Friday the 13th, Part 3

                                       Friday the 13th Part 3, Directed by Steve Miner

   *disclaimer* 

This installment in the franchise is in 3D and to put it lightly, I hate 3D movies. I just don't like them. They are a gimmick. This movie was made for 3D and some parts are easy to spot as made specifically for 3D. I am watching the 3D version because that is the only copy I have at the moment

The first 3 minutes is part 2's ending.  This seems to be a trend with all the Friday the 13ths so far.We jump to a very redneck couple arguing and a few spots of Jason creeping around in a new jump suit. The redneck couple dies, of course. 15 minutes in and we get 2 kills.  This only solidifies that well, yeah, Jason is alive. The bigger question why were these people not dead before.  Why did Jason wait so long to kill them? The main cast includes a guy who can't act well (Andy), his love interest (Debbie) , a horn-dog country boy (Rick), and 3rd wheels Vera, a girl with little going for her story wise, "I guess she is here to just take a vacation" Shelly, the "actor"/ prankster probably the most colorful character, and Chrissy, the main character. So Shelly spends his time acing like a serial killer creeping up on people or using his impressive make up skills to look like he is dead (like an axe to the head). Then there are Chuck and Chili, two people who look like they don't belong in the movie. They have the least amount of dialog and no real character aside from being pot smoking hippies. The setting is a cabin belonging to Rick with a barn located next to a pond or embankment.  It is never explained if the water flows out to Crystal Lake. I assume it does.

Left to right:Chili, Chuck, Shelly and Vera

We get secondary characters in the form of a small gang led by a black woman named Fox and her 2 henchmen, Loco and Ali. Well shit goes down in a convenient store and let say Shelly gets in some trouble, only to make matters worse by running over one of the gang member's motor cycles. The 3 man gang tracks them down in rapid fashion and decided the best way to handle property damage is to... siphon their gas, and set the barn on fire! Suffice it to say things don't go well.

A little farther into the movie we find out Chris or Chrissy was attacked by Jason prior to part 2, blacked out, and somehow did not die, but instead woke up in her own bed. Meanwhile, Shelly has played another prank on Vera in which he jumps out of the pond water with a spear gun, wearing a wet suit and hockey mask, much to her chagrin. They argue about Shelly trying too hard to get people to like him, and Shelly storms off into the barn. We now see the iconic hockey masked Jason as he steps out of the barn Vera, playing ditsy, thinks it is Shelly, like Shelly walked into the barn.  How he went in short, fat, jew fro and all and came out nearly 7 foot and muscular this scene makes little sense.

Definitely  Shelly and not Jason

We get 4 different horror references in one death. One of the girls is lying in bed reading a Fangoria magazine, with an article about Tom Savini on special effects make up, an article about Godzilla turning 25, AND a death similar to Kevin Bacon's in the first movie that's pretty impressive. The next scene has one of the worst uses of 3D. I know I am biased but it's a horror movie. I don't want to see popcorn flying at me nor do I want to see really bad 3D effect popcorn flying around all blurry without the glasses.  Anyway, we jump to the hippies making some popcorn when the power goes out. Chili sends Chuck to go fix it.  While downstairs, Shelly stumbles though the door he is badly wounded but because of his earlier pranks Chili dismisses him, only to realize it is, in fact, not a prank.

The Final act is the "reveal" where the sole survivor Chris (the girl attacked before by Jason) stumbles upon the other cast mates that died while trying to duck, dive, dip and dodge from Jason. From the cabin, to the van, and into the barn for the final confrontation, all places are used and its a pretty fun chase. While not as resourceful as Ginny in part 2, she gets the most hits on Jason so far and he is still mortal in this chapter.

The ending from the first movie is mirrored in this movie she stows away in a kayak until day time, until she sees Jason upstairs in the house. He crashes though the front door then vanishes. I'm not a fan of this part, as the final scare is unlike the other final scares in the series. You'll understand when you see it, it makes no sense. In the end, our heroine is traumatized laughing and crying while she is driven away in the back of a police car.

Our heroine Chris looking a little worse for wear

A goof I noticed:
During the final act, Chris locks herself in a closet behind a green door. She is looking through the slits in the door to see what Jason will do. When Jason notices her, he takes an axe to the door close to where Chris's head is but when we see the door from the other side there are no slits in the solid wood.

Body count-12

Audio: 8/10
The music and sound effects are far superior to the other previous installments except maybe the ending music of the first movie.  There is a catchy beat that plays for this movie's credits but the credits are so short the beat is taken away far too soon to enjoy it.

Video: 4/10 (3D) 6/10
The 3D really hurts this movie. Without the glasses, a lot of the 3D effects look fuzzy and out of focus, but that's how 3D works. With the glasses it would be an 6/10 (Curse my 3D copy!), A few non 3D fuzzy moments and some tracking errors during the hammock love making scene. The guy says something but his lips have stopped moving. Its just before he lays down. I decided to give the movie 6/10 based on my fault of not having an original format version.

Effects: 6/10
Some of the 3D effects are wasted on practical things like Shelly and Andy juggling fruit or the above mentioned popcorn. However, a few of them I could see working. The harpoon gun shot, the hot poker close up, the ax, and most of the kills have sort of 3D attached to them. Aside from the 3D, the makeup they used for Jason's face is spectacular. The deaths are fully shown and look great even when a dummy is used. The blood is likewise well done; not large amounts but actual amounts that would occur if people sustained one of the injuries in this movie. There is one death that is highly comical because both the makeup and the 3D look so outrageous. One complaint I have is that the sides of Jason's neck are very wrinkled when they should not be. No other part of him is wrinkled. His neck looks fake and, because they show a lot of him in the final 30 minutes, we see it most of the time he is in the frame. This seems to have been rectified in the end because the actor does not wear it for the barn confrontation. Shelly's prosthetic gags are on par with the effects of the movie too.

Story: 6/10
It's not camp counselors this time. Crystal Lake is not even mentioned. It's assumed this is on the same land so we as the audience have to accept it. It not a complicated plot but unlike the other movies this gives no definitive timeline. I'd put it a year or two after the second movie as Jason has healed from his injuries. He is still human, as I said before, so there is no way this movie happened less then a year later. The vacationers are there for sex, drugs and a good time. The only 3 things that bothers me are how in the hell does Shelly have a wet suit, toy axe, harpoon gun, fake blood, hockey and killer mask and a toy knife in such a small bag it is the size of a purse. One might say it's a bad of holding! When Chris tells the story about being attacked, it is never resolved. How did she get home after fainting? Neither was the whole pregnancy thing Chris was talking about in the begin... Wait a minute... No I refuse to believe child-minded Jason would be capable of such a thing, just a... a plot hole they never fixed.
 Errata: The IMDB page on the movie says the movie takes place a day after part 2, this is ludicrous as mortal Jason could not heal from a machete lodged so deep into his shoulder in one day.

Overall: 69/100
This is where the series picks up. Characters are more fleshed out than in part 2, with only two to four characters given no development. There are no extras that get shoehorned out for the final act. The gang members inclusion was good as it gave you some people you wanted to see killed off, though that is short lived. Jason's kills are more entertaining and fun to watch. There are a few jump scares but, unlike movies today, it's not one after another. I like this installment more than part 2.  It's more fulfilling. Jason has more screen time and gets his mask. The ending is a bit lack luster, though. The ending makes you wonder if Jason is actually dead and how he could come back for the next go around. I don't blame the movie for being in 3D. I blame myself for not having a non 3D copy. Overall a good movie and solid chapter for the series to stand on.

-Rosanderman