Dread Central Talks with Dan Farrands About New Friday DVD Releases
Thanks to Kasch for commenting in a recent blog about this item. Dread Central recently talked to Dan Farrands, producer of the bonus features for the new Friday the 13th DVD releases. Farrands explains what it took to create the features and how Paramount cooperated with the process.
“We told them we needed every single frame from these movies, and Paramount literally sent us any scrap of Jason film that they still had in their vaults from all over,” said Farrands. “Boxes were being delivered to me and Andrew [Kasch, who served as editor for all the bonus features] for weeks on end, and we pored through every single second of it.”
One of the long-time controversies that always surrounds the Special Edition DVD phenomenon is that studios release them, and then a few years later they somehow come up with new and better material to entice fans. Farrands wants to ensure fans that this isn’t the case with these editions.
Farrands said, “The reality is that back when these movies were being made, home video was just getting started so no one had the foresight to think that all this extra film was going to be of use in the future. DVD hadn’t even been dreamt of yet, so unfortunately a lot of the materials from some of the Friday flms were either tossed out of the vault or destroyed.”
To read the whole article, visit Dread Central
Awesome interview. cant wait to see the pt 4 extra footage.
I wanna se Part 2 released uncut. The new DVD’s aren’t being released in Sweden, only Blue-Ray. :(
I can’t wait for the deluxe edition of The Final Chapter as well as The Killer Cut of the remake. I don’t understand why they’re reissuing His Name Was Jason as a single disc. However I wish the special edition of Part 3 had more then just the trailer and 3D version. They could have at least added deleted footage or even the scene where Chris hallucinates and Jason decapitates her. Anyways about the killer cut, I really hope it has the scene where Donnie wears the hockey mask and gets decapitated.
From reading the excerpt above, it sounds like Paramount sent them everything they had for the Deluxe Editions. Does anyone else find this hard to believe? I still don’t think Paramount takes this franchise serious. We are only getting deluxe editions because somebody else thought took it seriously to make a remake. I would suspend my hourly wages at Walmart for time to hang out in these “vaults” and go through the material myself. My time can be so much more important than what the world considers it to be at this point. Hanging out in Paramount vaults would give me purpose and direction.
…and the photo above looks completely staged by the way.
yes dan farrands himself found everything that was available so he got everything paramount has i hear part 7 and 8 he found alot of stuff that was never seen before in terms of alternate/deleted scenes extended scenes
part2,3,5 all the deleted alternate footage for those has been thrown out and lost forever
Here is a link to a review of Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter Delux Edition! http://blogcritics.org/video/article/dvd-review-friday-the-13th-the1/ There is also a review of the Part 3 Blu-Ray.
if the uncut death sequences truly are lost forever, i think i’m done buying any f13th video releases other than new entries. without that footage, they’re just okay. i think it’s always been the hope of seeing the true versions that has kept me in love with the series all this time.
if it doesn’t exist, truly great f13th sequels don’t exist…only in theory.
as for all this other footage and stuff, i’ll watch it if it’s free, but i’m not going to spend any more of my money on it.
I wasn’t planning on buying any of the re-releases of the movies. Though these now have officially changed my mind. Reading the column, I’m a sucker for special features. I think this would be a nice collection. Also to see a different viewing experience of the movies themselves.
I really wish they could release all of the films uncut. Any way, I will always buy the new editions. BTW, http://www.highdefdigest.com gave the blu-ray edition of part 2 a pretty good review
The Walmart Man, why do you think Paramount would take this franchise seriously? It may have brought them profit in the eighties but so did Star Trek, Indiana Jones and their contract with Eddie Murphy. Friday the 13th was a thorn in their side because of all the backlash they received, and they only produced the sequels as there was a demand for them, not because they were passionate about the material. Count yourself lucky they’re re-releasing anything as up until recently there was little related to Friday the 13th that was being released. At least now we’re getting somewhere with these re-issues.
Christian Sellers,
You can’t say that we are getting somewhere when Paramount has hardly moved with this franchise in decades. The only thing we are getting from Paramount is a response to the remake. And these DVDs arent much considering how much fans have pleaded with Paramount over the years for good special features…but there are worse things y’know. You can waste your life away behind the register at Walmart and never have more than $2.00 in your wallet at any given time.
