Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013 Video) User Reviews

Crystal Lake Memories The Complete History of Friday the 13th: Essential viewing for Friday 13th fans and film buffs alike

[Platypuschow · 9/10 · 14 October 2017]

I wasn't blown away by the Friday 13th franchise, I think they were ground breaking and positively genre defining but none of them exactly blew me away.

I recently watched the Friday 13th documentary His Name Was Jason (2009) and wasn't exactly impressed with what I saw.

How can a person like myself who found the franchise lackluster enjoy a documentary about the material? Well, I did. This documentary is so in depth, so thorough that I was positively fascinated. Giving around 30 minutes of stories, background and factoids about each movie the documentary stands at over 5 and a half hours so isn't swift viewing.

With countless interviews from the creators and cast to unseen footage and deleted scenes this is one of the most competently made fan service documentaries I've ever seen and is a must watch for any fans or even just horror addicts like myself.

Want to know why some of the movies were so cut? Interested to find out why Kane Hodder didn't play Jason in Freddy Vs Jason? Eager to discover which movies succeeded and which bombed? This documentary covers these questions and so much more.

Brilliant viewing and that's coming from someone who as mentioned doesn't consider the franchise as critically acclaimed as most others.

The Good:

Corey Feldmans opening and closer

Essential viewing for fans of the series

Extremely in depth

The Bad:

Uses the same interview segments as His Name Was Jason (2009)

Some key figures weren't interviewed

Things I Learnt From This Documentary:

You can make a good documentary about anything if you just handle it right

Across all 12 movies and a total of 120 potential points on IMDb they only garnered 63 from me

This is a MUST for fans...

[paul_haakonsen · 8/10 · 28 April 2014]

Being a long time fan of "Friday the 13th" and, well of course, Jason Voorhees, I was thrilled to sit down to watch this documentary, although I had no idea about the length of the feature. It was a pleasant surprise that it ran for just about 400 minutes, because this was just cramped with goodies and inside information crucial and long sought by the hardcore fans of the franchise.

I am not going to go into detail here about every single installment, but you have one for each of the movies and for the TV series as well. Each is done with a lot of care, determination and touch of details. And it was a real treat to sit through the entire franchise from the very first movie up to the reboot in 2009.

We all have our own individual favorites in the franchise, being it complete movie, singular moment, kill scene, and what not. And "Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th" does get around just about everything crucial to each movie.

"Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th" is a definite MUST own and watch for everyone who enjoys the "Friday the 13th" franchise.

This is an 8 out of 10 stars from me, no questions asked.

Much better than "his name is jason" but still not complete...

[theromanempire-1 · 9/10 · 27 September 2013]

I just saw the whole thing last night and here are my thoughts.

This is a must have F13 DOC for all the die hard fans.

2 DVD's and 2 blu rays in which we get the whole story of the franchise splited in 14 chapters running from 20 to 40 minutes each chapter.

As u can imagine we begin with part 1 (long night at camp blood) and we end with the remake film.

in more detail

DVD 1 and BLU RAY 1 have 7 chapters full of cast interviews and thoughts of the movies plus a lot of scenes from the movies some of them presented in their deleted // extended form.

1) LONG NIGHT AT CAMP BLOOD

2) PART 2

3) PART 3

4) FINAL CHAPTER

5) A NEW BEGINNING

6) JASON LIVES

7) F13 THE TV SERIES

DVD 2 and BLU RAY 2 have the rest chapters from part 7 to part 12 plus a bonus chapter containing more interviews from the cast members....

IN more detail

8) THE NEW BLOOD

9) JASON TAKES MANHATTAN 10) JASON GOES TO HELL 11) JASON X 12) FREDDY vs JASON 13) THE REMAKE 14) REFLECTIONS ON WATER

Also we have an intro narrative by corey feldman who also appears at the very end of the project closing in a great way that project.

As i said this effort is great but not complete.

Unfortunately the alice cooper's videos from part 6 are absent from one more official F13 DVD release and what is strange is that we also don't get the 12 F13 trailer park which they should have been included in this specific release (although they are separate available).

Apart from that this is a must have for all die hard f13 fans as we all get to see for the first time all 9 actors (and their stundmen) who played JASON all over the years plus we get to see most of the cast from the movies including scenes of those who could not make it to appear alive in this DOC.

good work guys and now it's time for a HELLRAISER and a CHILD'S PLAY complete doc after those we had of JASON, FREDDY and MYERS.

