Review of Friday the 13th Part III (1982) by Ian B — 12 Jun 2014

With the body count formula set firmly in stone with the first two films and nothing new to really offer, Friday the 13th Part 3 needed a little something extra to draw the crowds in.....enter the magic of 3D. Despite the use of this silly gimmick, Part 3 still remains one of the better entries in the series and is, of course, remembered as the one where Jason gets his now-famous trademark hockey mask.

Picking up almost immediately where Part 2 left off, Jason has crawled away from his near fatal encounter with heroine Amy Steel, decides to change his clothes and sets his sites on a group of teens staying at a nearby cottage on Crystal Lake (the first entry to move away from the camp setting). Steve Miner returns to direct and brings some style to the predictability, but it's dragged down by people constantly pointing and throwing things at the camera for maximum 3D cheesiness. Although I will admit the head-crushing eyeball scene remains one of my favorite deaths.

Out of the early entries in the series, Friday the 13th Part 3 is a pretty mixed bag. There's plenty of great stuff to enjoy here. Jason finally gets his hockey mask and becomes the Jason we all know and love today, the film still manages to maintain a creepy atmosphere despite the 3D, memorable goofy characters like Shelly provide some laughs, a hilariously cheesy disco theme tune opens the movie, and Part 3 has one of the best chase/climaxes in the series. Of course, with the good comes the bad.

Part 3 definitely contains some of the worst acting in the series (and features one of the worst monologues ever put to film), the pace is extremely slow at times, the movie just isn't as much fun as the first two and the plot holes really begin to stand out here. Jason goes from a regular backwoods hillbilly to a hulking monster with super-human strength in a matter of hours. I know this is Friday the 13th and your not supposed to read into this stuff much, but it seems like the people who made this movie hadn't even seen the first two. Which is strange considering most of them worked on the first two. Steve Miner even directed the previous sequel and still lets the continuity go straight to hell. Oh well, I guess I'm being a little too nit-picky with films you really shouldn't think too much about.

I'm fairly certain had everyone making the film not been focused on all the cheesy 3D gimmicks, Friday the 13th Part 3 would've turned out a lot better. It's still one of the more enjoyable entries in the series, features one of the best and scariest Jason performances (finally with his hockey mask!) and has a knockout climax. But the plot holes really begin to stand out, the acting is weak and the pace is slow. Thankfully Jason's next trip to Crystal Lake turned out to be one of the best in the series.