Friday the 13th

Friday The 13th hit cinemas a little over 45 years ago. It spawned a horror franchise spanning a dozen films, computer games, novels, comics, two TV series and a three part mockumentary. Roughly coinciding with the release of the newest TV series, Crystal Lake, a prequel to the original film, Warner Brothers have brought out the first film in a steelbook. It consists of two discs: a UHD with the best quality version of the film and a standard Blu-ray with it in HD along with special features.

Most of the action in the film takes place at Camp Crystal Lake. The director, Sean S Cunningham, makes a lot of use of water, both lake and rain. Substantial portions of the film take place at night, the incandescent lighting in the camp failing to penetrate the darkness. In the final portion of the film he uses that light/dark contrast to create some striking, declarative framing, that prevents events in the film from becoming confusing. The audience doesn't get lost in the dark. HDR from the UHD disc sees these scenes best realised, especially if you've turned out the lights.

There are a host of special feature on the second disc. After a little while it can start to feel samey. Although there is a lot of material. it is limited in what it covers. If you know the film already you won't find much new in it.

There is an audio commentary which strings together various quotes made by the cast and crew. It feels somewhat impersonal and a little like a shallow documentary with more talking heads than facts. The Friday The 13th Reunion, filmed at a convention, is more fun to watch: Adrienne King (Alice) gets to demonstrate her scream in front of the live audience. Most of the other material on the disc has featured on previous releases, with the exception of Fresh Cuts: New Tales from Friday The 13th. Unfortunately it doesn't have anything particularity noteworthy in it. Lost Tales from Camp Blood: Part 1 (2009) is a turgid vignette with a couple of killings, not really worth watching. There is of course the old trailer which is cheesy and fun.

Reviewed on: 30 Oct 2026