VHS Box Set Released October 2024.
This set includes Part 2 through 8 and excludes the original as Warner Bros. hold the distribution rights to that movie.

Original DVD Box set Released Ocotober 2024.
This set includes the first wave of Friday the 13th DVD’s that were also released in the US. The original 1980 classic was excluded from this set as well.

Remastered DVD Box Set Released October 7, 2024.
This box set boasts 8 discs, but I am not sure if the original movie is included as Warner still holds distribution rights in this region and the box set is a Paramount release. I have said before that I love the design of these DVD covers.

The recent DVD contest that fridaythe13thfilms.com ran was a huge success. We received 125 entries and there were a lot of great responses on what your favorite scenes were between the two movies. Sadly, we did have to choose only one winner. The winner has been contacted by email, but we will not post the winner’s name here for privacy purposes. However, read below for that fans favorite scene in their words. I am truly impressed by their interpretation of the scene. If only the makers of the actual movie could have conveyed the same thoughts on screen.

Since Part 8 was my first Jason movie, taped off USA Network when I was in fifth grade, my favorite scene in this movie may still be my favorite scene in any of the movies. Julius the boxer, already shown as charismatic and full of leadership potential, sacrifices himself in a toe-to-toe match with evil incarnate.  As a too-young-for-R-Rated child, watching the swagger and overzealous confidence in his eyes during the beginning of the fight really made me cheer for him. Only now, more than a decade later, do I understand the fear in his eyes before the final blow sends our boxer to his fate. Julius has seen into the soul of unstoppable evil. Jason is beyond human, beyond natural. He is invulnerable to the attributes which Julius yields with the highest proficiency, namely attitude and physical endurance. Jason also possesses the same attributes, but in a much higher degree. Julius loses all hope of defeating Jason, and in his last brief moments it seems he may realize that at the very least he distracted Jason long enough to afford his comrades safe passage. Ironically, itis with this same attribute that Jason introduces Julius his maker (was it a Ford windshield, or a Chevy perhaps?)

 Everyone, thank you so much for entering the contest and for continuing to support our website and the entire Friday the 13th franchise.

The big question is, of course, why the films (particularly New Blood) are still sans the bloody kills? Buechler says that the negatives for that footage are probably forever lost. “Ours was one of the single fastest movies ever made. I had my signed deal to make the movie in January, and it was in the theaters on May 13th.” Because of the rush to get the film in theaters, the usual careful cataloging and storing was presumably rushed as well, and thus the footage may no longer exist as studios occasionally destroy unclaimed footage rather than sort it out. The DVD (read our review HERE) does have some of the footage courtesy of a low-quality VHS cut of Buechler’s workprint, but even that is incomplete. “It was actually an assembly that I made prior to doing additional photography, so even if it were restored and you found that negative, it still wouldn’t be the whole movie.”

Various other “wish-list” items, such as Manhattan’s hilarious teaser, are also absent, but that is mainly due to a lack of space on the disc (hardly anything to complain about – a full disc is a GOOD thing). Blu-rays for 4-8 have been brought up, but Farrands tells us that nothing is set in stone yet. On the plus side, that means that they weren’t holding back for an eventual double (triple?) dip. Says Farrands: “There would be more room on the Blu-ray discs, so maybe there’s an opportunity to find more material. A lot of this depends on how the DVDs sell, and what the fan reaction is, but there’s always interest in doing more. If there’s more to be found, they will give it to us; I know for a fact they weren’t holding back on, like, let’s reserve this for Blu-ray. They never took that attitude, and if it was there, we put it in.”

Speaking of that teaser (featuring Jason standing on New York harbor, looking at the water while a Sinatra tune plays over shots of screaming yuppies and commuters), Kane drops an interesting tidbit – that’s not even him! “We were shooting in Vancouver when they shot it… I don’t know who it is… he looks kind of small. I don’t know why they didn’t just wait until we got to New York. My Jason wouldn’t turn like that!”

Replacements and stand-ins seemed to be the order of the day for the 8th film. Not only was Vancouver used instead of New York (except for the Times Square scenes, which Kane claims was “the single most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced in film – being in Times Square in the full costume”), but the script sent out to actors was disguised as a generic slasher film to keep fans from raiding the set. VC Dupree tells us that his script was titled “Ashes To Ashes”. Laughing, he tells us about the script’s rather goofy attempts at tricking people. “I guess they had the name changed from Jason Voorhees to Ethan Dearborn; Crystal Lake was changed to something else, just so you could plug the letters in there.” It was co-star Kelly Hu that tipped him off, a tale he recounts on the DVD’s retrospective piece (which features several co-stars, as well as writer/director Rob Hedden, editor Steve Mirkovich, and composer Fred Mollin – read our review HERE).

Dupree and Hodder also waxed nostalgic about their boxing match, easily Manhattan’s highlight and according to Kane, “one of the kills I get asked about the most.” According to Hodder, Dupree was really hitting him through most of the punches (“66 punches”, Hodder claims, using the number provided by a fan), and despite wearing a catcher’s pad, he was pretty bruised up. The scene took a toll on Dupree as well; he tells us his knuckles really were all cut up from punching the hockey mask.

