Mike_Bracken's Full Review: Friday the 13th - Part 3
Friday the 13th Part 3: Paramount Pictures Rating: USA: R/ UK: 18/ Australia: R
Steve Miner’s Friday the 13th Part 3 (or F13:3 since I’m feeling too lazy to type that out over and over in this review) is of interest to horror historians for several reasons. First off, Miner directs his second installment in the series (he also directed part 2), thus becoming the only filmmaker to direct more than one of these films. Second, it’s the only installment released theatrically in 3-D (perhaps producer Frank Mancuso Jr. and Steve Miner thought that if they made the onscreen action three-dimensional that it would counterbalance the one-dimensional script and performances?). And last but not least, it’s the film where Jason ditches the burlap bag and finally dons the infamous hockey mask.
That’s a lot of innovation for a third film in a series—too bad that none of it actually makes Friday the 13th Part 3 a good movie.
Taking place a few short hours after the end of part 2 (in fact, Miner gets away with killing ten minutes of screen time by showing us the end of part 2 before actually starting part 3), F13:3 features yet another diverse assortment of teens who are about to become spam. Dana Kimmell ‘stars’ as Chris, our standard slasher film heroine. She’s come back to the area despite the fact that an unmasked Jason accosted her in the woods a few years prior. The rest of the cast isn’t really worth mentioning by name, since none of them went on to be in anything worth talking about—let’s just identify them by their cliché characteristics. We’ve got Rick, Chris’ old flame looking to rekindle the romance, we’ve got an overweight loser who can juggle and likes to play practical jokes (he’s our incredibly unsympathetic sympathy character), we’ve got the girl who’s had the misfortune of being his blind date, yet actually starts to sort of like the guy, we’ve got the horny young stud and his barely pregnant girlfriend, we’ve got two pot-heads who look like they’re 40, and we’ve got three bikers—two guys, one girl (one guy and girl are African-American, marking the first ethnic characters in the series). As you can see, Jason’s got no shortage of people to hack up this time out (and add two to the tally for the two non-essential characters he slaughters right after the prologue).
Fortunately, our intrepid teens aren’t heading to the infamous Camp Blood, but are instead looking forward to a weekend of sex and drugs at a nearby farmhouse. The fact that there was a mass murder in the area the night before (with a killer never caught) doesn’t deter these guys in the least, and soon, they’re all lining up to die in creative new ways at the hands of Herr Voorhees. Seriously—that’s about as far as it goes plotwise.
The film really is everything you’ve come to expect from the series, yet it’s toned down in comparison to the last installment. There’s some gore here and a little T&A, but it’s nowhere near the level of the upcoming part 5 (which is the high-water mark for sleaze and violence in the series, and remains one of my favorite guilty pleasures). So, what’s the discerning slasher fan get out of this movie to make up for the lack of gore and nudity? Not much really.
The 3-D might have been a nice touch to help make up for the lack of slasher film staples—and I say might of, because we have no way of knowing. The film’s never turned up on video or DVD in 3-D. Of course, watching the film in standard 2-D allows you to see that Miner goes way overboard with the hokey 3-D shots in the early going (a laundry pole, juggled apples, and popcorn popping). However, he redeems himself when the carnage starts with numerous shots of slaughter that are enhanced by the 3-D experience.
Another visual problem I noticed here is that the VHS is in pan and scan format, not the real theatrical aspect ratio—therefore, in a lot of scenes, people are cut off on the edges of every shot. While the new DVD release is bare bones in terms of extras, at least it’s widescreen and the colors aren’t all washed out.
Miner’s direction here is workmanlike, meaning it’s pretty average overall. This isn’t Miner’s worst film, but it’s nothing to write home about, either. The film moves along at a decent pace, rarely bogging down because there’s no character development or exposition to worry about here. Miner clearly understands that this is a film where the goal is to get from one gore set-piece to the next—so he never wastes any time actually trying to develop the story. Proof of this can be found in the fact that this is the only film in the series where Jason is never mentioned by name.
