If you’re like me, then you absolutely love horror. I mean, I’ve been writing a horror article every work day since the middle of September. So I have to love it. Or else that would get monotonous, REAL QUICK. So when a company like Scream Factory announces a huge box-set for one of the best horror franchises out there, Friday the 13th, I’m gonna jump on it. I pre-ordered the set, and it arrived yesterday. Now that means I haven’t had time for a full tear-down look at every movie (that comes later), but it does mean I can go through and tell you the early indications that I have for this set. We’ll start off with the packaging.
The Outer Shell/Box Is Magnificent
You can tell right away how awesome this thing is going to be. Just one look at the glorious wrap-around artwork of various incarnations of Jason Voorhees will tell you that. Outside of the beautiful art, just by holding the thing, it has some heft to it. Some heft that you know means this isn’t going to be some cash-wasting pile of crap. It’s all 12 films in the series, including the remake and Freddy vs. Jason. All 12 films on SIXTEEN discs. For a cinephile nerd like myself, more discs, translates to arousal. In addition to those discs, you’re given a 60 page booklet with an essay about the entire series by Michael Gingold.
This isn’t designed to sound like a press release for Scream Factory, this set is really that good looking. What I’m really looking forward to are the new 4K and 2K scans of the original film, Part 2, Part 3, The Final Chapter, and Jason Goes To Hell. Also when a set includes a whole two Blu-Ray discs with extras, you know it’s going to be worth it.
This isn’t just some thrown together thing. Like most of what Scream Factory does, it’s a labor of love that they’re giving back to the community. For the price of admission, $160, you’re getting full collector’s edition Blu-Ray discs for all twelve movies. If you’re the type to translate that one big price per disc, that’s like $13 per movie. So even when you look at the larger overall price, you wouldn’t be able to get these movies in this collector package for that price.
Scream Factory Really Outdid Themselves With This One
My preliminary guess is that this is going to go up there with the Halloween set that Scream Factory released in 2014. That set included a similar number of extras and had variations on the different cuts of the films. It’s a hope that Scream Factory can do one of these for the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. (Editor’s and Writer’s Note: PLEASE DO THIS SCREAM FACTORY)
A Preliminary Grade: Very Good
If they could get all these films together for a deluxe collector’s set like this, they can do it for any film. Friday the 13th has lasted as long as it has because the films are timeless. They might not have a uniform level of quality among them, but even the worst ones have redeeming qualities. That’s just how horror works. The films might not all be great, but even the most hateful of people can find something they like about them.
It’s going to be a real treat to go through and fully review this set when I’ve got more information and time with it. But in a preliminary look at the set, I have to recommend it to any fans of the series. You can order it directly from Scream Factory here. It likely won’t be around too much longer, so make sure you pick one up if you want it. The Halloween set is very long out of print and fetches HUGE collector prices in the $500 range.
What do you think of this box set? Have you gotten to watch any of the films from it yet? Let us know on Facebook at Horror And Beyond or in the comments!
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