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Written by Foreword by Published by Hardcover Released in 320 Pages |
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CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES Review
CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES is the book by Peter Bracke that was released on the 25th anniversary of the release of the first FRIDAY THE 13TH film. Containing over 200 interviews, the book covers the entire franchise, from the first film up to FREDDY VS. JASON, and provides the most complete look at the legend of Jason Voorhees with some never before seen pictures and some great, insightful interviews. The size of a coffee table book, CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES is the definitive book on FRIDAY THE 13TH and is quite simply a must for fans of the franchise. The book’s chapters are mainly the films themselves, with each film getting a fair share of pages in the book. It begins with an interview with Sean S. Cunningham on the first FRIDAY film and its section on the film is the longest, and it goes without reason as it still is the best in the film. In these sections, the book is nothing more than just different quotes from interviews, but it is apparent that Bracke had a great deal of time with each subject. Even Kevin Bacon, now a huge star, talks about his role as Jack in the first film. Not surprisingly, the subjects spoken to the most are Cunningham and Savini on the first film. The book does offer some great information that FRIDAY fans have been asking for years. There are stills of PART 3’s alternate ending, where Jason decapitates Chris (supposedly in a dream sequence), and a picture from Tom Savini’s vault shows the fate of Mother Jarvis (Joan Freeman) in THE FINAL CHAPTER, with her appearance a very ghostly white. There are some great makeup shots, with Savini providing the most from his collection on the two FRIDAY films he worked on. Out of all the interviews in the entire book, the most compelling were probably Cunningham talking in detail about the first film and surprisingly Tom McLoughlin on JASON LIVES. McLoughlin also provides some great stills for the book, showing really how graphic JASON LIVES was before the censors got a hold of it. He had a great deal of fun on the project and kept going even when it seemed the producers gave up on the film. The one element that’s most frustrating is wishing that Paramount put the care in their DVD collection as much as Bracke put into this book. If half of what the book has was represented by the DVD set, there’s no doubt that’d be one of the greatest sets ever. However, it still shows that Paramount has a vehement hatred for the franchise and I still hold out hope that the films themselves will be bought someday. Hell, if I had the money, I’d try. I know they have all the negatives, they just refuse to do anything with them. The weakest chapter is probably FREDDY VS. JASON as not much is really revealed other than a few behind the scenes images and stories from some of the cast, not all. Of the cast, primarily Englund and Kane Hodder are interviewed, and I would’ve liked to have heard from more of the cast, but that’s fine considering it’s not the best of the series, though it is fun to hear how the two got together for this film. It is interesting to note just how involved Wes Craven was in the making of the film though. In all, CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES is a perfect book for FRIDAY fans, and a good read overall that horror fans will love. Peter Bracke has made a memorable book for all fans and is a treasure to have, to read, and to keep in your collection. CRYSTAL LAKE MEMORIES: 9 Out Of 10 Maggots
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