The cast’s performances are what you’d expect in this kind of film—pretty much on par with bad dinner theater acting. Kimmell overemotes throughout, making even the serious lines play as camp. Paul Kratka (who plays Rick) is mind-numbingly awful—it’s like watching a pod person try to act human. Even the requisite loon is lame here, making me really wish that Miner and crew hadn’t killed off Walt Gorney’s Crazy Ralph in the previous installment.
However, Richard Brooker’s Jason is pretty impressive (despite the fact that Jason had stringy hair at the end of the second film and is now completely bald the next day). Brooker is the first actor to really nail the character and make him scary. A big part of selling a character like this (who never speaks and hides behind a mask—thus removing his ability to even emote) is in the posture and the movements, which Brooker nails. Jason takes on an almost Michael Myers like ability here to appear in the background of shots, stand still, and create tension simply with his presence. He moves through the sets with a very assured gait, and dispatches his victims with authority, yet he also still appears to be human. You hit this guy, he bleeds—all of which gives the audience a sense of hope, making them believe the heroine might actually be able to vanquish the monster. Later installments in the series would be less successful in this regard, because once Jason becomes a re-animated corpse, there’s no hope that anyone mortal can do anything other than slow him down for a few minutes. So, kudos to Brooker for making the most of a thankless role.
Brooker’s performance isn’t the only good thing here, though. F13:3 also boasts what is arguably the series’ best chase/climax sequence. Jason chases Kimmell all over the place, through the house, out in the woods, through the barn, and more. This 15-minute sequence is actually pretty good, and even though we pretty much know how it’s going to turn out, it still manages to surprise us a few times with some well-placed rugpulls and reversals in the onscreen action.
But, Miner messes this up by shooting a weird dream sequence that’s a rip-off of the first film, only with a different ghoul rising from the lake. I’m not sure what the point of this was, other than to get one more cheap jump scare reaction from the audience. All inall, it’s a tacky scene, and it ruins a bit of the goodwill I was feeling toward this marginal film based on the power of the climax.
Gore-wise, this is a pretty traditional affair. A lot of people die here, and a few of the deaths are actually pretty good. One guy is chopped right in half while doing a handstand, another has Jason crush his head to the point where his eyeball shoots right out of the socket. Other highlights include various scenes of machete mayhem, a spear gun shot to the eye socket, a few folks impaled on pitchforks, a poker through the abdomen, and so on. Gore fans should like the offerings here, but they’re not quite as gory as they could be.
Once again, Harry Manfredini reprises his infamous and ominously jarring string score. It’s still pretty darn effective, particularly during the climax, where it really adds to the overall tension. Listening to that part of the score is sort of like grabbing on to a live wire—it certainly shakes you up. Of course, I simply must mention the newly improved opening and ending credit music—a funky ‘haunted disco’ style track that seems incredibly out of place here. Disco was dead by this point, but apparently no one told the guys responsible for this mess. I only hope someone on Napster has this in MP3 form—my horror movie music collection won’t be complete until I have this bad boy in it.
All in all, Friday the 13th Part 3 is a tough film to rate. The giallo elements that colored the first film (and even the second, to an extent) are gone here, with the American slasher film formula taking over almost completely. This isn’t a good film—and I’m not going to even try and tell you that it is. Yet, it’s certainly almost so bad that it becomes good. Brooker’s Jason, a great ending chase sequence, and some decent kills almost make this into something worth seeing. However, the bad performances from the rest of the cast, nonsensical script, and average direction all conspire to keep the film down. So, with that in mind, I’m giving Friday the 13th Part 3 2 stars and a recommendation (yeah, I know, it’s odd to recommend something that only gets 2 stars…). Slasher fans need to see it because it’s part of one of the most infamous slasher series of all time, while serious horror fans can check it out for its historical significance. It’s not good, but it is worth watching at least once.
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