Friday the 13th part 2: Deluxe Edition reviewed
In 1981, the success of the original “Friday the 13th” forced the movie folks to decide that it was time to take a quick trip back to Crystal Lake. This time, the one behind the machete was the long “Thought to have drowned” son of previous killer Pamela Voorhees, Jason Voorhees. Thus, a horror icon was born. This is the film featuring Jason in his less iconic look aka pre-hockey mask Jason. But in my opinion, it’s always been one of the creepiest entries in the series for that very reason. The feed sack contains even less in the way of features that nothingness when Jason stares back at you through your TV screen. But, is it creepy enough to warrant buying another DVD when Friday the 13th part 2: Deluxe Edition hits store shelves on February 3rd? Well, that depends once again on how bad you want the special features.
The new DVD is a step up in picture quality that we have previously been given. It would have been much nicer if they had have went ahead and given us the Blu Ray. But I understand the whole “Testing the waters” thing with part 1. But it’s happening. The quality on the new part 2 disc is better than we’ve gotten previously. It’s mastered in high definition and contains a 5.1 Surround mix just like the part 1 re-release. The disc also contains a theatrical trailer (as seen on prior releases) but unfortunately, there is no commentary track. Perhaps this leaves something for Paramount to use to make the Blu Ray that much more appealing when it comes time for that. What Friday the 13th part 2: Deluxe Edition DOES contain is a pretty nice group of special features that I think a lot of fans will find that they enjoy, even though they are less than informative when it comes to telling us much of anything about Friday the 13th part 2 regarding cast and crew. The saving grace about info on part 2 is the first special feature that I’m going to tell you about. Let’s get the rundown on these features shall we?
SPECIAL FEATURES
Inside Crystal Lake Memories - Del Howison (Owner of Dark Delicacies) speaks with Peter Bracke, author of “Crystal Lake Memories”. If you want to know how the book came to be, you will definitely want to check this 11 minute conversation out. Bracke breaks it down from its start until its finish. He is a very knowledgeable person when it comes to the Friday the 13th series and it’s great to see him get a chance to talk about it in this feature. After Peter gives the rundown of how his book came to be, he talks in depth about the Friday the 13th series and really shows that he knows what he is talking about. He gives a great history of the early films in the series and this is the only new special feature that tells us anything regarding Friday the 13th part 2.
Lost tales from Camp Blood part II - The 9 minute follow up to the short film included on the part 1 Blu Ray and DVD. Once again Ceperley shows his knack and appreciation for the Friday the 13th series by bringing us this short film that features a couple hiking through the countryside after their car breaks down. Once again, they are stalked by the Jason-like hooded “killer”. One thing that should be noted about this one is that it takes place in the daytime which was a nice change of pace, and man could Lori Caulfield (Sarah) scream! The film ends at a point that’ll leave you interested in seeing where it goes next.
Friday’s Legacy: Horror Conventions: This is a neat little featured that was filmed at the 2024 Scare Fest in Lexington, KY that I was very fortunate to have attended. It features a look at Friday the 13th stars in action at the convention, meeting with fans, attending a midnight screening etc. It is really nice to see how appreciative the Friday alum are when it comes to their fans and this is a great representation of that. The event features interviews with Jeff Waldridge and Patti Star, the two people responsible for putting the convention together. It also features word with attendees and fans of the series that were on hand. You get to hear from the Friday alum directly from their booths and hear how they feel about attending such events. While this feature certainly would have been more at home on the part 1 disc considering all of the Friday the 13th guests spoken to in this documentary are from the first film, it’s a very fun feature and interesting to see. The feature is very informative when it comes to seeing how a convention comes together. How can you go wrong with a special look into the rubber band fights between Tom Savini and Ari Lehman?!
Jason Forever - Rounding out this disc is the inclusion of the Q & A entitled “Jason Forever”. A lot of you have likely already caught this feature elsewhere, as it was included as a special bonus to anyone who purchased their “From Crystal Lake to Manhattan” sets at Best Buy. But it’s a neat inclusion for anyone who bought the set elsewhere. It’s a panel from January 2024 Fangoria convention featuring four actors who have played Jason Voorhees. The panel is moderated by Peter Bracke (Crystal Lake Memories) and includes Ari Lehman (Part 1), Warrington Gillette (Part 2), CJ Graham (part VI), and Kane Hodder (VII, VIII, JGTH, and X). They give a great rundown on how they became involved in the series as well as their pride in having done so. If you don’t have this feature it’s a great addition. It’s always great to see these guys in action!
