Friday the 13th Part Three: In 3D (1982)

Despite such other high profile horror films such as My Bloody Valentine, The Evil Dead, The Howling, and others, Friday the 13th Part 2 brought a healthy profit to Paramount, which lead the studio to release another sequel.  And, as it was in the early 80s, when 3D features were flooding cinemas, why not follow the trend. 

The result was an amazing 3D movie, and I can say that as I saw it in theaters upon its release.  It's the first of two Friday the 13th movies I saw in a theater, and it remains one of my favorites, if only for the memories I have watching it in 3D.

But we'll get to that later.  The gist of this review is how well it hold up to the rest of the franchise, and if the producers really cared about continuity.  And it's pretty obvious they didn't, as shown by the first two kills opening the movie.

The film opens on a small convince store located near Crystal Lake, run by Harold and Edna.  While Harold is roaming about the store and the bathroom, Edna is watching a news report on the developing story of Jason's murderous rampage in the previous film.  The station airs footage of Ginny (Amy Steel) from Part Two, as she's loaded onto the ambulance.  Unfortunately for the two, Jason wanders onto their property and, for some reason, kills them both.    

Come on, she heckled her husband for not following his diet, not having premarital sex.

To be fair, Jason does kill an adult character in Part II, but that poor soul found Jason's shack in the woods and the alter dedicated to his mother.  He might not be doing any of the things that attract a slasher, but you know he's dead after entering Jason's home.

But Harold and Edna's deaths make no sense.  They're not doing anything that would prompt a reaction from Jason (unless you count Harold breaking his diet and Edna chastising him for it), and they certainly aren't youngsters.  It feels like the filmmakers wanted to up the body count by starting off the film with two kills.  Who knows, maybe Jason thought he could kill the couple, then run the store himself, before deciding against it and moving on.  You know, now that I wrote it, the idea of Jason running a store, so he can see the kids that deserved killing as they stock up on their way into the woods, might have worked.

Anyway, the focus shifts to Chris (Dana Kimmell) picking up a group of friends to head out to her old home on Crystal Lake.  And it's an interesting group, including the horny couple, Andy and Debbie (Jeffrey Rogers and Tracie Savage), make up artist and prankster Shelly (Larry Zerner), his "blind date" Vera (Catherine Parks), and stoners Chuck and Chili (David Kati's and Rachel Howard).

Okay, if you think Chuck (who looks like a second rate Tommy Chong impersonator) and Chili look too old to be hanging out with the others, just wait until Rick (Paul Kratka) is introduced as the "simple farm boy" holding a torch for Chris.  

Oh yeah, he's a simple farm boy (cough cough).

The age difference between Kimmell and Kartka is only four years (I checked), but Rick looks much older when watching the couple on the screen, which gives his "don't keep me waiting" lines a very creepy feel.  And his wardrobe looks like he's some preppie from a teen slobs vs. snobs movie who just wandered onto the set and was hired on the spot.  The relationship between the two doesn't feel right, despite the best efforts from both actors.

Anyway, let's get back to the movie.  Shelly and Vera incur the wrath of three bikers while stocking up on supplies, who somehow track them  down and syphon the gas out of Chris' van (and you know that's gonna be a plot point) with the intent of burning down the barn.  Of course, they didn't realize Jason was hiding inside, so mayhem ensues.

Just hanging around, as the mayhem continues.

After that, we get a bit more character development as Chris and Rick head into the woods for a bit of bonding, where Chris reveals she was attacked by a deformed man (guess who) two years earlier, for the sin of running away from home after arriving late from a date with Rick and incurring the wrath of her parents.  Again, we have Jason attacking someone who hasn't committed anything that might attract a slasher (other than arriving home late after a date, as far as we know), making Jason more of an opportunistic killer than the previous two movies suggest.  

Anyway, Chris and Rick miss out on the slaughter happening at the house.  And miss seeing Jason don his iconic hockey mask, thanks to Shelly.  And, upon returning to the house, more mayhem ensues.

Interestingly enough, the original script was to focus on Ginny as she takes on Jason once again.  But, in an interview with Peter Bracke for the book Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th, Steel recalls while the producers wanted her back, "Then my agents got involved, and I don't know if it was a money issue or a script issue, but I didn't do it."  That's too bad, as I would have loved to see Round Two of their battle.

The filming of Part III was a bit rough on the actors, as the filmmakers were more concerned about the 3D effects than their character development.  Yeah, that sounds weird when talking about a slasher film, but Zerner talks about it in the extras on Scream Factory's Blu-Ray release.  But that didn't keep the cast from delivering some pretty good performances, considering it's a slasher film and character development isn't a priority.

