Welcome back my readers, YouTube viewers and all others who followed this series of articles focused on YouTube videos worth watching. Have you been searching for something fun or interesting to watch on YouTube? Do you feel bored right now and you crave for something to see on the world’s most popular online video destination?
I recommend you check out the following videos I found.
#1 You, Me and the Movies react to Night of the Living Dead (1990) – While there are a lot of YouTube videos about the Night of the Living Dead from 1968, there are simply much lesser videos to the 1990 remake by comparison. For the newcomers reading this, the 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead was directed by Tom Savini, presented in color and had its own ways of modernizing the zombie apocalypse genre of film. In my experience, I saw the 1990 remake long before I accidentally discovered on cable TV the 1968 original. If you want to discover the movie and don’t mind spoilers, check out You, Me and the Movies’ entertaining reaction video below.
#2 Unsolved Mysteries Season 3 episodes (hosted by Robert Stack) – If there is any American TV show that made weekday nights entertaining or engaging, it’s none other than Unsolved Mysteries hosted by the late Robert Stack. It’s a good thing for Unsolved Mysteries fans worldwide that episodes hosted by Stack are available for free viewing at YouTube via the FilmRise channel. That being said, posted below are assorted episodes from season 3 of the show for you to discover.
#3 PatmanQC examines the RoboCop arcade game – In 1988, Data East released their adaptation of RoboCop in the arcades achieving tremendous success around the world. RoboCop is considered by some as an arcade classic and is arguably the best RoboCop game ever made. To find out who were responsible for the arcade game and what made it so enjoyable, watch the in-depth video by PatmanQC below.
#4 Healthy breakfast recipes by Shannon Barker – Shannon Barker is a pretty model who appeared in lots of fashion shows. In my retro comic book review of The Solution #17, I expressed my opinion that Barker would make a very good cosplay photograph model as Shadowmage. Apart from fashion, Barker is also a lifestyle vlogger and if you are interested in health breakfast recipes, watch her video below.
#5 Space Quest revisited – Decades ago, me and my friends were able to play on PC (DOS era) the graphic adventure game Space Quest (full title: Space Quest: Chapter I – The Sarien Encounter). Space Quest was one of my computer games released by Sierra On-Line and it involved being observant, being able to pay attention to the descriptions, and typing the right commands in order to progress. Recently, I saw a retrospective video of Space Quest done by YouTuber Power Pak, and it definitely is both nostalgic and fun to watch.
#6 Ashleigh Burton reacts to Howard the Duck – In 1986, the comedy Howard the Duck was released in cinemas and ended up failing both critically and commercially. While it is considered as one of the worst films ever released, it still has a dedicated following. Believe it or not, the movie was produced by George Lucas and his company Lucasfilm made it. To say that Howard the Duck is cinematic trash is extreme and if you want to see how it impacts Ashleigh Burton, watch her reaction video below.
Welcome back, fellow geeks, Blu-ray collectors and movie buffs! Back in the early 1980s, I managed to watch on home video the 1982 horror comedy anthology film Creepshow which was a fine collaboration between director George Romero and author Stephen King clearly inspired by the 1950s horror comic books of EC Comics.
The good news for fans of the movie as well as those who love watching movies in the comfort of home without streaming is that the Creepshow Collector’s Edition 4K Blu-ray (2 discs inside the set) from Shout Factory is now available at retail and for ordering online. For those who want the best in visuals, Creepshow’s 4K version is in native 4K!
The 4K Blu-ray cover cleverly uses the same art from the original movie poster of 1982.