Everything You Could Possibly Want

[Michael_Elliott · 15 December 2017]

Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)

**** (out of 4)

Honestly, what can you say about a documentary that clocks in at six hours and forty-minutes? This look at the FRIDAY THE 13TH series is without question a dream come true for fans of the horror series since, for the longest time, Paramount really didn't do too much in regards to special features for the series.

Although Paramount finally came around and delivered some extras, this here is basically all you F13 fans will need when it comes to details about the series. I eman, the first two hours are devoted to the first four films so that tells you how much detail is given to each one of them. What's so great about this series is the fact that it looked at all of the films and even the television series and thankfully most of the cast members and directors are here.

I'm not going to list all of the actors and directors that were interviewed but lets just say that Steve Miner is the only one that really stands out as being missing. Oh yeah, Kevin Bacon too but did we really expect him to talk about the film? The interviews are rather priceless because you're hearing from a lot of the actors for the very first time unless you were able to catch them at a convention. All of them are obviously happy about getting to discuss the films, their work in them and what it means to be involved in the series.

We get great stories about all aspects of the production. We learn about ideas that weren't used. We learn about the box office take as well as the various issues with MPAA. We learn about alternate endings as well as scenes that were shot but deleted or other scenes that were never shot. All of these stories are just what F13 fans have wanted and to have them in one film, all together is just wonderful.

CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES is a very long documentary but the second time I watched it I watched it in on sitting and I must admit that I loved every second of it and wished it had been twice as long. If you're not a "fan" of the series then you might just want to watch this film-by-film. In all honesty, if you are a fan I really don't see what you'd complain about here.

Crystal Lake Memories: A Nearly Perfect Documentary

[BenTramerLives78 · 10/10 · 21 December 2020]

Crystal Lake Memories is a lengthy six and a half hour documentary on the popular Friday The 13th horror franchise. This documentary was made after the documentary on the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise and features several cast and crew members from all twelve films of the series. This is a very well made and interesting documentary, although it is hard to watch anything that's nearly seven hours long in one sitting, but this is interesting enough that is might be possible to do. The only real complaint is there is a moment when an actress from the seventh Friday film is said to have died, and it turns out she might not be dead. The people who made the doc reportedly had the obituary of the wrong woman. I'm not sure if that's true, but it's the story going around on the internet. Other than the possible misinformation, this is a great documentary for fans of horror. Those films were really entertaining and it seems like the people who worked on them had a wonderful time. It is important to note that Kevin Bacon and a few other beloved Friday stars are not present in this documentary, but that really doesn't take away from its greatness.

Well Made

[stantondavis-65434 · 10/10 · 8 July 2017]

When studios make DVD extras they hire people who most of the time are not "Fans of the Film" that they are working on. The First Release "Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me" is an example of a passionless produced product.

That is not the case here. "Crystal Lake Memories" is a professionally produced product that happened to be made by people who love the films and that comes across hear "LOUD AND CLEAR".

Each film is covered here. There is interviews of the cast as well returning to certain locations.

I found the most entertaining segments were the ones devoted to "Friday the 13th Part IV" and "Friday the 13th Part VII"

I have no complaints about this documentary. I just wish that the fans could raise the funds and restore the gore that was edited out of each film.

You don't need the actors to come back. Body doubles and insert shots is all we need.

Getting goosebumps throughout the documentary

[dudalpg · 10/10 · 27 January 2017]

I am a huge fan of the 'Friday the 13th' franchise. Watching this documentary was just so enlightening! See how everything started, one of the biggest horror films ever made,is amazing, and while watching the documentary I felt like part of that. Seeing all my favorite characters, the stunts, and even how the hockey mask became a thing was fantastic.

From all the actors who portrayed Jason Voorhees , my favorite is Steve Dash. This guy was such a professional. (watch the documentary and you will understand) :)

I don't usually write reviews, but this doc was amazing!

Exhaustive but fascinating

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 23 January 2022]

GREAT documentary about all the "Friday the 13th" from the 1980 original to the terrible 2001 "re-imaging". They talk to actors, writers, producers, composers...basically anyone who worked on the movies. Even better they show footage that had been cut out and explain why. Also the documentary has interviews with some of the actresses who hated their directors (for good reason) and they don't hold back. It's refreshing to see a documentary where people are telling the truth.