All in all, if you want features that revolve around Friday the 13th in general and want to learn about the inner workings of horror conventions, you can’t go wrong with this release. The features are very informative and should be seen. If you wanted to know a great deal of information on Friday the 13th part 2, you may want to look elsewhere. There’s very little to be learned about the film outside of the Crystal Lake Memories feature and the Jason Forever feature since it contains Warrington Gillette. All in all, it’s an interesting release and worth picking up even if the features would have worked slightly better on the part 1 re-release.
If you haven’t caught the review of Friday the 13th Uncut: Deluxe Edition Blu Ray and standard DVD’s, be sure to check it out HERE. Stop by this weekend when I’ll be taking a look at the upcoming Friday the 13th part 3 3D: Deluxe Edition on DVD!
Friday the 13th Uncut: Deluxe Edition (DVD and Blu Ray), Friday the 13th part 2: Deluxe Edition (DVD), and Friday the 13th part 3 3D (DVD) will be available for purchase on Tuesday, February 3rd!
The pics in this review are all over the place. The uploader was not working properly and I’ll go back and fix things later.
Very nice review, this definitely convinces me to pick up these deluxe DVD’s. I’m looking forward to your review for Part 3D.
I’ll definetly be picking this disc up as Friday part 2 is my second favorite in the series. Glad to see that we get some Bracke and some convention footage on this one. Can’t wait to read what you think of the part 3 disc (the 3D aspect in particular!).
I’m so in love with the fact that us Jason Fans are getting spoiled. Finally! Friday the 13th getting the deluxe treatment after sooooo many years of second rate dvd/video releases. I am going to wait for the blu-ray version of this. Part 2, in my book, is the scariest one in the series.
The atmosphere is just so creepy.
Love it!
Tony, what’s the aspect ratio on Part 2 ? And are you sure that the aspect ratio of Part 1 is 2.35:1, I’m asking because one of the people commenting on your review said that they already had Part 1 on Blu-Ray & Deluxe DVD, and that your review was wrong. They said the aspect ratio of part 1 was 1.85:1, I didn’t know if the info was a typo on your part or the person commenting.
Tony, any chance you might be adding some comparisons between the old DVD editions and the new? Just a few screenshots would make my day.
Theese new editions are shit.
I thought these editions were going to be uncut?
The disc do not say on the packaging what the aspect ratio is. It simply says “Widescreen Enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs”. I’m no master at the aspect ratio stuff, but amazon has the Blu Ray for part 1 listed as 2:35.1. Not saying it’s not wrong and I’m not wrong.
http://www.amazon.com/Friday-Uncut-Blu-ray-Kevin-Bacon/dp/B001K9OXDK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1232711090&sr=1-2
The aspect ratio on the standard is a tad different. So it’s likely 1:85.1. Part 2 appears to be teh 1:85.1 as well. Sorry for not touching on that. The enhancements are obvious though. The picture is a big improvement. I’ll try to get some comparison pics up this weekend.
Tony, thanks for the reply! 2.35:1 is the longer wide screen ratio (like Part 3 on DVD) and 1.85:1 the shorter (like the rest of the Friday DVDs). 2.35:1 is always remastered from the original negative while 1.85:1 (on most of the older movies released on DVD) are just the full screen versions with the bottoms of the screen cropped off to make the ratio fit a wide screen tv.
Kristen, some movies are shot 2.35:1 and some are shot 1.85:1 and some are even 1.66:1 or 1.33:1. A movie enhanced for a Widescreen TV is usually 16:9 or 1.78:1. If something says 1.85:1, it was either shot and displayed theatrically that way or shot as 1.33:1 and then matted (top & bottom chopped off). Friday the 13th 1-2 and 4-8 were all meant to be displayed at 1.85:1, and a 2:35:1 presentation would mean cutting the tops and bottoms of the frame off (not so with Part 2 which was shot to be 2.35:1). Some of the films were shot with home video (1.33:1) in mind (as well as 1.85:1), and these are cropped to make them 1.85:1 and match the theatrical presentation. Most of these DVDs will crop slightly from 1.85:1 to 1.78:1 so that they will fill a 16×9 screen. IMDB has a technical section for each film that will show you the theatrical aspect ratio sometimes. Check this page out for more information on aspect ratios: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/widescreenorama.html
PS I was reading an old Fangoria last night, and it mentioned that it was 48 seconds of gore effects that were trimmed from Friday the 13th Part 2 due to the MPAA.