To begin with, posted below are the technical specs of Creepshow Collector’s Edition 4K Blu-ray sourced from its Blu-ray.com page. Some parts in boldface…
Packaging – Slipcover in original pressing, Reversible cover
Playback – 4K Blu-ray: Region free, 2K Blu-ray: Region A
In case you are wondering how much stuff you will get in return for purchasing Creepshow Collector’s Edition 4K Blu-ray, posted below is an excerpt from the Blu-ray.com announcement page. Some parts in boldface…
BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE (2023)
Audio Commentary With Director George A. Romero And Special Make-Up Effects Creator Tom Savini
Audio Commentary With Director Of Photography Michael Gornick
Audio Commentary With Composer/First Assistant Director John Harrison And Construction Coordinator Ed Fountain
Terror And The Three Rivers – A Round Table Discussion On The Making Of Creepshow With John
Amplas, Tom Atkins, Tom Savini, And Marty Schiff
The Comic Book Look – An Interview With Costume Designer Barbara Anderson
Ripped From The Pages – An Interview With Animator Rick Catizone
The Colors Of Creepshow – A Look At The Restoration of Creepshow With Director Of Photography Michael Gornick
Into The Mix – An Interview With Sound Re-recordist Chris Jenkins
Mondo Macabre – A Look At Mondo’s Various Creepshow Posters With Mondo Co-Founder Rob Jones And Mondo Gallery Events Planner Josh Curry
Collecting Creepshow – A Look At Some Of The Original Props And Collectibles From The Film With Collector Dave Burian
Audio Interviews With Director Of Photography Michael Gornick, Actor John Amplas, Property Master Bruce Alan Miller, And Make-up Effects Assistant Darryl Ferrucci
Tom Savini’s Behind-The-Scenes Footage
Horror’s Hallowed Grounds – A Look At The Original Film Locations Hosted By Sean Clark
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailers
TV Spot, Radio Spots
Still Galleries – Posters, Lobby Cards, And Movie Stills
Still Galleries – Behind The Scenes Photos
Wow, the above sure is a lot of stuff for the long-time Creepshow fans and the Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray collectors to digest.
For the newcomers reading this, Creepshow is arguably a landmark American horror movie as it used a very unique format of telling not one, not two but five standalone horror comedy stories that each had its unique concept and different casts. As comedy is mentioned, it means there is dark humor implemented that prevents each story from being too grim with its horror. In other words, the horror in this anthology film is unique and fun to watch. Adding further zest into its creativity was the use of comic book-inspired panels and backgrounds that really captured the vibes of 1950’s EC Comics-published horror comic books. This passionate collaboration between a movie director best known for zombie movies and an author best known for horror and suspense literature really stood the test of time. Not to be outdone, however, is the movie makeup and special effects works done by fan-favorite Tom Savini.
I should also state that Creepshow several actors who made fine contributions on-screen. Horror genre standout Tom Atkins plays the angry father in the film’s prologue and epilogue. The late Leslie Nielsen, who is often remembered for cinematic comedy, cleverly plays a villain (with a fine mix of evil and humor in his performance) opposite Ted Danson. There were also Hal Holbrook and Adrienne Barbeau as a very unique couple. In the Father’s Day segment, you will see the late classic actress Viveca Lindfors as the unfortunate aunt as well as a much younger Ed Harris in a supporting role. The late E.G. Marshall is the lead star in the fifth segment. Last but not least, you will see Stephen King himself act in one of the segments concerning the crash of a meteor. Apart from the horror concepts and stylish directing of Romero, the lineup of actors alone add tremendous value to Creepshow’s overall attraction and fun value.
Leslie Nielsen.
Hal Holbrook and Adrienne Barbeau as a married couple.
Author Stephen King as Jordy.
The impact of this 1982 horror anthology movie cannot be denied. In the years following Creepshow’s release, the Twilight Zone: The Movie anthology film of 1983 (note: this one even involved Steven Spielberg directing one story), the Tales from the Darkside horror anthology TV series (created by George Romero himself) and the Tales from the Crypt horror anthology TV series were released.
To know more about Creepshow, watch the video from Minty Comedic Arts below…
If you want the best enjoyment possible from watching Creepshow Collector’s Edition 4K Blu-ray, I highly recommend you avoid watching Creepshow movie reaction videos and the spoileriffic retro movie reviews posted by YouTubers.
Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from watching the movie and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.
Considering how long the Friday The 13th franchise of horror movies lasted throughout entertainment history, there were indeed chapters that proved to be good, bad or simply satisfactory towards its fans and other moviegoers.
Having seen ALL the Friday The 13th movies myself, I can say without hesitation that the most defining films of the franchise were the first four films (released 1980 to 1984) which eerily reminds me of the early stage of James Bonds movies released in the 1960s (read: Sean Connery and Albert Broccoli struck cinematic gold with 1964’s Goldfinger).
As I mentioned before, Friday The 13th Part 3 was indeed a fun horror movie and marked the time when the film franchise and its featured villain Jason Voorhees really started to take shape. It was the film that saw Jason wearing his now iconic hockey mask, and improved the creative formula (examples: Jason’s stalking and eliminating people, his encounter with the surviving protagonist or the final girl). In other words, Part 3 ended on a very strong note and high fun factor, setting the stage for the inevitable sequel Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (AKA Part 4).
