Review of Friday the 13th Part III (1982) by Jeffrey L — 26 Feb 2009

Not as good as Part 2, but better then Part 1. I found this a mixed bag though. There is A LOT to like. It's the first movie to deviate from the camp counselor plot that both of the previous movies used, it has the most memorable characters in the series so far, the acting is the best so far, the kills are even more inventive and the bloodiest/goriest so far, the bodycount is a lot higher, Jason gets his hockey mask, and it fits in the continuity of Part 2 by taking place the following day and showing the News coverage of the aftermath. Also, the ending is a great nod to the ending of the first Friday the 13th, and its always nice when the third movie in a trilogy pays homage to the first and makes it come around full-circle.

However, there is also a lot to dislike. For instance, there's some weird techno song playing over the opening credits instead of the kick ass Friday the 13th music, and then that weird techno music keeps popping up during the movie at weird times. It made it feel almost like a comedy then a serious horror movie and didn't fit at all. I also hated how it replayed the entire last 10 minutes of Part 2, then another 10 minutes on the intro scene which should have only taken 5 minutes, so its over 20 minutes until we get introduced to the main characters. Then it takes forever after that before we get the first kill. I also hated the sub-plot of Jason raping that girl a few years earlier. Doesn't feel like the Jason we know and it felt tacked on just so the main character could have some form of connection to Jason.

Now, I just watched this in 3D and thought it kicked so much more ass because of it. Sure, some of the 3D is pointless and only there as a gag, such as the popcorn eating and the yo-yo and a few other things, but the deaths were so much better in 3D, and just seeing the characters with a 3D background behind them was really neat.