I meant to say not so with Part 3 which was shot to be 2.35:1
Thanks for the mention on the interview with Peter Bracke. Please note that it is \
Thanks for the mention of the interview with Peter Bracke. Please note that it is “Dark Delicacies” not “Dark Delicacy”. Otherwise keep up the good work.
Sorry about a 2nd comment but your encoder kind of messed with me.
TOTAL WASTE! No CUT footage? No commentary?? A Camp Blood fan film?? Give me a break!!! Horror convention feature? Who cares?!?! GIVE ME THE CUT FOOTAGE!!
Thanks for stopping by Del! Great to have you here. I fixed the article
Matt, everyone knows that movies are shot at different aspect ratios. But most of the older movies released on DVD are not remastered from the original negatives. I know this for a fact because I’ve compared old full screen VHS tapes to wide screen DVDs. On the 1.85:1 DVDs you can see as clear as day that there isn’t any more of the picture on the sides, there’s less on the bottom. The only old movies released on DVD that have more of the pic on the sides are the 2.35:1 and 2.40:1. If you remember, at the begining of Friday Part 3 is the end of Part 2. Part 3 on DVD is 2.35:1. If Part 2 was originally shot in 1.85:1, why is the end of it at the begining of Part 3 in 2.35:1. I compared DVDs, the end of 2 on Part 3’s DVD isn’t cropped at all. It has alot more of the picture on the sides than the DVD or VHS of Part 2.
UUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! They’re including the Jason forever bonus feature from the boxed set as a special feature?! When I bought my boxed set it did not include the bonus Jason Forever disc since there were limited copies at Best Buy (which I believe was an exclusive thing through them) and I ended up paying like 40 bucks (give or take) on ebay for it! Damn it! I knew this would come back to haunt me eventually! Makes me wonder what they’re putting as special features on pt.3? More stuff that’s from the bonus features from the boxed set? Oh well. It was worth buying that disc on ebay being that I’m an obsessed fan and I will still be buying this and the other F13th dvds on 2/3/09 anyways. CAN’T WAIT!!!
Oh and while I’m on pt.3, what kind of 3D will they be releasing? The same Blue & Red glasses that I have with Freddy’s Dead and Night of the Living Dead 3D? Is it possible that companies can release 3D in the format that they did My Bloody Valentine 3D in? I was so impressed with that! Granted it probably looked so awesome because I was watching it in the theater on a big screen but I was just curious if that same great effect be transfered to DVD on TVs?
I read somewhere that it’s the clear ones. They used clear glasses for Part 3 when it was in the theatre, so you’d think they’d use clear ones. I hope it’s not red and blue.
What a waste of time! I’m so disapointed that yet again we get a worthless release. Why don’t we get deleted scenes, a behind the scenes featurette or even a commentary?? None of the features have much to do with the actual movie or cast and crew which is so annoying. I won’t be buying this.
i agree with kelly. if the special features aren’t relevant to the featured movie, it’s not a collector’s item. there are so many releases of this movie out there, that anyone who wants it has it already… they will only sell more if it makes a strong collector’s item.
i hope the sales from pt 1 influence them to do better with these. i’ve already pre-ordered mine.
Part 2 is my fave film of the series and it sucks that its not getting the treatment it deserves. Part 2 got a bit of coverage (on-set pics/interviews) in the Crystal lake memories book which makes me think some behind the scenes footage must exist..whether we’ll ever see it is another thing. blah theres no point me keep moaning because we’ll probably never be satisfied.
Just from reading a few comments here, I have a feeling that a few people may be disappointed in the part 3 3D DVD…
Look for that review tomorrow.
This dvd is uncut or censored ?
Folks only part 1 is uncut.I am sure quality will be much improved on the new disc versions of part 2 and part3.These films are old and I am comfortable with them and if I ever see the uncut footage I will be diaper free.