This dangerous stunt will always remain memorable.
Before starting this retro movie review, it’s important to take note of what happened in Hollywood that led to the creation of the 1984 movie.
Background
After Friday The 13th Part 3 rode the 3D movie trend and made a lot of money on ticket sales alone, Paramount Pictures perceived that the slasher horror genre was waning with moviegoers and decided that the Friday The 13th franchise should end. Eventually Joseph Zito was hired to write and direct The Final Chapter. The funny thing was that Zito secretly hired Barney Cohen to write the screenplay, going as far to take phone conferences with one of the producers, share details with Cohen to produce the pages (Zito and Cohen collaborated on the script in a New York apartment) which were sent to the producer (who would go back to the director).
Because it was clear that the film was supposed to end the franchise, Zita wanted the film the be about the death of the newly masked Jason and this explains why The Final Chapter opened where Part 3 ended…at the Higgins property which Jason’s body in the barn. The director told Cohen to focus on developing the characters (as opposed to emphasizing kills). Of course, this did not stop Zito from ramping up the kill count, the gore and nudity. With the cast hired, veteran stunt performer Ted White hired as Jason and movie makeup specialist Tom Savini rehired (note: he worked on the 1980 Friday movie and created Jason’s look as a youth), Zito really wanted to end the franchise with a bang!
With those details already recorded in history, here now is my retro movie review of Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter.
Early story
Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter opened with a recap of Jason, the killings and how things turned out in the first three movies, cleverly using Part 2’s camp fire scene in which Paul told the camp trainees the legend of Jason.
The story begins on the evening of Monday the 16th. For some weird reason, the local police and other emergency personnel arrived at the Higgins property (note: this was the very same California location where Part 3 was filmed at) at least twelve hours after Part 3’s lone survivor Chris Higgins was picked up by the police during the morning.
After picking up the dead bodies and examining the venue for evidence, the medical personnel brought Jason’s unmoving body to the local medical center with his mask and clothes still intact. Some time into the night, Jason (Ted White) discreetly gets up and kills two medical personnel before leaving for the great area of Crystal Lake.
The next morning, Tuesday the 17th, Mrs. Jarvis (Joan Freeman) and her daughter Trish (Kimberly Beck) jog together in the woods heading towards their country home which is located some distance away from Crystal Lake. Inside the house is the young son Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) who is a geek and collector of special stuff. The family is already aware of the killings Jason caused over the past few days (refer to Part 2 and Part 3) and Mrs. Jarvis referred to him as the psycho.
Remember the good old days when print media journalism was much more credible and not too politicized?
Meanwhile, a new group of teenagers riding a car are on their way to the Crystal Lake area for a group vacation completely unaware that Jason is on the loose. Their destination is a vacation house located very near the Jarvis home…
Quality
Even though the production team had a low budget, this film had improved production values which is literally only the tip of the iceberg. The real indicator of this movie’s quality is with the overall execution in terms of directing, storytelling, characterization (yes, there is character development here) and horror spectacle. The good news is that Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter’s overall quality is pretty good.
For starters, the creative team took the bold approach of having a family and a group of teenagers as targets for Jason’s killing spree. The presence of a likable family like the Jarvises made the Friday The 13th formula feel fresh since the old approach of having teenagers (and a few adults) getting killed off has gotten repetitive. Having good natured characters like Mrs. Jarvis, Trish and Tommy should remind you of the likable families living in your neighborhood. As such, the Jarvis family in the story will make you get concerned for them and despise Jason for the evil icon he truly is.
The new batch of teenagers in this film is an improvement over Part 3’s teenagers (which by the way are more likable than those in Part 2). Among them is Jimmy (Crispin Glover), a troubled young guy trying to achieve something important in his life. There is also Sara (Barbara Howard) who is sweet and appears reserved for Doug (Peter Barton). The pretty twins (Camilla More and Carey More), who just appeared into the film encountering the rest of the youth, added nice variety to the romance potential among them. On the other hand, Ted (Lawrence Monoson), is the stereotypical unlikable and pathetic guy meant for viewers to despise. Samantha (Judie Aronson) is the lady craving for sensual love with Paul (Clyde Hayes).
