of my harsh thoughts of a few of the chapters, namely 'Manhattan,' 'Final Chapter' and 'X.' It was wonderful to see a majority of the original cast(s) come back to speak of their experiences and turn the whole legend of Jason into, well, basically, a 'Trekkie' following. (I had no idea there were conventions out there devoted to 'Friday the 13th.')I loved the point blank description of their making of's and even the inconsistency of the series (i.e. some of the series landed on Saturday the 14th, Sunday the 15th and so on.) I loved the interviews with my favorite Jason: Kane Hodder, Sean Cunningham, the original survivor Adrienne "Alice" King and Betsy "Mother Voorhees" Palmer. I realize it was also made to promote the '09 film. Thankfully, they didn't spend too much time on the reboot, even bypassing segments as this was meant as a "history" of the fable, not the "future." Definitely needs to be noted: this is strictly for fans of the series, of those who didn't take the series too seriously (and yes, I am aware my own reviews showed frustration in some of the series, but in my defense, it was the directors/writers that just seemed lazy at times) and for those who have seen all the 'Friday the 13th" series. For, it is one major spoiler after another.