Hey guys. Been a while since I last posted, I know. Just had to take a break from all of my fave genre film message boards and hated all the drama.
Personally, I shall continue to snatch up the remaining Deluxe Editions retail (cause no use using my usual 3rd party Amazon.com sellers I normally use monthly for my bulk orders; all of the Super Wal-marts near me, oddly enough given a certain poster here, are gonna carry’em, plus the Ghostbusters game I want).
I’m happy that Parts IV as well as VI are gonna have commentary over the un-used cut footage. We should all be thankful we’re getting these and let’s try not too bitch TOO much at Cashamount. Yeah, they’ve done much wrong in the past. However, as Mr. Ferrands has stated and promised to us, they shipped him and the other gentleman who are producing the new extras on these remaining Deluxe Edition’s all of the material that had “Friday the 13″ written on it, and they poured over it. Each frame of 35mm film.
Re-read that fine articale. At least we’re getting usable cut material as special features on The Final Chapter, as well as Jason Lives; even new stuff from The New Blood (though I know: we can expect the same atrocious quality from the ‘04 totally bullshit ‘Ultimate Edition’ set, however, let us just be thankful) and we’ve been promised plenty of stuff that Mr. Rob Hedden thankfully saved for his own private collection that they can use for the Jason Takes Manhatten disc.
Plus the sound on them has improved (if you own a solid 5.1 set like me and others, you can definately tell in the first three re-issued Deluxe Edition DVDs) as well as fine and much brighter HD-transfered film transfers. Especially nicer if you have a modern TV set and a fine up-converter theater system like me. And they’re all (the remaining ones that is) gonna boast fresh commentary tracks, so again, with all due respect, let’s not bitch TOO much, now. And some cast & crew gather for fresh, recently shot interviews as well.
I do agree on one thing, though: Shame on Paramount for throwing away all of the exercised footage/material on Parts 2, 3, 5 and 7. There was no reason to do that, even though Lasedisc hadn’t even taken off at that point, and I agree there was little reason to keep it, as throwin’ away footage on even more major films was quite common back then. So far, so good on the standard-def Deluxe Editions. I’ll up grade, just as a big time series supporter I also snatched up the slim-case boxset of the New Line Cinema years recently to have a fine lookin’ set of them and to have one more copy of each of them.
Personally, I don’t see what ALL the bitchin’ is about on these re-releases since the audio & video quality and much better. If anything, they shouldn’t take up disc space with those rancid & super silly fan films of a Jason-like killer. Honestly, does ANYONE truely (the majority, that is) like & want them?
Even still, does seem a bit silly that they did it. But to each they’re own.
So the deleted footage on Part 4, has nothing to do with the deleted scenes that were included in the Box Set? Are the deleted scenes alone worth the upgrade?
Also what can be expected for Part 7’s release?
http://reviewfix.com/2009/06/savini-and-zito-make-for-a-memorable-semi-last-chapter/
The Walmart Man, just be thankful people still give a shit about this franchise. Paramount have never said that they care for these movies, and New Line only made two to keep the series going for Freddy vs. Jason. Of course I want to see uncut versions of all the filmss but with all the unnecessary hostility that some fans give on this site why should they bother? Just be thankful we have them in widescreen and a couple of uncut, as that’s more than we had back in the eighties. Sometimes I think DVDs spoil fans too much as they’re never satisfied with what they’re given. God knows how you coped with VHS!
Anthony,
If you follow the link to Dread Central up top, the Dan discusses what to expect on the part VII release.
Thank You, Exile and I agree with Christian about VHS.
Here is the only thing Ferrands said about the upcoming releases for Part 7 and 8 in that interview. It’s not much…and very far away from any announcement that A New Blood will be uncut but I am optimistic that it will still be good.
“We definitely have some great stuff lined up for fans for these movies even though so much of the extra footage has been lost. I can promise you, as a fan, I still think they will be awesome to watch.”
