Friday the 13th Part III
An idyllic summer turns into a nightmare of unspeakable terror for yet another group of naïve counselors. Ignoring Camp Crystal Lake's bloody legacy, one by one they fall victim to the maniacal Jason, who stalks them at every turn...
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- Cast:
- Dana Kimmell , Catherine Parks , Richard Brooker , Tracie Savage , David Wiley , Rachel Howard , Anne Gaybis
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Reviews
Thanks for the memories!
Such a frustrating disappointment
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
I enjoyed Part 3 in the Friday the 13th film series. I know that it's dumb at times, but you gotta know what these films are going into them, then judge accordingly. I think I liked this one better than part 2, and I for sure liked it better than the first film. The characters were good enough for this type of film, Ginny was a good survivor and star, and I also really liked Rick's character too. Some of the kills were kinda creative, and they weren't like overly disturbing because of how old this is. There are really only two simple things I want in these movies. One: characters that I don't hate, ones I can like enough to watch. Two: when things get going, try to keep my attention and don't be super cliché and dumb. I feel like for the most part this film gave me those two things. Would've been interesting to have seen it in real 3D. 8/10 for Friday the 13th Part III.
Steve Miner continues to direct the Friday the 13th franchise and follows up with a box office hit Part II, which greatly surpassed his previous sequel Part II. Friday the 13th Part III sticks with the continuity of the first two films but also has to add the long unneeded setup that highlights the ending of the last film. Within ten to fifteen minutes of watching the new characters and hearing the dialogue, its obvious that the route the writers took was a more comic, campier style that wasn't present in Part II. The biggest problem however with Part III is the characters, the biker gang was really shoehorned for little reason but to die and there are a handful of annoying characters, especially David Katims's role. Friday the 13th Part III has some entertainment value to it, but when it boils down the quality there are definitely better options out there.
With Amy Steel uninterested in returning to the series, the filmmakers had to reboot and figure out what made Jason tick. And that ticking was a hockey mask - three movies into the series. The original plan was that Ginny would be confined to a psychiatric hospital and he would track her down, then murder the staff and other patients at the hospital. If this sounds kind of like Halloween 2 to you, well surprise. This is not a movie series known for its originality.He starts the film killing a store owner and his wife just for clothes. Then, he goes after the friends of Chris Higgins: Debbie (Tracie Savage, who played the younger Lizzie in the awesome made-for-TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden), Andy, Shelley, Vera (Catherine Parks, Weekend at Bernie's), Rick, Chuck and Chili. They run afoul of bikers Ali, Fox and Loco, who follow them back to their vacation home.Jason starts killing quick, but he's already mentally scarred Chris, as she survived an attack from him two years ago. This has left her with serious trauma and an inability to enjoy intimacy (which, come to think of it, comes in handy in these movies).Jason takes the mask from the dead body of prankster Shelley and it's on, with speargun bolts to the eye, heads chopped in half with machetes, knives through chests, electrocutions, hot pokers impaling stoners and even someone's skull getting crushed by Jason's supernaturally powerful hands.Of course, it ends up with Final Girl Chris against Jason, who she kills by hitting him in the head with an ax before falling asleep on a canoe and having a nightmare of Jason killing her. It's OK. Don't worry. We see that all is right in the world and the killer's body is at the bottom of the lake.Here's some trivia: To prevent the film's plot being leaked (I could tell you the plot in less than a sentence, so this seems like bs), the production used the David Bowie song "Crystal Japan" as the title of the movie. They'd use Bowie songs as working titles during several of the other films.There is a ton of footage that was cut from the film so that it didn't get an X rating. And there's an alternate ending where Chris dreams that Jason decapitates her. None of these things make this a better movie.
I just don't understand how after this many run ins with Jason, no one seems to realize that stabbing him in the leg will not render him helpless. It's the same thing over and over, the character stabs Jason, knocks him out, whatever, but never actually stops to think "Well it didn't work the last 754839587 times so maybe this time he's still alive". It's infuriating. I did like the addition of the criminal biker gang that gets involved, even if the black guy suddenly appearing in the barn later on in the film seemed to be a big lipped alligator moment. (No pun intended). Overall it was a relatively decent film, better than the first, but I would say not as good as the second. Finally however it does seem Jason has finally picked up his trademark hockey mask. That was a good turning point I guess. Well, guess it's time to watch the final chapter now.