It's well-narrated by Corey Feldman and it is very long (6 hours and 40 minutes) but if you're a fan (like me) you'll love it.

Being a big fan of this series, I loved this documentary

[Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki · 10/10 · 31 July 2014]

Bookended by sequences narrated by Corey Feldman, this incredibly lengthy, eleven hours long documentary about the making of the Friday the 13th film series, told, in chronological order, by the cast and crew of each film, is interesting even if you already know a lot of what is being discussed.

Each film is given a fair amount of time for coverage, about 25 minutes or so, with interviews of the cast and crew of that specific film, as opposed to some random fan, like we ended up getting in His Name was Jason.

Monica Keena's comments are amusing, but it also seems like she is perhaps taking Jason a bit too seriously. She seemed a bit too insulted by Jason later killing her character in comic book form.

From his interviews, one gets the feeling that Derek Mears is genuinely a fan of the character and the series, and made the character frightening again, for the first time since part VII. Kane Hodder was a good Jason, he made the character his own by doing something unique with it, which had never been done before, but his Jason wasn't scary or frightening, more slow and methodical.

Even the segment devoted to the (in my mind, underwhelming) in-name-only television series was well done.

Finally a good documentary

[jessicalmurray · 10/10 · 23 November 2020]

First of all this is a movie for hardcore fans. At nearly 7 hours you should not watch this if you are not a huge fan. I see all these negative comments about the lengthy film and how shitty they thought Friday was. Then why watch a 7 hour documentary about it? Just to complain? Better than his name was Jason as they go into more detail. Umm people this movie is based on the book of the same name. A very big book.

"Crystal Lake Memories"- An entertaining and engaging retrospective, though it lacks the sharp pacing and focus of the superior "Never Sleep Again"

[TedStixonAKAMaximumMadness · 7/10 · 13 January 2018]

From the same creative team who crafted the deliciously entertaining and incredibly engaging "Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy", "Crystal Lake Memories" is a thorough and fairly absorbing documentary that covers the entirety of the famous (and infamous) horror film franchise "Friday the 13th." Loaded with hundreds of interviews, seemingly thousands of clips and behind-the-scenes photos and a metric ton of information and informative tid-bits of trivia, this is definitely a must-see for all fans of the hockey-masked maniac Jason Voorhees.

From series creator Sean Cunningham to the plethora of men behind the mask including fan-favorite Kane Hodder, there are dozens upon dozens of interview subjects who spin yarns and fondly recall the creation of every single film in the franchise. All the while, Corey Feldman narrates with glee and we're treated to all sorts of fascinating making-of images and video. Want to know exactly how that infamous "Ki-Ki-Ki, Ma-Ma-Ma" sound effect was created? Wanna know what the incidental actors thought of one another? Want to know how hard it was to film "Part III" in state-of-the-art 3D? It's all here, along with countless other factoids.

Unfortunately, all of this comes with a pretty severe trade-off. That being that the film has a punishingly bloated run-time of nearly seven hours. Yup, you read that right! Seven. Hours. Part of what made the prior film about the "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise work was that it knew when to get in and when to get out. And even then, it was still pushing it with a four-hour runtime. But the facts presented felt relevant and fascinating, the structure was sound and the pacing was fairly brisk. I can't necessarily say the same about "Crystal Lake Memories." This one just pushes it too far. Sure, you could argue that with nearly twice the films to cover, it needed to be nearly twice the length. But given how repetitive the interviews become over time, and how the same basic ideas are revisited over and over... it's easy to see that at least a full hour could have been cut out. Maybe even two. And the pacing is way too slow for its own good. There's so much more droning on in this movie... it can occasionally become hard to stay invested.

Still, that can't detract from the fact that on the whole... yeah, "Crystal Lake Memories" is a really fun experience. It's informative, mostly engaging and you'll learn quite a bit by the time the credits roll. Just don't plan to watch it all in one sitting! I'm giving it a pretty good 7 out of 10.

Never Say Never

[thesar-2 · 6/10 · 29 September 2013]

Admittedly, I was a huger fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street films, but when I purchased the box-set of the 12-film Friday the 13th series, I truly fell more in love with these movies.

Once I finally recapped the entire series, taking more notes during this screening than I have ever during any movie, I turned to Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th, a filmed documentary in the same style as the Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy documentary.

