FRIDAY THE 13TH, PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN Deluxe Edition DVD

Jason Takes Manhattan is the last, and least, of the series, I know, but every time it gets re-released I can't help but totally bask in its legacy. Even if some of the other entries lag compared to the more esteemed in the franchise, they never went so far out on a limb as Jason Takes Manhattan. If Part VIII is a failure, it's a grand one, and every time I watch it I admire its audacity. It certainly never plays things safe. Yet, for all the calamity, its biggest fault is that it promises even more than it can give, only docking in the titular city during the fleeting moments of the final act. Still, man, what a concept. Growing up with the Jason movies there was always comfort knowing that Jason was relegated to the lake. Unleashing him in the city though, it practically served as my self-enforced curfew ever since. No way was I going to meet that guy on the streets.

Its concept, its marketing and its legacy certainly supersedes the actual film, but finally with this new deluxe edition we get a look at the inside. Deleted scenes (and there are a lot of them), a gag reel, a featurette and a commentary. If that's not enough to make you reevaluate a bad film, then there's nothing that will. Paramount sadly closes the door on their wonderful deluxe series of Friday the 13th reissues with this, the last Paramount property before Jason shipped off for New Line. This is it, folks, the final voyage, so let's see if the sea sickness will finally subside and the quality film Rob Hedden always intended will finally emerge from the waste. Will it?

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FRIDAY THE 13TH, PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD Deluxe Edition DVD

Double dipping gets a lot of just flak, but when it comes to the Friday the 13th series I can't help but look forward to it. I grew up with these movies, and like the phenomenon of watching shows you already own in better form on edited television just for the experience of watching while others watch, there is something communal about it. Every release of the film gives us a chance to watch, celebrate and deconstruct it anew. It keeps the films fresh. It keeps the legacy alive. Of course, it also keeps money in Paramount's pockets, but sometimes even the man deserves a little love, especially when they nurtured such an iconic horror hero. Paramount has been giving fans what they want all year with packed deluxe editions of all our favorite Fridays and this now represents the last stop. The New Blood and Jason Takes Manhattan are finally on DVD, so set your mind to movement and lets watch the motion picture that introduced us to Kane Hodder and Friday's best female lead.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (Anchor Bay) DVD

Happy Birthday to Me is a great movie. A really classy, professional and yet still twisted as all hell slasher – how many of those have you seen from a big studio? Anyway, despite the quality, the film has endured more for peripheral reasons. First is the cover artwork. The original poster treads a fine line between campy and iconic, with a shish kabob being shoved down a teen’s throat with a promise of “six of the most bizarre murders you’ll ever see.” There’s also one of those really bad disclaimers about the ending being too shocking and all that. Funny stuff, and something that has always endured with the film. Then, when Columbia finally released it on DVD, we again got an infamous cover, but this of a different kind. The new cover is hilarity. It’s inexplicable. It has absolutely nothing to do with the film; it’s like one of those clichéd Hollywood big shot decisions, where they try and sell exploitables without even seeing the product. There’s a scantly clad woman with glowing orange eyes holding a knifed cake in front of a lightning struck castle. If one of the Cat People had a birthday at Dracula’s mansion, then maybe we’d be getting close to relevant, but as is the cover is certainly the biggest abomination in the history of the medium.

There was another problem with Columbia’s DVD, though. The score was all wrong. There was this incredibly cheesy “Out of the Blue” disco tune in place of the traditional score, and even all the strings were completely different. Fans balked at both the cover and the canned score, but Columbia did not listen. Five candles later, though, and Anchor Bay is now celebrating this most infamous of slasher birthday’s with the original score intact. Are they really that different? How about the audio? Any supplemental presents worth opening? Let’s carve up this fine, old-Hollywood cake.

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THE GATE DVD

You’d think having a kid dealing with demonic creatures congregating in a giant hole in the ground would be an odd, one off concept, but there were actually a couple of those movies in the eighties, and both from Canada, no less. The Pit came first, and if you haven’t seen it yet you ought to pick up the cheap Anchor Bay double feature with it and Hellgate. It’s one of the most bizarre horror films out there, with one of the most off-putting, uncomfortable and inexplicable child performances this world has ever seen. Another world was unleashed from a backyard hole six years later with the more universally known The Gate. Featuring a cavalcade of special effects, backwards records and a lot of little children getting into big trouble, it became a surprising hit at the box office in 1987, trumping Ishtar upon initial release. It’s lead a quiet life on digital, being long out of print on DVD. Finally, though, Lionsgate has dug this one up once more, giving it a similar redesign and supplemental upgrade to match their other big kiddie horror movie, The Monster Squad. Squad was a huge success for them a couple years ago – does this gate open similar success?

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