Considering the hype-up sexuality in Part II, this film is pretty light on any sexual content.  Shelly keeps sabotaging his efforts to hook up with Vera, Chris keeps Rick at arm's length and only token couple Andy and Debbie get down and dirty under the sheets.  Debbie also has the only nude scene in the film, as if the filmmakers just realized they had to include some nudity into the mix.  The scene feels tack on, even thought Savage sell the reason she's going to take a shower.

Sure, I told my boyfriend he should try showering.  Why the hell am I still with him?

Okay, I have to talk about the batshit crazy ending, which will involve spoilers.  So if you haven't see this film yet, skip down the next seven paragraphs.

Ready?  Here we go.

Chris ends up as the Final Girl, taking on Jason in the barn.  But, as with the previous entry, she's given a hand by a man.  Ali, the biker we assume Jason bludgeoned to death earlier, pops up to give Chris enough time to pick up an axe and deliver it to Jason's head.

We get a nice 3D moment, with the axe handle hanging out mid screen, before Jason reaches out with both arms (covering both sides of the cinema) and staggers forward.  But then he collapses on the barn floor, allowing Chris to take a canoe out into Crystal Lake.

Sound familiar?  Well, Chris wakes up in the canoe to see Jason hunting her down in the house.  As she tries to paddle away, she realizes it's all a dream.  At least until Pamela jumps out of the lake, head attached, to pull her under.

Damn, Pamela has a great medical health plan.

But surprise, that's a dream, as Chris is placed in a police car by an officer that seems to be treating her more like a suspect than a survivor, and the camera pans to Jason, axe still in his head, laying on the floor of the barn.

And cue the disco version of Harry Manfredini's iconic score.

Okay, I will say, Pamela's makeup is great, with some (I assume) live worms squirming on her face.  But it's just a cheap ripoff from the first film.  And it doesn't give Chris any closure.  She came to face her fears of man who attacked her, but is being hauled away to, one must assume, a mental health facility.

And we get another missed opportunity.  Had Chris met up with Ginny at the same psychiatric hospital, and planned to get out once Jason started his murderous rampage again, that would have been cool.  But that wasn't to be in the sequel we all know is coming.

Okay, spoilers over.

The gore is fine, taking full advantage of the 3D process.  And that's where the film shined, compared to the other 3D features released during the brief revival in the 80s.  Unlike Jaws 3D, Amityville 3D, and Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Friday the 13th Part III was shot in Polarized 3D, more akin to the modern 3D films, rather than in Anaglyph 3D (the one with the red/cyan glasses).  And it showed.  I remember being seated on the right side of the theater when I saw the film on opening weekend, and after sitting through the end of Part II, the title credit zoomed out to the left side of the theater.  Everyone on that side of the aisle started cheering, and I couldn't understand why.  Until the rest of the film's title zoomed out in front of my eyes, and everyone, including myself, on the right side of the theater cheered.

Okay, the head looks fake.  But the popping eyeball in 3D looked awesome!

Based on what I remember of the original screening, then seeing an anaglyph version (admittedly decades later), the polarized version is much better.  I've also seen Creature from the Black Lagoon in both 3D versions, and it confirms my opinion.  The Polarization system reduces the ghosting effect (the doubling of an image if your line of vision isn't exactly right), and is much clearer.  Granted, we're talking 1980s technology, so the film wasn't as pristine as Avatar, but it's so much better than the 3D films coming out in the 80s.  Also, the filmmakers were able to move the camera, resulting in a much better looking film than one would expect, as discussed in the Scream Factory's Blu-Ray release.

Some lawsuits came about due to the 3D technology used in the film, but you can look up that on Wikipedia.  What is interesting was Paramount spent seven weeks and $2 million to convert the film into 2D for venues unable to screen the film in 3D.  And the efforts paid off, as the film grossed over $9 million dollars on its opening weekend.  

As for the Blu-Ray, the picture quality looks a bit wonky.  But I don't think that's the fault of Scream Factory, rather the technical abilities of turning 3D to 2D at the time.  And let's be honest, most current features are shot in 2D, then converted to 3D, making a transfer to home media much easier.  But the picture quality is fine, given the technology at the time.

Based on the box office returns (over $36 million), you knew a sequel was coming.  But, for some reason, Paramount decided to call it The Final Chapter.

Sorry, had to stop laughing before I could continue.  'Cause we all know that's not true.

I have much more box office money to grab.  You know I'll be back.