The Freddy one was a mere 240 minutes, whereas the Jason chronicles is an astounding 400 minutes! (660 minutes if you include the unfinished 4-hour extra scenes that were cut from the original documentary on a separate disc.) Granted, there's more Friday the 13th films than the Nightmare series, but 11 hours is really pushing it. Not to mention, there's audio commentary on top of the original 7 hours!

Forgetting about the length, I watched the whole (initial seven hours) thing through. I am a fan, after all. I learned some interesting things, and had a nice recap of how audiences took to the individual films as well as the box office. But the question is, as a true fan, did I learn really all that much with spending 7 (or 11 with the extra disc) hours on this documentary? Not really.

Sure, there were a few things that I was shocked at, or took from this documentary, but NOT enough to spend this much time with these interviews.

That all said, if you're a Friday the 13th fan…yeah, I would recommend this very long documentary on the series. But, just once. You won't gain too much knowledge than you already had.

Going back to Freddy… That was a 100% AMAZING documentary and had a much more interesting host in the form of Heather Langenkamp over this documentary's Corey Feldman. Not that he wasn't great, he was just okay, whereas Heather was thoroughly interesting and absolutely invested in the series. Corey was merely reporting, especially since he only appeared in one and a tenth of the series.

Is it worth getting all 11 hours of the documentary? No. The seven initial hours were just fine. The additional four, well, let's just say, I turned off an hour and a half through since they were so rough and unfinished. Watch the seven-hour one…but only once.

Kill Her, Mommy!... Kill Her!

[strong-122-478885 · 4/10 · 3 April 2015]

In my opinion - For anyone (in their right mind) to actually sit through nearly 7 hours of watching this ridiculously redundant and preposterously repetitive "Friday The 13th" documentary would certainly have to be a bona-fide masochist of the highest order. I mean, 7 hours!!?? Like, talk about milking a subject to absolute death.

If you ask me - I think this "Crystal Lake Memories" documentary could've easily been reduced to a running time of, maybe, 2.5 hours, at best. It seemed to me like just about everyone and their dog appeared in this documentary gushing and paying glowing lip-service to a horror movie franchise that, since 1980, has spawned 12 mind-numbingly predictable sequels in all. And, unfortunately, at this point, there seems to be no end in sight for more of this nonsense.

Yes. I will admit that I watched most of this documentary in fast-forward mode. But, hey, with that said, when I did stop the rush of images to hear what anyone was babbling about, it was just the same old, tired bull from start to finish. And I knew I hadn't missed anything worthwhile at all.

Let's face it - This documentary is strictly for hard-core fans only!

P.S. - I thought it was really hilarious that actress Betsy Palmer, who played Jason's murderous mother in the original Friday The 13th, was the only one in this documentary who had the guts to come forward and say that she couldn't understand this horror film's lasting appeal. She was the only one and I applaud her for that.

A horror film enthusiast must see.

[amesmonde · 9 September 2016]

Director Daniel Farrands surpasses His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th, with Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th. This like the 2010 film, Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy and Farrands offers again an in depth and comprehensive documentary.

It discusses each of the twelve films, from the original to the 2009 remake, as well as the television series. It's also narrated and book-ended by Corey Feldman (who is also interviewed). It features candid interviews with key individuals in the franchise's history and the expected clips and glimpses of deleted and alternative scenes. It also looks at their post release reception and impacts.

If you've done a lot of reading on the making of the Friday the 13th this will offer few surprises and at nearly 7 hours long it may be too much for the casual documentary viewer. But for Friday the 13th completists, horror film enthusiast and fans of the series this is a must see.

Great for fans, and still engaging for non-fans

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 7/10 · 9 October 2021]

Even though it's not outstanding in its technical qualities, and really is just talking heads with some narration, it's surprisingly engaging for most of its runtime, and I'm not even that big a fan of the Friday the 13th franchise.

It goes through the whole series in a linear, satisfying fashion, and I would have to say that the editing is fantastic- I don't know how else I could have watched it all in one go. Lots of interesting interviewees and behind the scenes info and trivia.

Of course it's incredibly long - maybe too long - one interview I noticed had noticeably worse audio quality, and I wasn't really engaged by the part where they talked about the tv series tbh.

However, it could well be worth a watch for all the unedited footage of the kills alone, and it's always at its most interesting when it talks about the filmmakers clashing with the MPAA.