These two films didn’t perform up to par at the box office, resulting in Paramount essentially ending the series and selling the rights to New Line (who gave us Jason Goes To Hell, Jason X, and Freddy Vs. Jason), but it’s clear that they are held in high regard by both fans and their creators. Buechler recalls his film with a big smile on his face: “I’m pretty proud of the film; I think the fact that we had a full-blown subplot of a telekinetic girl kicking Jason’s butt was lots of fun. I got to do a lot of cool stuff with the makeup effects – we designed and engineered something that I thought was unique at the time – that was all just fun stuff that we got to do, and the fact that we got a great guy inside of it to play the role, we both were of a single mind. We wanted this to be a more energetic, more dynamic version of the character than we had seen before, and I think we accomplished that.”

With the new discs giving the films their best representation ever, there has never been a better time to see if you agree. The new discs are in stores; complete your collection and get rid of that old boxed set once and for all!

 The New Blood

Not only is the color much improved, but I was shocked to see how much picture information the 2024 releases were missing. In the shot of Jason in the kitchen, notice the decoration on the left side of the frame that is completely missing from the identical frame on the old release. And in the forest shot, notice the sharper detail in the trees and on Jason’s ratty clothes (and again, far more picture information).

As for the extras, Kane Hodder and John Carl Buechler’s old commentary is gone, but the pair have recorded a new commentary, this time joined by (a separate) Lar Park Lincoln. It’s not a bad track; Hodder and Buechler repeat some of the stuff they said on the last one, but Lincoln’s thoughts are obviously new, and thankfully she takes up the bulk of the track (unless you haven’t listened to the old one, in which case you might want to hear more from the guys). And Buechler admits that the story isn’t up to par, which I don’t think he fessed up to on the last one.

We also get about 15 minutes’ worth of deleted footage. The footage isn’t in particularly good shape – it seems to be taken from a VHS tape with a bad tracking problem, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the damn cassette had been stored in someone’s flooded basement. It’s an even split between excised character stuff and kills, some of which were on the boxed set. Of most interest is a deleted epilogue in which Jason resurfaces from the water, which would have been nice to have (the theatrical cut of New Blood is one of the only films in the series that doesn’t end on a scare). Of course, we also get the usual retrospective with cast and crew, though it runs a bit shorter than usual and skimps over the more interesting things about the film’s production (such as its origin as Freddy vs. Jason). Then there is an interesting look at “real” telekinetic cases, as well as how realistic the film is at portraying this power (spoiler: it isn’t).

 
Jason Takes Manhattan

While not as striking as the difference between the transfers for New Blood, it’s still obvious just at a glance that the 2024 version is superior to the 2024 boxed set counterpart. The color seems a bit off (Jason’s mask seems yellow in the boat pic) at times, but the detail is vastly improved, with much clearer definition (look at the wood on the boat) and, again, the 2024 version restores previously cropped out visual information (look at the Olympus sign on the left side of the Times Sq. screenshot). This is just one of the many benefits of not squishing two films on the same side of a disc, as they did last time.

A more striking improvement is the amount of extras on the disc. Rob Hedden’s previous commentary has not been held over (why?), but there is a brand new one with Scott Reeves, Jensen Daggett, and Kane Hodder (who is recorded via conference call, as he was in Utah shooting Adam Green’s Frozen). It’s a surprisingly fun track, as the two leads mock their performances and clothes, and Kane provides a lot of interesting production info. Reeves could have taken the time to at least glance at the IMDb before leaving for the recording studio (he first asks Kane if he played Jason in any of the other films, then asks him if he has done any other horror films in general! Christ), but it’s a hell of a lot better than Hedden’s track, at any rate.

Of more interest, I am sure, are the “slashed scenes”. Gorehounds might be disappointed to see that only two or three of the kill scenes are extended (one of which is the aftermath of the long sought-after “dart” kill), but fans of the film will enjoy all of the little character beats and such that are presented here, as well as a minor subplot about how their graduating class was going to be the last, as the school was closing (I’m sure this tied into the notion that the film was intended as a series finale). A few more excised moments can be seen in the largely unfunny gag reel (only Peter Mark Richman’s goofs really amuse, as well as a prank Kane pulled on Tiffany Paulson in the opening sequence), so check that out for a few more. Rounding things out is the traditional 20 minute-ish retrospective piece on the film, with Hedden, Hodder, and a decent number of the cast, plus composer Fred Mollin and editor Steve Mirkovich (and his son, who played young Jason). By now you know how these things go, but as the film was always considered one of the weakest, it’s also been covered the least. Thus, you probably haven’t heard all of these stories a million times.

To read his full reviews visit the links below.
BD “The New Blood” Review
BD “Jason Takes Manhattan” DVD Review

1. Name.
2. Your Physical Address
3. Email Address
4. Your one favorite scene from either movie.

No one scene will be judged better than the other, but only entries that include your favorite scene will be considered. The winner will be drawn at random and contacted via email. The winner will be receiving both U.S. NTSC Region 1 Deluxe Edition DVD releases. Contest ends Wednesday September 30th, 2024. Good Luck to everyone!