"Evil Gets a 4K Upgrade"
One of the most entertaining sequels to Sean Cunningham's 1980 FRIDAY THE 13TH gets a 4K UHD release from Arrow Films.
Jason Voorhees is chained up on earth. Scientist David Cronenberg wants him transported elsewhere for research purposes, despite the objections of scientist Rowan (Lexa Doig) who wants him frozen. Even before Cronenberg can say 'I want him soft' Jason's up and about and killing again, and it seems only cryogenic freezing can stop him. By accident Rowan gets frozen as well, with the two of them being discovered 455 years in the future.
What follows is that old Universal monster (and especially Frankenstein) movie standby: Jason gets thawed out and is soon on the rampage again, the gag this time being that he's on a spaceship. Blowing him to bits works until the ship's nanobots get hold of him and give him an upgrade, leading to yet more ridiculous trouble.
The tenth film in the series, JASON X unexpectedly turned out to be one of the best sequels to the original FRIDAY THE 13TH, the other being FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI - JASON LIVES. The script fully appreciates the ludicrousness of the premise of the entire franchise and even makes fun of it in a bit of holodeck jollity towards the end. Despised by some fans for these very reasons, if you don't hold this series of slashers in especially high regard you may still be highly entertained by this. Arrow's 4K provides a crisper image but the contrast between light and dark is so extreme it's more of a strain on the eyes, with some scenes being just a bit too dark despite all manner of adjustments to our OLED monitor.
Extras include three commentary tracks. As with Arrow's release of JASON GOES TO HELL you're best off listening to them in 'reverse' order - director Jim Isaac, producer Noel Cunningham and screenwriter Todd Farmer first, then Farmer and Crystal Lake Memories author Peter Bracke second and finally the new commentary from Michael Felsher and Steve Barton.
There's a new 10 minute interview with composer Harry Manfredini & it's good to hear he's a fan of this one. 2020 extras include a making of (33 minutes) and interviews with Farmer (23 minutes), Sean Cunningham (15 minutes) and actress Kristi Angus whose character gets her head frozen and smashed (11 minutes). 2002 extras include another making of (18 minutes), 52 minutes of cast and crew interviews, nearly an hour of behind the scenes footage, and The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees half hour documentary. There's also the electronic press kit (25 minutes) trailers and TV spots. Arrow's limited edition set also comes with a booklet, double-sided poster and reversible sleeve.
JASON X is out on 4K UHD from Arrow Films on Monday 19th May 2025
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