Ted: Hey, could you please pass to me a copy of that fake news-oriented local community print media publication? The tabloid, not the broadsheet.
What this movie clearly had in bringing some of the above-mentioned characters to life is character development. Director Zito and team succeeded in making the Jarvis family worth caring for. Jimmy is the teenager that moviegoers would relate with and also root for him to succeed. The other cast members, notably the teenagers wanting fun and satisfaction (skinny dipping and partying, anyone?), were made to be interesting and were clearly not merely disposable. Sara is likable and she looks like she could rival Trish in terms of who would be worthy to be the film’s final girl, not to mention who would be more worthy of the care from the viewers.
In terms of presentation, this film has a more serious tone. Other than Jimmy’s ever memorable dance, the approach to humor is noticeably weaker when compared to Part 3. At the same time, the killings of Jason are executed and made to really look visceral. When Jason kills a character who is likable or at least interesting, you will really feel bad or sorry, and then despise Jason. Speaking of Jason, the filmmakers made him look scarier with the visceral approach to killing on-screen and the fact that Ted White avoided speaking to the other cast members in between takes.
The memorable Crispin Glover dance!
One of many hard-hitting stunts in the movie.
When it comes to the stunts, the film crew really went all-out and it involved a lot of pain on the part of the actors because of the lack of safety and stunt performers as a result of the low budget. The stunts in this movie were executed with a lot of intensity and when each stunt ends, you will feel something. Take note that Ted White is a veteran of stunt performing and even doubled for Clark Gable long ago.
Remember the traditional stunts of having a human body thrown into the house through the ground-floor window? Such a stunt in this movie had a lot more impact than what was shown in the first three films. As for the stunt involving the very young Corey Feldman, that one was real and there was a huge risk of injury due to the lack of safety measures. Regardless, the stunt was performed and Feldman’s surprise and shouting were genuine. Here’s a video clip for you to enjoy.
The presentation of the on-screen kills and stunts here are the absolute best of the Friday The 13th franchise. The scare factor is also much stronger.
As for the music, Harry Manfredini returned. His musical score proved to be excellent in terms of bringing life into the scenes complete with precise timing.
Conclusion
I declare that Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter is the best and the most definitive movie of its franchise. It’s also one of the best and most defining horror movies ever released in the 1980s. It’s not worthy of awards for film excellence but it still is a major standout among all horror movies of the 1980s. It should be noted that this movie implemented a twist to the final-girl-versus-Jason formula of the first three movies by having a key character involved during the climax.
Believe it or not, Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter actually had a lot of tension between the director and actors during production (Note: Ted White stood up for the younger actors who had to endure physical pain due to lack of safety, and this put him into direct conflict with the director. And then White was very annoyed with Corey Feldman who in turn was allegedly badly treated on location by Zito).
Even so, the movie turned out to be its franchise’s biggest highlight, the best of it all! Apart from the final results made by director Zito and his crew, Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter owes part of its success to Friday The 13th Part 3 since that movie (a clear improvement over Part 2) helped set the stage for the fourth movie on a creative manner.
At the same time, it was in this fourth Friday The 13th movie where Jason truly became a horror icon as well as one of America’s pop culture icons. Director Zito, Tom Savini and Ted White combined their efforts on making this the most definitive story of Jason Voorhees who was not a zombie but a living human killer who simply won’t stop due to the evil in him. This movie’s Jason is clearly a dramatic improvement over Part 3’s Jason (which in turn was a dramatic improvement over Part 2’s Jason-with-a-potato-sack-for-a-mask) and each time the villain was on screen, you can sense his evil force. The mere fact that Trish got frightened by Jason at different stages of the chase between them proves how intimidating and scary the masked killer really is.
This is the best Friday The 13th movie ever!
Overall, Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter is highly recommended. For the best viewing experience and story immersion into Friday The 13th, I recommend watching Part 3 and this movie back-to-back.
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
Since the successful release of John Carpenter’s Halloween in 1978, the slasher horror sub-genre grew dramatically and made its mark in Hollywood. The 1980s saw the release of multiple low-budget films that shared lots of common elements with Halloween. Among them was a cheaply made flick (distributed by Paramount Pictures) that made almost $60 million worldwide.
The film was Friday The 13th which was released on May 1980. Unsurprisingly the Sean Cunningham-directed movie was poorly received by movie critics but moviegoers still flocked to the theaters to watch the cinematic horror unfold not in a suburb but in a summer camp.