Kristen, that is incorrect. Some movies are shot full frame 1.33:1 and then matted on the tops and bottoms for theatrical presentation so that they appear 1.85:1. When they were put on VHS, some of these were able to remove the matte. Some movies are shot with a hard-matte that is unremoveable. When those were put on VHS, the sides were removed to make them 1.33:1. Part 2 was displayed theatrically at 1.85:1; that footage was modified in some way to display as 2.35:1-I’m guessing (can’t check right now) that a small amount of the sides (previously lost to something called overscan, probably) was revealed and that some of the tops and bottoms was cropped to create a 2.35:1 image. Beyond this, you can tell from the compositions in the frame that Part 1, 2, etc. were meant to be shown at 1.85:1 primarily by the directors and cinematographers.
Some of the discussion here in regards to aspect ratios is hilarious. Ridiculous. But hilarious.
I’m not really sure why anyone would be worried that Paramount would be taking a flat film and cropping it to scope for a DVD. I know their home entertainment division is bad but not THAT bad. Let’s put it this way — there is NO home entertainment division that is that bad. It’s, sadly, more common to see scope films cropped to flat. Especially for broadcast on HD channels.
As for the first two Fridays, they were shot full aperture (1.37 not 1.33… unless we’re talking a silent era film!) and were matted theatrically at 1.85 in the U.S. (1.66 is the preferred flat ratio in Europe, but not being European, I can’t tell you how they played there). But they have never exactly been available on home video that way. They have been matted at 1.78 for all the previous R1 DVD releases. Unless the people in charge of a transfer are stupid — which many are — any full aperture, soft matte film that played the big screen at 1.85 and is reframed for anamorphic 16×9 home video/HD broadcast will have a little more picture revealed, not a little less. You can’t do that with a hard matte film — the mattes for those are placed during the filming itself, not the projecting. Those kinds of films should NEVER be matted at 1.78 for home video. But often are. Because people are stupid. Thankfully, the difference between 1.78 and 1.85 isn’t much, and if the cropping is being done to a point-and-click kinda film with no real attention paid to visuals, it’s a non-issue anyway.
This “deluxe” DVD is a total pass for me, by the way. We’re now on our third R1 release on Part 2 and we still can’t manage to record a commentary? Find a TV spot? Scan promotional materials for a still gallery? Land an interview with the director? The star? (Or anyone really?) And as for the extras, who ARE half these people? And why should I care who they are? I’m disappointed the MPAA appeasement trims have once again failed to materialize, although I’ve long since ceased expecting them to. Even though most of the removed footage was reportedly Bill Randolph and Marta Kober humping like rabbits, the trims in other places wreck the pacing and the scoring. (Back in 1981, Steve Miner said getting an “R” rating “ruined” his film.)
Matt, I’m correct, I know because I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. Have you even compared 1.33:1 VHS to 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 DVDs in person, or are you just going by what you’ve read somewhere. The clip of Part 2 on Part 3’s DVD is not cropped at all. Part 2 was originally 2.35:1, if you don’t believe me then get a VHS and DVD copy of Part 2 and compare them to the DVD of Part 3 for your self and find out.
Dobbs, the whole point of wide screen is to get more of the picture on the sides. So when a full screen 1.33:1 is cropped at the bottom to fit a 1.85:1 tv, nearly one third of the picture is lost. And considering that these movies were shot in 2.35:1 there’s no reason why the film studios can’t remaster from the original negative. But instead to save money they take the full screen versions they already have for the old VHS releases and crop the bottoms to make the fit. So by the time the negative is cropped from 2.35:1-W to 1.33:1-F then back to 1.85:1-W half of the picture is lost. I don’t know about most people but I like to have as much of the picture as possible, not less. Dobbs it’s not just Paramount cropping full frame into wide, most old movies released to DVD are done that way regardless of studio. Don’t take my word for it, get a VHS copy of one of the old friday or elm st movies and compare them to the DVDs of the same thing. You’ll see for your self.
The reason Paramount and other film studios don’t put much effort or thought into some of their DVD releases is because they know that most people will always settle for less. So I don’t think it’s ridiculous. I just want horror movies to be released with the same respect other genres are.
i have to agree with kristen. paramount could’ve done alot better than this! hell most of the special features have nothing to do with the movie it’s self, which sucks because this one’s my favorite. and why the hell isn’t this uncut?
