The Monthly Rag

Momentum skids. Steven Miner’s direction is still nice, choosing to shoot in the anamorphic widescreen ratio, which makes this a pretty looking film in the series. There are some genuine moments of craft in sporadic bursts, but the quickly souring formula and questionable writing are what ultimately keep it down a notch.

Again, recapping the last film, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 goes on to show the killer survive the fatal blow and crawl away to refuge. A quick slaying of two local market owners and change of clothes later, the maniac then sets his sights on a new batch of kids visiting a remote cabin near his home territory. Lead heroine Chris (Dana Kimmel) and her friends go about their usual business (most of them getting laid, trying to get laid, smoking dope, etc) at the summer house of Higgins Haven, while Jason and a hilarious motorcycle gang creep around the surrounding woods and barn. By the end of this familiar ninety minutes, the Crystal Lake madman gets everyone but the flaxen-haired virginal screamer.

There’s some really good make-up effects (a guy being split down the middle, for instance–damn!) and there’s some really poor make-up effects (the shooting marshmellow eyeball and fake head). There’s also an unusual amount of strings on the mechanical effects, but that pretty much had to do with the film being shot in a complicated 3D process. Still, despite being undercooked, there is some fun to be had when it gets to the final showdown, and the rather serendipitous origin of the infamous hockey mask is a thrill.

Jason gets an iconic new look in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3.