Christian,
I coped with VHS until 2024. I finally dished out for a DVD player at the end of that year and I just want to get my money’s worth. Seriously, the player cost a significant portion of my Walmart paycheck and I ended up spending a week eating Cup O Noodle soup just to afford the thing and not go into further debt. I don’t think I’m spoiled. I’m actually very poor and I try to get my money’s worth out of everything I buy.
Jimbo X,
My bad, I thought the part of the interview that included the discussion of Part VII was up at Dread Central. Cody posted it over at the community message board. Here’s what he had to say (and, it’s not good news)…
“we did find several lost scenes from Part 7 that didn’t make it on the original box set. They are mostly “character moments” involving Lar Park Lincoln and Kevin Blair, as well as an extended scene with Billy Butler and his date on their way to the “birthday bash.” These are definitely included in the new Deluxe Edition.
We also found a few outtakes of Kane rising from the lake and a better-quality version of Melissa’s “ax to the head” death scene.
Unfortunately most of the trims from Part 7 were destroyed in 1991. Believe me, we would have killed ourselves to create the ultimate/uncut version of 7. But what we did find will hopefully give fans a chance to see (albeit not the best quality) some of that holy grail material, and we were grateful to John Buechler and Fred Mollin for providing us with the early work tapes that they (thankfully) kept safe all these years. Had it not been for that material, the Part 7 disc would have been sorely lacking. So thanks to John and Fred!
On the upside, Part 8 has pretty much everything that was excised from the film — lots of outtakes, alternate angles and a few never-before-seen moments. Scott Reeves, Jensen Daggett and Kane Hodder did an amazing commentary track that I know fans are going to love. The best feature (IMHO) is the “gag reel” that Rob Hedden and his team assembled for their cast & crew wrap party. We included it in its entirety — including a “piece” of Kane’s Jason you’ve never seen before!
Just wanted to fill in some of the gaps and to let everyone know that we put everything that exists on these DVDs. Paramount didn’t “hold out” on you this time — if it existed in their vaults, we put it on these Deluxe Editions.”
Kasch also posted over on the board that they found an document authorizing the destruction of the cut footage and that there will NEVER be uncut versions (since the footage has been destroyed).
Those of us who used to write letters to Paramount are feeling about like Clark Griswold, right now, after he rigged all those Christmas lights up only to flip the switch and have nothing happen. At least, we have a definitive answer.
..and that should read “a document” not “an document.”
The Walmart Man, do you have to reference your job in EVERY post? Are you spamming on behalf of Walmart or something? And in response to your comment, you got your money’s worth on your DVD player back by how cleaned up the images are on the Friday the 13th films. No longer all the inferiorities that were a flaw on VHS. Aside from a pause which may occur once I’d say DVDs are damn near perfect. Some extras are always a welcome addition, but remember they are called ‘Extras’ or ‘Bonus’ features, they’re additional material, so extras are an improvement compared to what you had on VHS.
i must have missed the part that they retrieved almost everything from part 8. is it possible we will get an uncut version of that?? was much even cut from it to begin with?
it’s a shame one of the kinda lame entries is the only sequel they have footage from, but it may very well be a decent entry with some more gore. i used to love that one when i was younger.
i would certainly love an uncut JTM on blu-ray!!…i’d pay a very nice price for it.
ah it looks like quite a bit was cut from part 8 (or alternate takes used) — http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097388/alternateversions
finger’s crossed for a director’s cut!!!
Why don’t they just ask the make-up effects guy from part 2 if he has any of the cut footage from that film.
In the Crystal Lake Memories Book Greg Nictero comments on seeing some of this stuff at this person’s house.
So this guy must have something? Or he destroyed it like a jackass.
wonder why he hasn’t volunteered it with the recent willingness of paramount to release the stuff?? part 2 would be the best entry to see uncut IMO. also the scoring was done before the cuts, so it would take minimal work to add it back in. the rest of them would be a little more challenging if anyone had footage.
You got me, but he needs to be contacted. Can someone get in touch with Daniel Farrands about this.
i gots lost tales frome camp blood pt 3 is missing? y is dat it suks an all but still
Farrands is just feeding us a line of bullshit, because the more dvds sold, the more money he makes. The last thing in the world he wants, is for people to wait and save their money for uncut versions. Think about it…