Product Description

When Friday the 13th premiered in 1980, the film introduced moviegoers to a new kind of cinematic terror - shocking, visceral, graphic and relentless. Spawning ten popular sequels to date, the series has become the most successful horror franchise of all time, and the character of "Jason" an icon known around the world as the first name in evil. Now, uncensored and in their own words, over two hundred alumni of the series recall a quarter-century's worth of behind-the-scenes stories - the struggles, feuds, foibles, controversies and calamities.

Fully illustrated with over five hundred never-before-seen photos, rare archival documents and production materials, this is the ultimate oral and visual memoir of the most successful horror franchise in the history of motion pictures.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89831 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-11
• Released on: 2006-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

The complete history of all things Voorhees
Peter Bracke has put together the most detailed and exhaustive book about Friday the 13th that could possibly be written. Bracke, and those he interviews, do not look at the legacay of the maligned and long running slasher series with rose tinted glasses. Many of the people who worked on the films did not like, nor seem to enjoy, doing so. The always quick and dirty shoots would, more often than not, be plagued by problems both technical and personal. Everybody clamors to take credit for the "good stuff" in the movie and, except in rare cases of professional candor, are quick to place the blame for a paticular failure at the feet of others. It is an eye opening read that takes the mythical romance out of film production and reveals it for what it is - a lot of blood, sweat, and tears creating something very few people appreciate, much less enjoy. Whether you are a fan of Friday the 13th or not, Crystal Lake Memories is an essential read for anyone interested in a candid look at lo budget film making. Highest recommendation.

AN ACHIEVEMENT!
This is the kind of book about the "Friday the 13th" series I hoping to read when I was a kid growing up with these films. I became a serious fan around the time I saw "Part III in 3-D (1982)." And I curiously read everything I could get my hands on about the people and stories behind the franchise. Back then all we really had were the articles in Fangoria Magazine. And I remember Famous Monsters ran a few, including an article on "Part III." I would have killed to get my hands on something like "Crystal Lake Memories," which presents the histories and behind the scenes stories of these movies with a great deal of enthusiasm. It contains information from over 200 interviews. And there are more than 600 photos (most in color) in this 320 page book, which every entry in the slasher series from the 1980 original up to and including "Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)." What's most impressive are the interviews from the casts and crews. So many interesting things came out of them.

In the original film, there's a country song playing in coffee shop at the top of the show. Composer Harry Manfredini said he whipped that up, and revealed its significance. Some of the kill scenes cut from "Part II" were kind of intense. Make up man Carl Fullerton showed some of the footage to KNB's Greg Nicotero, who was shocked by the uncut scene where the couple get speared in bed. And it wasn't because of the blood effects. Some photos of an alternate ending for "Part III" were unearthed and published here. Intriguing. I wonder how that sequence would have played on a big screen (and in 3-D). The story of how "Mrs. Jarvis (Joan Freeman)" was supposed to have died in "The Final Chapter" is included. The reveal was also supposed to be part of a dream sequence, which kind of reminded me of the end of Joseph Zito's film "The Prowler." The section on "A New Beginning" discusses Director Danny Steinman's obsession with on screen nudity. "Part V" had the most. And there's even a photo illustrating some of that here. And John Shepherd, who played "Tommy" in that film goes on to explain why he didn't do "Jason Lives." Get ready for some shocks when you read about the behind the scenes relationships -- from personality clashes to gay affairs -- during the filming of "The New Blood." There's a cool photo of the "Jason" make up for "Part VIII," and you'll see why one key player said it's not so cool. The magic of what made Kane Hodder such a great "Jason" is revealed in interviews for "Jason
Goes to Hell." It involves method acting and Metallica. Jim Issac, director of "Jason X," talks about the kind of music he wanted for the film. And it wasn't really the Manfredini score. Of course the hellish road through the process of bringing "Freddy Vs. Jason" the screen is here, and so are some of the criticisms of the film from writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift.

The book concludes with some random reflections on the series from cast and crew. Ted White, who played "Jason" in "The Final Chapter (1984)," talked about how he was working on John
Carpenter's "Starman," and kids would come up to him for autographs because he was "Jason." This book, by the way, tries to maintain objectivity by filling its chapters with quote after
quote. I thought this approach was quite good. Another reason I liked that was because when I read it, I kind of felt like I was eavesdropping on a conversation.

I read this book from cover to cover. And some day I'll pick it up again. Like everybody involved with these films, including the millions of fans, I have my own Crystal Lake memories. And this incredible addition to my home library will always help me bring them to the surface.
(...)

Wonderful book
I FINALLY found a copy of this at my local Barnes & Noble (still waiting on my Amazon order) and couldn't pass it up. It's great. Brings back memories of watching these movies for the first time and gives lots of insight into how they were made and the troubles each ran into, which were a lot. Now some of the things that bothered me in the movies don't so much now after seeing what all they went through just to get them made. In fact, it's amazing the first one was made at all. For maximum enjoyment of this book, I'd recommend reading the section for each movie and then watching that movie before moving to the next section. It really makes you see the movie in a whole new way. I know Peter Bracke said he wouldn't want to do another anthology book on any other horror film series but I hope this inspires others to go out and give it a try. I'd love to have one on the complete Nightmare On Elm Street series and one on all of the Halloween movies. Those would be great reads and would look great on the bookshelf as a set.
Really, the only reason this book gets 4 stars rather than 5 is because of the editing. Get ready for TONS of typos and grammatical errors.