This is my review of the movie.
Story
The film begins way back in the past. The late 1950s to be precise. During one night at Camp Crystal Lake, a male and female councilor attempt to make love only to find out that someone had been watching them. Both councilors got killed setting the stage for Camp Crystal Lake’s dark legacy.
Decades later, an effort was launched to reopen Camp Crystal Lake. A cute lady named Annie (played by Robbi Morgan) travels alone to the camp and along the way, people in the small town warn her about the camp’s history of murder. After hitching a 2nd ride, Annie realizes that the driver (off-camera) did not take the path to the camp. Realizing that the driver has no intention of letting her go, Annie desperately jumps off the speeding vehicle injuring herself in the process. To her horror, the driver went back, got down the vehicle and chased her into the woods. After getting caught, the driver slashes Annie’s neck.
At Camp Crystal Lake, teenagers (including a very young Kevin Bacon) arrived to take part in the reopening. What they don’t realize is that someone vicious is watching them from a distance and stalking them.
Quality
In my honest opinion, Friday The 13th is not worthy of being called a classic even though its commercial success added greatly to the slasher horror sub-genre and led to the production of multiple sequels eventually establishing Jason Voorhees (a victim in this movie) as a horror icon. By today’s standards, this movie is generic at best.
The script written by Victor Miller is serviceable. The characters are, unsurprisingly, mostly written to be killed off. What makes the movie bad is that the story is dragging for the most part and what saved it from turning into a disaster was the use of suspense, gore and shock when Alice (played by Adrienne King) got isolated on-screen.
The characters during the snake scene. At left is Adrienne King as Alice.
As mentioned above, Jason Voorhees is the NOT the cinematic killer here at all and those who discovered the character in the later films (and wanted to go back to the beginning of this film franchise) will be disappointed to realize how irrelevant he was in this old movie.
For the sake of those discovering this movie, I won’t say who the killer is but I can say that screenwriter Victor Miller’s concept of NOT using a masked killer is creatively unique.
Kevin Bacon in trouble!
In terms of performance, the clear standouts are Adrienne King as Alice and another actress (note: I won’t name her here due to spoiler potential) as the killer. Alice was decently built-up from the early part of the film while the killer, who arrived late in the film, was well presented to be evil, even psychotic (clearly inspired by a certain 1960 slasher movie).
With regards to stunts and kills, this movie is pretty tame when compared to its sequels. This should not be a surprise at all because nobody anticipated the movie would be a box office success to kick start a franchise. The film crew used a really small budget and they did what they could with it although they excelled with some of the gore effects (read: Tom Savini). The physical struggle between Alice and the killer was pretty raw which worked well in the context of the film since the protagonist was no fighter. The killer’s man-like aesthetic in terms of physical appearance added nicely to the suspense and horror as Alice struggled.
When it comes to cinematic concepts, Friday The 13th was written to emphasize how vulnerable people are to getting murdered in an isolated location far away from the reach of the local police and even farther away from the security of the American suburb. At Camp Crystal Lake, the teenagers had a whole lot of freedom to exploit the facilities, to engage in casual sex, make fools of themselves and the like. This is clearly the one factor that defined it and the film franchise went on to establish its legacy with the “horror at the summer camp” concept.
Conclusion
Robbi Morgan as Annie cornered by the killer.
This is tricky. I would recommend Friday The 13th to moviegoers who are willing to endure slow-paced, mystery and suspense-filled horror flicks, and also to die-hard fans of the film franchise. However, if you discovered Jason Voorhees in the sequels and thought about watching this film (the very beginning of the franchise) to see him do what he is known for (read: killing), you will be disappointed.
As a horror movie, Friday The 13th is the product of its era and at the time of its release, the slasher horror sub-genre was just taking off. I would not recommend this movie if you are searching for more Jason but rest assured, you will get to know the complete backdrop regarding what happened to Jason, why the killings happened in the years that followed and so on. This movie also showed, in my opinion, one of the most definitive depictions of Camp Crystal Lake on the big screen.
Overall, Friday The 13th is serviceable. Not a classic, just serviceable. Nothing special at all. It’s a wonder why moviegoers back in 1980-1981 spent almost $60 million to watch this movie.
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
Author Carlo Carrasco 