Talk Horror The Mouth of Madness
Greetings to all you horror buffs out there! Lilith here to inform you of some Friday The 13th News!
On September 8, 2015, Image Entertainment looks to be re-releasing Crystal Lake Memories: Complete History of Friday the 13th! It looks like it will be available on Blu-ray and DVD. It clocks in at 400 minutes between 2 discs!
Now before you get to excited, let me make you aware of a few things first before you run off and buy this.
Back in September of 2013, 1428 Films released Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History Of Friday the 13th. It also clocked in at 400 minutes on 2 discs. However, the set also comes with the documentary on 2 standard DVDs as well. You also got a Bonus disc with even more content, making for a total of 5 discs! Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, the bonus disc was only for a limited time. I ordered mine right away and was lucky enough to get one of the bonus discs!
These releases are inspired by the book of the same name, authored by Peter M. Bracke. The book is about 320 pages and was first released by Titan Books in October of 2006. So far, it is the ultimate must have book on the Friday The 13th franchise to date. It is a MUST have collectible for Friday the 13th fans!
Back to these DVD’s. It appears to me that both of these releases are of the same documentary. I am not really reading or finding any differences between them as far as content goes.
However…. there are some differences in what you appear to get here with the newest release coming out in September 2015.
This NEWER release is offered on Blu-ray and DVD, as separate buying choices. There appears to be NO Bonus Disc included or offered, unless the extra material has been placed on the discs. Which I find hard to believe, since it clocks in at 400 minutes, like the release from 1428 Films does.
Now if you remember from reading above about what you get with the 1428 Films release, you get the documentary on 2 Blu-rays and on 2 standard DVD’s, plus there was a 5th disc with even more content, a bonus disc. Which again, I think was for a limited time if you ordered directly from the crystal lake memories website. I don’t know if the bonus disc is still available today or not. But it would be worth checking into before you buy the release coming from Image Entertainment.
The Image Entertainment release is much cheaper than the 1428 Films release. That is because you only get 2 discs from Image Entertainment, with either format you buy. With 1428 Films, you get the documentary on BOTH formats together, for a total of 4 discs.
Some collectors like to buy a particular release on both formats, this is why I am going in depth here. So if you want the Image Entertainment release, you are going to have to fork out money for 2 separate purchases. As apposed to getting the 1428 Films release where you would get BOTH formats together. You will also save a couple bucks doing it that way if you need both formats.
Apologies for the repetitiveness. Sometimes you have to pound this stuff into peoples brains to get them to understand. You wouldn’t believe some of the conversations I have had with new collectors who don’t understand some of this stuff, lol.
Lilith’s Final Verdict:
If you are on a budget, then the Image Entertainment release would be the way to go, as it is looking quite affordable right now. Keep in mind, that sometimes prices change when a product is finally released. So this could go up or down in price, or stay the same. I have seen it happen a lot.
Otherwise, if money is no object, I highly recommend the release from 1428 Films. If you have this already, congratulations! If you were lucky enough to snag the bonus disc, double kudos!
If you are new to collecting, the 1428 Films release is most likely going to be the most sought after release to have, once it goes out of print. Especially the ones with the bonus disc included. If this is no longer available through the crystal lake memories website, then I would suggest hopping on eBay and looking for the set on there if you want / need it bad enough.
Beware! Some folks have already been trying to sell the 1428 Films release on eBay and saying it is already OOP and selling for ridiculous prices. I can understand this IF these are the ones with the bonus disc included, as I don’t think it is offered any more. But I viewed a few of these listings, and there was NO mention of the bonus disc. These 1428 Films releases are NOT out of print, you can go right on Amazon and buy that release still for $29.59 at the time of this writing. So don’t get conned into buying something for an outrageous price when you can get it for a reasonable one. Also, autographed copies will sell for a higher price too, which is also understandable.
This is one of the many disappointments as a collector. There are folks out there that know you will pay big money for something if you want it bad enough. It is a discouraging shame and takes the fun out of collecting.
If you are new to collecting…. do your homework!!! KNOW what you are buying!
I just wanted to make everyone aware of what is available out there as far as these releases goes, so you can make the best choice for you.
Good Luck & Good Hunting!
Lilith!
