Stevecorp
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
MaximumMadness
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.
amesmonde
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.
Paul Magne Haakonsen
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.
theromanempire-1
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 detailDVD 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 BLOOD2) PART 23) PART 34) FINAL CHAPTER5) A NEW BEGINNING6) JASON LIVES7) F13 THE TV SERIESDVD 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 detail8) THE NEW BLOOD9) JASON TAKES MANHATTAN 10) JASON GOES TO HELL 11) JASON X 12) FREDDY vs JASON 13) THE REMAKE 14) REFLECTIONS ON WATERAlso 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.