About some of the wide screen versions being cropped, I’ve noticed that too. On A Nightmare On Elm Street the wide screen dvd is cut off at the bottom. When Heather’s changing her shirt in front of the closet, you can see her ass on the vhs, but on dvd you can’t. On the dvd it says “WIDESCREEN VERSION: Presented in a format preserving the 1.85:1 aspect ratio of it’s original theatrical exhibition”, but if that’s true why is there more of the picture on the full screen vhs and less on the wide screen dvd. And the dvd doesn’t have anymore of the picture on the sides than the vhs does, I checked… They made that movie for the theatre so you know they put all of their focus on the theatrical presention and not home video. It’s common sense to put more work into what makes the most money. It would be stupid to think they’d shoot the movie in full screen then crop the bottom to fit the screen in the theatre. Why would they risk losing so much money to make it better on home video.
From what I see, the Deluxe Edition of Friday the 13th Part 2 doesn’t really have much of anything that the box set doesn’t already have. Unless the picture quality is alot better, I don’t see a reason to buy this.
Kristen, I just looked AGAIN at F13 Parts 2 & 3. I copied a frame from part 2 and then compared it with the same frame in part 3. In part 3, for this frame at least, they cropped much of the bottom of the 1.85:1 Part 2 frame and even a little bit of the right side (I’m guessing this is prob diff. for different scenes in the opening) to come up with a 2.35:1 frame in Part 3. It’s pretty obvious on that frame at least. Besides that, the point of widescreen is not necessarily to reveal more of what was shot; more often, I think, it is to better approximate what was seen theatrically or to better take advantage of newer 16×9 screens (and besides that, widescreen compositions are often more dynamic). You see more on the full screen version of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, but that includes a ruined gag (you can see a chain being fed up through a hat, iirc) and in many pictures, boom mikes). Back in the good old 1990s, I had a chance to see Friday the 13th Part 1 on film in a real theater. I can tell you that it was projected in that instance as 1.85:1.
Kristen and Matt, you’re both half right. Kristen, the clip of Friday the 13th Part 2 on the Dvd of Part 3 is slightly cropped at the bottom. Matt, there’s two different types of 1.85:1, one is the theatrical version with more of the picture on the sides. But some of the 1.85:1 Dvds (like the original Elm st) are just the full screen versions with the bottom cropped off. Some times film studios do so to save money. Truth is, some times you get more of the picture with wide screen Dvds and some times you get less.
I don’t see how they can call this deluxe. It doesn’t even have a commentary track.
Kristen, I say this with love and not meanness. You are clueless. Nothing in that last post is correct. Not one thing. I can’t speak for “most people,” but I can speak for myself, and I personally prefer to see the right amount of picture, not the most picture. I believe anyone who understands the terms “full aperture” and “soft matte” will understand why you’re seeing too much picture on your old VHS “open matte” transfer. Picture you weren’t supposed to see. Thanks to the magic of matting via a projector, you didn’t see that part of the image at the top and bottom of the screen when the film was shown on the big screen. So why would you want to see it now?
There is no such thing as a 1.85 TV.
The only “Friday” film that was shot 2.35 (technically, 2.39) is “3D.” As Matt noted, the portion of Part 2 that was recycled into Part 3 was heavily modified to make it look like it was shot in scope (like the rest of Part 3). It wasn’t.
Anyone who thinks Paramount DVDs are ported from VHS tapes should probably stick with their VHS tapes, since they can’t tell the difference. Paramount’s home entertainment division can’t do a lot of things right, but one of the things they can do is find a high-quality negative, internegative or interpositive to do their telecines. The original eight discs for the first “Friday” flicks looked, to my eyes, to be mastered directly off the original negatives. If they weren’t, they were certainly from nothing of lower grade than an IP.
This doesn’t excuse the rather sorry state of extras appearing on this “triple dip.”
Dobbs, not only are you dead wrong, you’re an asshole to boot. I read all of the comments here, and not one time did Kristen insult you. There is no reason to insult someone for having a difference of opinion. The only thing she was wrong about, was the clip of Part 2 on Part 3’s Dvd not being cropped. Where are you getting your information about aspect ratio from?
Dobbs, you are right about one thing, widescreen TVs are not 1.85:1. They’re 1.78:1, which is a honest mistake considering most widescreen TVs don’t actually state the aspect ratio in their user manual. Either way it has nothing to do with the point of the conversation. The point is that not all of the 1.85:1 widescreen Dvds have more of the picture on the sides. Alot of the old films released to Dvd are just the full screen versions with the bottoms cropped off. Like the first Nightmare on Elm St.