Crystal Lake Memories: Lloyd Albin, the untold story

Just watched a section of the outstanding Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th. Congrats to Dan Farrands for making a great documentary and easily the most thorough one on the franchise.

In the section on Part 2, Lloyd Albin, who owned the summer camp in Kent, CT where the film was shot in September 1980, mentions he's had "a number of people" try to buy his props. I was one of them, having contacted Lloyd in early 2011 to visit and try to purchase his Pamela Voorhees head and the Camp Crystal Lake sign from the film. He was a really nice guy and told me a lot of the really cool stories and anecdotes he mentions in the DVD... and some that were left out. Such as:

• The crew was battling the changing seasons in Connecticut, and had to keep spray painting leaves green.

•  Neighbors complained about light pollution during the filming of the "skinny dip" sequence.

• He played tennis against Lauren Marie Taylor during downtime. (Lauren Marie Taylor later told me she was embarrasingly bad at it).

• Lloyd was paid $1,000 a day by the production company for the use of the camp and they took out a $20,000 bond against the possibility of damage. There was none so no penalties were charged.

• Lloyd said filming began in early September 1980 and lasted about one month. The weather was generally still warm but they had to get people extra blankets who were staying in the cabins when a cold snap came in.

• The “Jason shack” was built by the film crew in a flat area in the woods just west of the docks. There was also a camera track built in the same area to record Steve Dash running through the woods. When the crew was ready to leave they asked if they could leave the shack there, but Lloyd demanded they tear it down in case fans came by to check it out. Today there is no trace of it, but the growth in the area that was cleared is noticeably shorter.

•  Lloyd said Lauren Taylor and most of the other cast and crew were very pleasant people.

• Lloyd recognized Marta Kober on set and asked her if she was in a certain play he saw in New York, she confirmed it was her.

• Lloyd was presant for the double impaling scene and found it very amusing. Apparently they called it “instant birth control” on set.

• During filming, Steve Miner, whom Lloyd had gotten friendly with, presented three Jason facial designs, inquiring as to which one he thought was scariest. Lloyd said none of them were really fearsome, but that he preferred Hitchcockian horror where a person is coming up the stairs slowly and building tension and you never see the killer… he says that Miner then chose not to show Jason for most of the film.

• Lloyd also pointed out to me from his living room the approximate location of the "Jason cabin", which I have located from memory on this map.

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I told Dan Farrands about Lloyd and was really excited to see he made it out to Connecticut to film Lloyd, who despite his advanced age is still fit, healthy and loves to talk about Friday the 13th.

He also gave viewers a glimpse of his baby... the actual head of Mrs. Voorhees used in the film. I feel very lucky to have held it in real life and examined it closely. It is made of foam latex casted directly onto a wig display and painted reddish brown, blackened in some areas to give it a dried out, mummified look. It is still in very good shape aside from pieces missing from the nose and right temple.

       Congrats to Daniel Farrands for making an amazing documentary. Many thanks to Lloyd Albin for allowing me into his home to hold this piece of film history. And Lloyd: if you ever want to sell it LET ME KNOW!! THANKS!!!!