Written By: Karla Cortes
Edited BY: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Steve Miner
Producer: Frank Mancuso Jr.
Writers: Martin Kitrosser, Carol Watson, Petru Popescu
Date Released: August 13, 1982
Cast:
Richard Brooker as Jason Voorhees
Dana Kimmell as Chris Higgins
Rachel Howard as Chili
Nick Savage as Ali
Paul Kratka as Rick
Tracie Savage as Debbie
David Katims as Chuck
Jeffery Rogers as Andy
Gloria Charles as Fox
Kevin O’Brien as Loco
Larry Zerner as Shelly
Catherine Parks as Vera Sanchez
Rating = 2.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Chris Higgins (Dana Kimmell) and her friend group decide to take a trip to Chris’s lake house on Crystal Lake. Little do they know that the wounded Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker) is taking refuge nearby as the group arrives and settles in. Jason isn’t the only villain in the picture, as a small biker gang try to get their revenge on Shelly (Larry Zerner) and Vera (Catherine Parks) after a small mishap at the convenience store. One by one, including the biker gang, are gruesomely picked off at the hands of Jason.
Gore Factor
The level of gore in Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982) is high compared to Part 1 and 2. The makeup crew improved the effects associated with each kill. The one effect that was most surprising and gruesome was Andy’s (Jeffery Rogers) death when Jason slices him in half from groin to head then folds his body up into the ceiling. Applause and respects go to the makeup and special effects team for that kill.
The Grave Review
It is very evident that the Friday the 13th film distributors needed to make the third movie slightly different to keep hold of the audience’s attention and, most importantly, their money. First of all, the logo and introduction of the logo went from suspenseful and serious to silly and jumpy. The original big, white font with eerie music was replaced with an absurd zoom-in red font and jumpy 80s music playing over it. Second, the film was clearly made for 3D viewing as a gimmick to the story line. There were prolonged scenes of an object flying into the camera that tossed 3D discrepancy out the window thus taking away from the film. However, there were a few changes that did in fact improve the film and set it apart from the two movies. Each character had more depth or played more of a role in this film. Even the beginning starts off with the group of teenagers in their van having a good time and engaging in dialogue that gave way to who they were. The audience got to know them and had the opportunity to create a very small attachment to them. Hence this makes each kill a bit more striking. Miner even tossed a couple of stoners into the friend group which made their kills even more of a tragedy. Another change that was interesting to see was that the group of teenagers who are all friends staying at one of their houses on Crystal Lake rather than a group camp counselors at a campsite. It ruffles the concept up a bit to keep the plot going. The audience also got to see a different villain which included a trio of mischievous bikers set to wreak havoc on the group. Even the old geezer giving the omen made its appearance in place of Crazy Ralph. Aside from these changes, the same exact concept was applied to the third movie as it was to the first and second. A group of teenagers go to Crystal Lake for some unsupervised fun but end up being murdered in crazy and gruesome ways by a serial killer to only have one lone female survivor. The interesting aspect of the film is that the original story line was supposed to focus around Ginny and taking her revenge on Jason after finding Paul’s corpse in her college dorm. The story line was then completely changed after Steel declined the reprise role. This might explain as to why the story line of the third movie is a bit confusing when linking to the past film.
On a side note, the audience finally gets to see Jason’s hockey mask. The mask actually appeared by accident when the head of effects felt too lazy to do Jason’s makeup for the make-up test and put a hockey mask over the Brooker’s face. Miner liked what he saw so much that he created their own mask which became the Jason mask.
With or without mask, Grave Reviews gives Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982) three graves out of fives graves.
Did you like this review? Comment below.
Join the Conversation