Review: I had a hard time figuring out if this was really a documentary or if it was just an extended DVD extra and commercial for 2009's new Friday the 13th film but eventually settled on documentary for a few reasons. Overall, His Name Was Jason is a decent and reasonably harmless documentary that would appeal to fans of the Friday the 13th series and anyone who enjoys scary movies or the slasher sub-genre.  It's not a terrible movie but don't go into it expecting the definitive work on the series. There isn't much to the artistic or technical design of the documentary, but the film shouldn't really be discounted for this as anyone looking for cinematic genius in a documentary probably shouldn't be looking for it in here.  Sliding between subjects like the films' plots and funny stories that happened on set, the documentary about the fictional murderer with a love of hockey and camping was light enough to be entertaining and interesting enough to keep my interest.  The best aspect of the film by far is the group of interviews with the stars and creators. Fans of the series will likely be entertained by the many of the actors talking about how their roles in the series affected them.  At times hearing from the large number of people was a little much to listen to, but on the whole, the variety of perspectives really painted a nice picture of the series.  Regrettably, some of what was said makes too big of a deal out of Friday the 13th and ignores its predecessor Halloween and others that helped influence the film.  That's an unfortunate omission since many in this documentary feel Friday the 13th was the driving force in creating the slasher genre. Omissions aside, it seems reasonable to assume that not everything about the dozen films in the series and the entire slasher genre would be covered in a 90-minute documentary.  A sequence of people moaning about plot holes and complaints they had with the series was fun to watch, and necessary, since it's pretty hard to believe no one would bring up artistic or scientific inconsistencies in a documentary about a guy who seemingly can never die as an adult after drowning as an innocent child. So if you're a fan of Jason's movies and are in for something like this, check it out, get some pop corn and pizza, and have at it...To be safe, though, make sure you lock your doors before you start watching... Review by Ryan Pollyea Informative: 2.5- It discusses some interesting topics but could have balanced its time better to go into some of the topics more Entertaining: 3.5- For fans of Jason's films it's cool to watch but it didn't feel like a complete look at the series Technical: 2- There's not much to admire in the technical craft but again there's not too much reason to criticize it either Overall: 3- It's pretty decent but ONLY if you like the Friday the 13th film series and/or horror films in general
 
Format: DVD Year: 2009 Running Time: 90 minutes Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment and Starz! Network Producers: Thommy Hudson, Anthony Masi Director: Daniel Farrands Date Reviewed: 3/24/09   Story: Cast and crew members of the first eleven films of the Friday the 13th horror film series discuss the progression of the films as well as talk about its legacy and dish some behind the scenes dirt.