'His Name was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th', the highly anticipated, documentary about the horror icon Jason Voorhees, will make its world premiere on Nov. 14 at 11:59 p.m. at The Watching Hour, the program of alternative films featured at the Starz Denver Film Festival (SDFF), which runs Nov. 13-23. Ari Lehman, the first Jason, and other special guests will be in attendance for the screening.More after the jump.
When it comes to a comprehensive body, or perhaps corpse would be more appropriate, of work in the horror genre, there may be none quite like the Friday the 13th series. Hosted by special effects master Tom Savini (Creepshow, Dawn of the Dead), and with more than 80 interviews--including every Jason and the "Final Girls" who survived him--and clips from the films, His Name was Jason examines how the legend of Jason Voorhees has evolved from a ghost story that oversexed camp counselors tell around the bonfire into a full-blown Hollywood institution. The film was directed by Daniel Farrands and produced by Anthony Masi and MasiMedia.
"We're proud to premiere this film and pay tribute to a man who has hacked his way into people's hearts and given so much back to the cinematic community," said Keith Garcia, host and curator of The Watching Hour, as well as the programming manager of the Starz FilmCenter.
The Watching Hour, in its third year, is a celebration of soon-to-be-cult films and alternative fare and is not for the squeamish, the subtle or the unimaginative. The Watching Hour films show at midnight throughout SDFF, with all screenings at the Starz FilmCenter.
"Ever since we started The Watching Hour, each year has been better than the last. That is especially true this year with the world premiere of such a long-awaited film like His Name Was Jason," Garcia said. "We started this because of the number of quality genre films was on the rise and it was time to spotlight them. The best way to do that was to give them their own Watching Hour."
In addition to 'His Name Was Jason', this year's The Watching Hour lineup includes:
Surveillance
The daughter of auteur David Lynch (serving here as executive producer) spins a starkly sinister yarn about two FBI agents (Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond) interrogating three survivors of a brutal mass murder--all of whom harbor their own dark secrets.
Chocolate
Actress Jija Yanin Vismitananda trained for five years to play an autistic girl who learns martial arts by watching a kung fu movie marathon--then sets out to exact revenge upon the criminals who've cheated her mother in this action packed film from Thailand.
Not Quite Hollywood
This fast-paced, hilarious doc argues that American exploitation films of the 1970s and 1980s had nothing on their Australian counterparts--which boasted double the gore, triple the sex, and 100 times the fetishistic car chases.
Donkey Punch
Several young Brits commandeer a yacht for a day of drinking, drugging, and, yes, donkey punching. None too soon, the girls must take on the boys in a brutal nautical battle for their lives.
Eden Log
A man awakens deep in the bottom of a cave with no idea of how he got there or what happened to the dead man next to him. His only means of escape is scrambling back up to the surface--and through a futuristic cemetery-like world called Eden Log.
Tickets for The Watching Hour, and SDFF 31, are on sale now www.denverfilm.org/festival.
The Watching Hour is sponsored by The Onion.
