Friday The 13th - The Series: The First Season
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Actor: John D. LeMay, Louise RobeyBrand: FRIDAY THE 13TH
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Mono; English (Original Language), Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1140 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-09-23
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Friday The 13th - The Series: The First Season
DVD Review: Got Cursed Objects?
Summary: 3 Stars
Pens, dolls, scalpels, boxing gloves, vanity mirrors, strange looking quilts, and just for good measure a defunct electric chair! Things most anyone could find at a garage sale or local flea market, or if you happen to reside near a cursed antique shop owned by Lewis Vandredi. And, since these items from Mr. Vandredi come with the bonus of having been cursed exclusively by the Devil himself, you also get the unwelcomed element of death waiting for you to turn your back on them as well!
Enter our lucky trio consisting of young and rebellious Ryan Dallion (John D. Lemay), his beautiful, high-maintenance cousin Micki Foster (Louise Robey billed simply as Robey) and the wise-old sage and once close friend of Mr. Vandredi, Jack Marshak (Chris Wiggins) (whom offers his knowledge of the occult and whom is often a key factor in their surviving the various deadly situations they find themselves struggling against) who are attempting to retrieve Uncle Lewis' cursed odds and ends, where they can be securely entrusted in the store's basement vault and away from the perverse temptations of the outside world.
Risking being dismissed as a complete goof, F13TS manages to maintain a fine line between credibility and being entirely heedless. Most season one episodes keep the show on due course and manages to be, if not engaging, at least mildly entertaining and inventive. In defense of the seemingly sophomoric teleplays that enfold, the series is low budget at best and shot entirely in Canada, using mostly a Canadian cast and crew. All the while, trying to play itself off as taking place in America. There are faults in this attempt (mostly landmarks and signs which are a constant enemy of location shooting) most of which do not detract the viewer's attention. But, for those of us whom are blessed (or cursed depending upon one's point-of-view) with the ability to pinpoint a mistake in continuity or geographical location within the passing of a film frame or two, these blemishes only go to prove that the show was done quickly and on a shoestring budget and seems to carry about it the constant threat of being axed at any slip of a ratings point! And, while it did manage to thrive for three seasons, most fans revel in the 1st and 2nd seasons in which the character of Ryan was still present. Sadly, Mr. Lemay eventually pursued other interests and thus, the premature fate of the series was set in motion
Having nothing to do with the highly popular and successful film franchise bearing the exact name (something of a major disappointment to `Friday' fans, myself included) the series instead focuses on the hunting down and obtaining of cursed objects sold by Uncle Lewis (Ryan and Micki unknowingly contributed to this debacle when after having just inherited Lewis' antique store (after his bizarre death) they immediately began to sell everything off in the hopes of making a quick buck and getting out of dodge without too much disruption to their personal lives; of which none of the aforementioned happened much to their chagrin) rather than of having anything to do with the big, clumsy, hockey-masked sporting kid named Jason who excels in chopping people up with his oversized machete.
And just as each item is unique as the next, so is the curse that belongs to it. Specifics are not important here as discovering what the item does and how it dispatches its victims is half of the fun! Here's just a few of the primo episodes that make up this 1st season: `The Inheritance', `A Cup of Time', `Hellowe'en', `Doctor Jack', `Root of all Evil', `Faith Healer', The Electrocutioner', `The Quilt of Hathor', `Double Exposure'(as close to Jason Voorhees as one will get in the first season),'The Pirate's Promise', and `What a Mother Wouldn't Do'. Of the 26 season one episodes, the aforementioned are the crème du lay and as the first season draws to an close, we witness it's gradual, yet persistent climb in production value and in the care taken providing stories that are both graphically enlightening and imaginatively unique, while ensuring that our protagonists remain interesting and continue to develop both as a trio, as well as individually. A certain challenge for a series that cost around $500,00 an episode and which became the target of infuriated viewers displeased with the amount of onscreen violence and gore that, for it's time, was running comfortably alongside with many of the R-rated horror films of it's day.
F13TS' look does little to impress. Respectively shot in its original television 1.33:1 aspect ratio, most of the episodes are filled with film grain (the later few discs seem not to have inherited quite so much--of which I question either the transfer of the first few episodes or perhaps as the series grew in popularity, so did the quality of photography?), and colors are often muted and sometimes murky. Though, the series presented here on DVD is an improvement over the original broadcasts, this is far from showroom material. Then, again, were you really expecting `reference' showroom material from a low-budget 80's TV show?
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital Mono and is efficient in delivering clear dialogue. No surrounds. No booming base.
Extras are slim: two original network launch promotional trailers which tally up to 44 seconds worth of material. A ten minute sales presentation sums up the extras department and is nothing more than the various episodes fashioned in montage style and voiced-over by the late Don LaFontaine.
Television history may or may not have taken notice of the `little engine that could' that is `Friday the 13th: the Series', but for those viewers who have come to embrace it over the years the series ("cheese" factor and all!) still remains a guilty treat filled with hidden dangers, of which we can't help but indulge in anyway. And, I promise if you purchase it you won't get more than what you bargained for!
Maybe.
Description of Friday The 13th - The Series: The First Season
Genre: Television: Series
Rating: NR
Release Date: 23-SEP-2008
Media Type: DVD
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