Paramount Scares Vol. 2 Collector Set
This review just covers the contents of the set. Reviews of the movies, along with scans of the metallic-looking slip covers, can be found here:
Friday the 13th Part II (1981, 4K UHD Blu-ray) ReviewBreakdown (1997, 4K UHD Blu-ray) ReviewWorld War Z (2013, 4K UHD Blu-ray) ReviewOrphan: First Kill (2022, 4K UHD Blu-ray) ReviewThe Box
Paramount Scares Vol. 2 Collector Set
Blazed in a distinctive green color, it practically glows. Featuring representative art from all four movies, it looks particularly sharp and clean. The interior is well-designed to hold all of the contents in a compact, yet protective way. While it’s too big to fit on a standard Blu-ray shelf, it’s something that collectors will be proud to show off.
Fangoria Collector’s IssueThis one brings back great memories. As an early collector of the late, great Starlog magazine, I was excited to see the premier of its sister publication, solely devoted to horror movies. While Famous Monsters of Filmland preceded it, this was a new take on the genre. Each issue was devoted to the current horror scene, treating readers to a more mature look at the genre. Covers highlighted new articles about the movies we loved, along with interviews with the people creating them. So much information to be devoured, it created fans of people like Tom Savini, who’s work would normally have gone unrecognized.
With that background, it was fun to read the articles in this mini-edition. The Friday the 13th Part II feature was a reprint of the original I would have read when it first came out. Pouring over it again brought back memories from that time, offering a fascinating mix of nuggets of insight and trivia that were exciting to discover. I applaud Paramount for recognizing the importance that this magazine held during the resurgence of horror that we saw in the early 80s.
PatchesWhile small, each patch offers good iconography of the four movies. I could easily see collectors sewing these on a jean jacket, proudly displaying them at a horror convention. (Mine will remain perfectly sealed in their packaging, however.)
PinLike the patches, the enameled pin is sharp and would make a great addition to that jean jacket, as long as you’re willing to be spotted by a prowling night creature hiding in the dark, due to the pin’s glow-in-the-dark paint.
StickerThis thing is big and puffy, although it could be a little more blood-colored than how it turned out. Could be a fun addition to the side of a display cabinet.
Collectable PosterCreated for this set by digital artist Orlando “Mexifunk” Arocena, it features bold, bright colors and angular images. While I prefer the art style featured on the box, Arocena is popular and his piece features evocative imagery from the four films of the set. I’m sure his fans would be happy to display this on their walls.
Final Impression: There was a recent discussion on a discord channel about collector’s sets and who buys them. The question raised was who actually spends money on them, rather than just the movies themselves. Well, collectors know, and we’ll often seek out things like this that help deepen our connection to the movies we love.
For this set, the highlight to me was the Fangoria magazine, which was an instant nostalgia rush. The other items are nice, as well, and offer good value to the collector market. The MSRP for this set is only $69.99, so factoring that across all four movies there isn’t really much extra cost compared to buying them all individually. This is a reasonably-priced set that’s an easy recommendation for fans of these films.
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