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Friday The 13th Uncut, Blu-ray Disc, Paramount Home Entertainment, Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartham, Mark Nelson, Jeanne Taylor, Robbi Morgan, and Kevin Bacon, Produced and Directed By Sean S. Cunningham, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 & Mono and French and Spanish Mono Sound, English SDH and English, French and Spanish Language Subtitles, 95 minutes
If John Carpenter’s Halloween help give birth to the “slasher” subgenre in horror films, the gradual build up in the late 1970s to more gruesome special effects in horror pictures was solidified through the makeup effects of Tom Savini, who had already garnered a reputation for creating gory effects in George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead and reached mainstream audiences in Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday The 13TH. The gore effects were every bit as frightening as the methods in which camp counselors were dispatched. I don’t think there had ever been a film quite like this before and while Michael Myers of Halloween would continue to terrify viewers along with Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise, it cannot be denied the importance the legacy Friday The 13TH had in the last twenty years. It is very much a part of the evolution of contemporary horror as Halloween and A Nightmare On Elm Street with the three characters of Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger becoming as iconic as Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and The Wolf Man are from the Universal’s golden age of horror, which was itself rebooted by the Hammer Studios in the 1950s. With a remake about to be released in theaters Friday, February 13, 2009, Paramount Home Entertainment released the original film uncut for the first time ever in the U.S. on both Blu-ray Disc and DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment also released Friday The 13TH Part 2 and Friday The 13TH Part 3 3D on DVD-Video as deluxe editions. Reviews of all three DVD releases are forthcoming, but having never seen the uncut version of the original film and having never even seen it ever in high definition, I had to screen and review the Blu-ray Disc edition first because it represents as much as a reboot of sorts of late Twentieth Century horror on video as the remake does for the big screen technologically speaking.
The uncut film is actually only 14 seconds longer than the original U.S. theatrical cut and most of the extra time is just some extra lingering on the carnage displayed in the film. Now presented in 1080p high definition depending upon the capabilities of your home theater, Friday The 13TH Uncut is not particularly vibrant, but considering this was a low budget horror picture from 1980, it still looks very good with a loud English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround Soundtrack as well as the traditional English Monaural Soundtrack. French and Spanish Language Monaural Soundtracks are also encoded onto the Blu-ray Disc along with English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles provided as options.
Extra value features include a mixed audio commentary moderated by Peter M. Bracke, author of Crystal Lake Memories. Participants include Director Sean S. Cunningham, Editor Bill Freida, Composer Harry Manfredini and Actresses Betsy Palmer and Adrienne King. High definition bonus material include interviews with Tom Savini, Harry Manfredini and Writer Victor Miller as well as an interview with Director Sean S. Cunningham and a featurette with footage from a recent panel at a convention. The film’s theatrical trailer is also presented in high definition. Several more interviews found in a featurette carried over from a previous DVD release too.
For fans I have to say this is a must-own for your developing high definition horror collection so buy it on Blu-ray, watch it and then go see the remake and above all, stay scared, but have fun. Friday The 13TH Uncut is available on Blu-ray Disc high definition at retailers on and offline courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.
© Copyright 2009 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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